SummaryEmbryonic stem cells hold great promise for various diseases because of their unlimited capacity for self-renewal and ability to differentiate into any cell type in the body. However, despite over 3 decades of research, there have been no reports on the safety and potential efficacy of pluripotent stem cell progeny in Asian patients with any disease. Here, we report the safety and tolerability of subretinal transplantation of human embryonic-stem-cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelium in four Asian patients: two with dry age-related macular degeneration and two with Stargardt macular dystrophy. They were followed for 1 year. There was no evidence of adverse proliferation, tumorigenicity, ectopic tissue formation, or other serious safety issues related to the transplanted cells. Visual acuity improved 9–19 letters in three patients and remained stable (+1 letter) in one patient. The results confirmed that hESC-derived cells could serve as a potentially safe new source for regenerative medicine.

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[ research report ] V isual observation of lower extremity movement patterns during various tasks is a common way to assess dynamic function and alignment in the clinical setting. 7,19 Functional movements, such as the lunge, step-up, step-down, singleleg press, bilateral squat, and balance and reach, are frequently used to assess movement quality of the lower extremities. 2,5,19,20,22 Authors of previous studies have reported moderate to good interrater reliability for visual assessment of movement quality during a single-limb minisquat in healthy individuals (κ = 0.92) 1 and a lateral step-down in healthy subjects (κ = 0.59) 25 and in those with patellofemoral pain syndrome (κ = 0.67). 25Thus, the interrater reliability of these observational lower extremity movementpattern tests should be adequate to support their use in clinical practice.The forward step-down (FSD) is a functional task requiring stair descent, which involves weight-bearing stress at various knee flexion angles as well as dynamic muscular control. Poor mechanics during an FSD task could place abnormal stresses on the knee at both the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints.18 Accordingly, the FSD task could be performed either as a screening tool 18 or as an exercise for knee rehabilitation. 8,31,32 Loudon et al 18 used the FSD task as a screening tool to determine level of function and reported moderate to high intrarater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient model 3,1 = 0.94) in individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome. However, no studies have investigated the interrater reliability of the FSD task in healthy individuals, which is needed to determine how suitable the test is for clinical practice and screening for risk of injuries.An exaggerated dynamic knee valgus during weight-bearing tasks can result from many factors, including a lack of muscular strength and flexibility.23,24 During weight-bearing tasks requiring knee flexion, the hip abductors and external rotators act eccentrically both to stabi-T T STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. T T OBJECTIVE:To investigate the interrater reliability of movement-quality ratings for the forward step-down (FSD) test and to compare hip muscle strength and lower extremity joint range of motion and muscle flexibility among asymptomatic women with different levels of movement quality. T T BACKGROUND:The interrater reliability of the FSD test has not yet been investigated. Additionally, it is not known whether differences in musculoskeletal measures exist among individuals with different levels of movement quality during the FSD test. T T METHODS:Two physical therapists assessed movement quality during the FSD test in 26 a symptomatic women (mean  SD age, 22.7  0.9 years). Hip muscle strength and lower extremity joint range of motion and muscle flexibility were also assessed. The interrater reliability of the FSD test was estimated by using the kappa coefficient and percent agreement. Differences in musculoskeletal measures based on movement quality were assessed by independent t tests. T ...

The first liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for determination of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin, ASA) and one of its major metabolites, salicylic acid (SA), in human plasma using simvastatin as an internal standard has been developed and validated. For ASA analysis, a plasma sample containing potassium fluoride was extracted using a mixture of ethyl acetate and diethyl ether in the presence of 0.5% formic acid. SA, a major metabolite of ASA, was extracted from plasma using protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The compounds were separated on a reversed-phase column with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid (8:2, v/v). The ion transitions recorded in multiple reaction monitoring mode were m/z 179 --> 137, 137 --> 93 and 435 --> 319 for ASA, SA and IS, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the assay precision was less than 9.3%, and the accuracy exceeded 86.5%. The lower limits of quantification for ASA and SA were 5 and 50 ng/mL, respectively. The developed assay method was successfully applied for the evaluation of pharmacokinetics of ASA and SA after single oral administration of Astrix (entero-coated pellet, 100 mg of aspirin) to 10 Korean healthy male volunteers.