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Clinical Significance of Serum PDGF-BB and IGF-1 in Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis (석탄광부 진폐증 환자에서 PDGF-BB, IGF-1의 의의)

  • Shin, Pyo Jin;Yong, Suk Joong;Shin, Kye Chul;Lee, Won Yeon;Kim, Shin Tae;Cha, Bong Suk;Jeon, Geun Jae
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.52 no.4
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    • pp.338-345
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    • 2002
  • Background : Coal workers' pneumoconiosis(CWP) is a fibrotic lung disease resulting from the chronic inhalation of coal dust. Various cytokines and growth factors secreted from macrophages and monocytes play a key role in the pathogenesis of pneumoconiosis. The platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB and the insulin-like growth factor(IGF)-1 secreated from the macrophages and monocytes are believed to stimulate the accumulation of mesenchymal cells and fibrosis of the lower respiratory tract that is observed in fibrotic lung disease. The serum concentraion of PDGF-BB and IGF-1 in 30 CWP patients and 10 healthy controls were measured in order to determine if PDGF-BB and IGF-1 can be used as sensitive biomarkers in CWP. Method : Serum was collected from 30 patients with CWP(13 with simple CWP and 17 with complicated CWP) and 10 healthy controls. The serum concentrations of PDGF-BB and IGF-1 were measured using ELISA (R&D system, Minneapolis, MN). Results : The serum PDGF-BB concentration in patients with complicated CWP($10083.76{\pm}639.07pg/mL$) was significantly higher than in the patients with simple CWP ($8493.88{\pm}848.51pg/mL$) and the healthy controls ($3726.17{\pm}292.20pg/mL$) (p<0.05). Compared to the healthy controls ($413.40{\pm}1.94ng/mL$), there was no significant difference in the serum IGF-1 concentration in patients with simple ($366.77{\pm}183.67ng/mL$) and complicated CWP ($403.18{\pm}15.39ng/mL$) (p>0.05). Conclusion : These results show the important role of the PDGF-BB mediated pathways in the pathogenesis of CWP. These data suggests that the PDGF-BB serum concentration is a useful biomarkers of the fibrotic extent in CWP patients.

Pulmonary Tuberculosis Mimicking Pneumonia on CT : Retrospective Analysis of Clinical and CT Features (전산화단층촬영에서 폐렴양 소견을 보였던 폐결핵: 임상 및 전산화단층촬영 소견의 후향적 고찰)

  • Paeng, Mi Hye;Kim, Yoo Kyung;Shim, Sung Shin;Chang, Jung Hyun;Lee, Jin Hwa;Kwag, Hyon Joo
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.55 no.1
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    • pp.31-40
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    • 2003
  • Background : A CT scan is a useful modality for the diagnosis and evaluation of disease activity in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. However, the CT diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is sometimes difficult in patients with an atypical CT pattern, especially with lobar consolidation mimicking pneumonia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and CT features of pulmonary tuberculosis, simulating pneumonia, from a CT scan. Materials and Methods : The clinical and CT features in 21 patients, where the CT diagnosis was pneumonia, or the CT differential diagnosis included pneumonia, were retrospectively analyzed. Results : Of the 21 patients, 6 were immunocompromised, 15 presented with fever or leukocytosis and 15 showed positive sputum smear test for acid fast bacilli. Also, 17 of the 21 patients showed a positive sputum culture test. On the CT scan, consolidation was noted in all patients (100%), volume loss of the involved lobe or segment in 12 (57%), bronchogenic spread in 15 (71%), a cavity in 7 (33%) and bronchial wall thickening also in 7 (33%). The location of the consolidation revealed a relatively even distribution, with no specific predilection site. The other associated pulmonary diseases included ARDS, bronchiectasis, severe pulmonary emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Conclusion : In the immunocompromised patients, or patients with an underlying pulmonary disease, whose CT scans showed pulmonary consolidation, especially in association with findings of bronchogenic spread, a cavity or bronchial wall thickening, meticulous examination for pulmonary tuberculosis is recommended.

Association between RASSF1A Methylation and Clinicopathological Factors in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Lung (편평상피폐암에서 암억제유전자 RASSF1A의 메틸화와 임상 및 병리소견과의 연관성)

  • Choi, Naeyun;Lee, Hye-Sook;Song, In Seung;Lim, Yu Sung;Son, Dae-Soon;Lim, Dae-Sik;Choi, Yong Soo;Kim, Jhingook;Kim, Hojoong
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.57 no.3
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    • pp.265-272
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    • 2004
  • Background : RASSF1A, which is one of tumor suppressor genes, is frequently inactivated by hypermethylation of the promoter region in a variety of human cancers, including lung cancer. This study was performed to investigate the association between RASSF1A methylation and the clinicopathological factors in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Methods : Eighty-one samples from the patients with squamous cell carcinoma of lung were examined. The promoter methyation of RASSF1A was analyzed by methylation specific PCR and sequencing. Statistical analysis was made to examine the association between RASSF1A methylation and the clinicopathological parameters. Results : RASSF1A methylation was observed in 37.0 % (30 of 81) of the patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. RASSF1A methylation was found to be associated with cellular differentiation(p=0.0097) and the overall survival(p=0.0635). However, there was no association between RASSF1A methylation and the other clinicopathological parameters, such as the pathological TNM stage, the recurrence rate, lymph node invasion and the amount of cigarettes smoked. Conclusion : RASSF1A methylation might be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with squamous carcinoma of the lung. A larger scale study is needed.

The Correlation between the Radiological Changes and the Level of Transforming Growth Factor-β1 in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis (폐결핵의 영상학적 진행과 Transforming Growth Factor-β1 농도와의 관련성)

  • Cho, Yongseon;Lee, Yang Deok;Cho, Wook;Na, Dong Jib;Han, Min Soo
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.60 no.3
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    • pp.297-303
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    • 2006
  • Background : Pulmonary tuberculosis is frequently accompanied with complications such as bronchiectasis, cavities, fibrosis and a deterioration of the lung function. However, there is little information available on the pathogenesis of these complications in pulmonary tuberculosis. Among the many factors involving in tissue remodeling, transforming growth factor-${\beta}1$ ($TGF-{\beta}1$) is a potent stimulus of the extracellular matrix fomation and a mediator of potential relevance for airway wall remodeling. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between the radiological changes and the $TGF-{\beta}1$ level in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods : Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected from total of 35 patients before treating them for active pulmonary tuberculosis, and the $TGF-{\beta}1$ levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The BALF levels were recalculated as the epithelial lining fluid (ELF) levels using the albumin method. pulmonary function test (PFT) and high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) were performed before and after treatment. Results : There was a strong correlation between the serum $TGF-{\beta}1$ level and the presence of cavities (r=0.404, p=0.006), even though the BAL $TGF-{\beta}1$ level showed a weak correlation with complications. In addition, there was no correlation between the $TGF-{\beta}1$ levels before treatment and the changes in the PFT and HRCT during treatment. Conclusion : There is a correlation between the serum $TGF-{\beta}1$ level and cavity formation in pulmonary tuberculosis before treatment. However, further study will be needed to confirm this.

Effects of Strength Recognition on the Intent of Start-up after Retirement: To the Office Workers (강점인식이 은퇴 후 창업의도에 미치는 영향: 직장인을 대상으로)

  • Park, Hye sung;Park, Woojin;Yun, Bae byung
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.143-150
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    • 2020
  • This research is intended to identify how office worker's recognition of strength affects the intention of starting a business when it is used as a medium for utilizing strength. The survey period was conducted for two months from January 17, 2019 to March 8, 2019. In order to achieve the object of this study, a significant number of employees have been collected nationwide, and 287 office workers were analyzed after collecting 300 questionaires, excluding 13 office workers who were not sincere. The significant data were analyzed by utilizing the structural equation and technical statistics and by verifying the conformity of structural model and measurement model and by investigating the relationship between variables. The results of this study are summarized as follows: First, employee's perception of strength has been found to have a significant effect on the utilizing of strength. Second, the use of workers' strengths has been found to have a significant effect on the intention of starting a business. Third, it has been confirmed that in the relationship between the employee's perception of strength and intention to start a business, the recognition of strength has a significant effect on the intention of starting a business only through the use of strength. Most office workers are nervous about the future and make various plans. The time to live after retirement is getting longer and jobs and working hours are shrinking at an alarming rate. According to the analysis on the status of small business owners in the mid-term of 2017 data, the average monthly operating profit of small business owners across the country is decreasing over the years, and most start-ups are subsistence-type start-ups, and they decide to start their own businesses because they have no other choice than start-ups. As the number of small business owners suffering from financial difficulties has increased since the financial crisis and insecurity of job is pushing those with financial difficulties after retirement to the battleground of the start-up market, the result of this research suggest that the workers need to recognize their own strength and enhance the importance of utilizing the strength.

Pericentric Inversion of the X Chromosome in a Male with Azoospermia and in the Family of a Pregnant Female Carrier (무정자증을 보이는 남성과 정상 생식력을 가진 여성의 가계에서 관찰된 X 염색체의 Pericentric Inversion)

  • Lee, Bom-Yi;Ryu, Hyun-Mee;Lee, Moon-Hee;Park, Ju-Yeon;Kim, Jin-Woo;Lee, Joong-Shik;Kim, Hye-Ok;Kim, Min-Hyung;Park, So-Yeon
    • Journal of Genetic Medicine
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.139-144
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    • 2008
  • We report on two cases of pericentric inversion of X chromosome. The cases were found in a 40-year-old man with azoospermia and in a family of a 38-year-old pregnant woman. The first case with 46,Y,inv(X)(p22.1q27) had concentrations of LH, prolactin, estradiol, and testosterone that were within normal ranges; however, FSH levels were elevated. Testis biopsy revealed maturation arrest at the primary and secondary spermatocytes without spermatozoa. There were no microdeletions in the 6 loci of chromosome Y. For the second case, the cytogenetic study of thepregnant woman referring for advanced maternal age and a family history of inversion X chromosome was 46,X,inv(X)(p22.11q27.2). The karyotype of her fetus was 46,X,inv(X)(p22.1q27). Among other family members, the karyotypes of an older sister in pregnancy and her fetus were 46,X,inv(X)(p22.11q27.2), and 46,Y,?inv(X), respectively. The proband's father was 46,Y,inv(X)(p22.11q27.2). All carriers in the family discussed above were fertile and phenotypically normal. In addition, the ratio of inactivation of inv(X) by RBG-banding was discordant between the two sisters, with the older sister having only 4.1% of cells carrying inactivated inv(X) while the proband had a 69.5% incidence of late replicating inv(X). Therefore, we suggest that the cause of azoospermia in the first case might be related to inversion X chromosome with positional effect. Also, the family of the second case showing normal phenotype of the balanced inv(X) might be not affected any positional effect of genes.

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Context Prediction Using Right and Wrong Patterns to Improve Sequential Matching Performance for More Accurate Dynamic Context-Aware Recommendation (보다 정확한 동적 상황인식 추천을 위해 정확 및 오류 패턴을 활용하여 순차적 매칭 성능이 개선된 상황 예측 방법)

  • Kwon, Oh-Byung
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.51-67
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    • 2009
  • Developing an agile recommender system for nomadic users has been regarded as a promising application in mobile and ubiquitous settings. To increase the quality of personalized recommendation in terms of accuracy and elapsed time, estimating future context of the user in a correct way is highly crucial. Traditionally, time series analysis and Makovian process have been adopted for such forecasting. However, these methods are not adequate in predicting context data, only because most of context data are represented as nominal scale. To resolve these limitations, the alignment-prediction algorithm has been suggested for context prediction, especially for future context from the low-level context. Recently, an ontological approach has been proposed for guided context prediction without context history. However, due to variety of context information, acquiring sufficient context prediction knowledge a priori is not easy in most of service domains. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to propose a novel context prediction methodology, which does not require a priori knowledge, and to increase accuracy and decrease elapsed time for service response. To do so, we have newly developed pattern-based context prediction approach. First of ail, a set of individual rules is derived from each context attribute using context history. Then a pattern consisted of results from reasoning individual rules, is developed for pattern learning. If at least one context property matches, say R, then regard the pattern as right. If the pattern is new, add right pattern, set the value of mismatched properties = 0, freq = 1 and w(R, 1). Otherwise, increase the frequency of the matched right pattern by 1 and then set w(R,freq). After finishing training, if the frequency is greater than a threshold value, then save the right pattern in knowledge base. On the other hand, if at least one context property matches, say W, then regard the pattern as wrong. If the pattern is new, modify the result into wrong answer, add right pattern, and set frequency to 1 and w(W, 1). Or, increase the matched wrong pattern's frequency by 1 and then set w(W, freq). After finishing training, if the frequency value is greater than a threshold level, then save the wrong pattern on the knowledge basis. Then, context prediction is performed with combinatorial rules as follows: first, identify current context. Second, find matched patterns from right patterns. If there is no pattern matched, then find a matching pattern from wrong patterns. If a matching pattern is not found, then choose one context property whose predictability is higher than that of any other properties. To show the feasibility of the methodology proposed in this paper, we collected actual context history from the travelers who had visited the largest amusement park in Korea. As a result, 400 context records were collected in 2009. Then we randomly selected 70% of the records as training data. The rest were selected as testing data. To examine the performance of the methodology, prediction accuracy and elapsed time were chosen as measures. We compared the performance with case-based reasoning and voting methods. Through a simulation test, we conclude that our methodology is clearly better than CBR and voting methods in terms of accuracy and elapsed time. This shows that the methodology is relatively valid and scalable. As a second round of the experiment, we compared a full model to a partial model. A full model indicates that right and wrong patterns are used for reasoning the future context. On the other hand, a partial model means that the reasoning is performed only with right patterns, which is generally adopted in the legacy alignment-prediction method. It turned out that a full model is better than a partial model in terms of the accuracy while partial model is better when considering elapsed time. As a last experiment, we took into our consideration potential privacy problems that might arise among the users. To mediate such concern, we excluded such context properties as date of tour and user profiles such as gender and age. The outcome shows that preserving privacy is endurable. Contributions of this paper are as follows: First, academically, we have improved sequential matching methods to predict accuracy and service time by considering individual rules of each context property and learning from wrong patterns. Second, the proposed method is found to be quite effective for privacy preserving applications, which are frequently required by B2C context-aware services; the privacy preserving system applying the proposed method successfully can also decrease elapsed time. Hence, the method is very practical in establishing privacy preserving context-aware services. Our future research issues taking into account some limitations in this paper can be summarized as follows. First, user acceptance or usability will be tested with actual users in order to prove the value of the prototype system. Second, we will apply the proposed method to more general application domains as this paper focused on tourism in amusement park.

Traumatic Contusion of ICR Mouse Brain by FPI : $^{1}\textrm{H}$ MR Spectroscopic Study (유체타진손상기법에 의한 ICR 쥐의 뇌손상: 자기공명분광법)

  • Park, Chi-Bong;Kim, Hwi-Yool;Jeun, Sin-Soo;Han, Young-Min;Han, Duk-Young;Kang, Young-Woon;Choe, Bo-Young
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.259-267
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    • 2003
  • In vivo $^1$H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 4.7 T was applied to investigate the cerebral metabolite changes of mice brain before and after experimental brain trauma. In vivo $^1$H MR spectra were acquired from a voxel covering right parietal cortex in normal brain, used as control subjects. After experimental brain trauma using the fluid percussion injury (FPI) method, $^1$H MR spectra were acquired from the same lesion three days after trauma. Metabolite ratios of the injured lesion were compared to those of controls. After trauma, N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) ratio, as a neuronal marker was decreased significantly versus controls, indicating neuronal loss. The ratio of NAA/Cr in traumatic brain contusion was 0.90$\pm$0.11, while that in normal control subjects was 1.13$\pm$0.12 (P=0.001). Choline (Cho)/Cr ratio had a tendency to rise in experimental brain contusion (P=0.02). Cho/Cr ratio after trauma was 0.91$\pm$0.17 while that before traumas was 0.76$\pm$0.15. Cho/Cr ratio was increased and this might indicate a inflammatory activity. However, no significant difference of [(glutamate+glutamine) (Glx)]/Cr was established between experimental traumatic brain injury models and normal controls. Lactate (Lac)/Cr ratio was appeared as a sign of shifted posttraumatic energy metabolism and increased versus controls. These findings strongly suggest that in vivo $^1$H MRS may be a useful modality for clinical evaluation of traumatic contusion and could aid in better understanding the neuropathologic process of traumatic contusion induced by FPI. In the present study, in vivo $^1$H MRS was proved to be a useful non-invasive method for in vivo diagnosis and monitoring of posttraumatic metabolism in models of brain contusion.

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Suggestion for Comprehensive Quality Assurance of Medical Linear Accelerator in Korea (국내 선형가속기의 포괄적인 품질관리체계에 대한 제언)

  • Choi, Sang Hyoun;Park, Dong-wook;Kim, Kum Bae;Kim, Dong Wook;Lee, Jaiki;Shin, Dong Oh
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.294-303
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    • 2015
  • American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Published Task Group 40 report which includes recommendations for comprehensive quality assurance (QA) for medical linear accelerator in 1994 and TG-142 report for recommendation for QA which includes procedures such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in 2010. Recently, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) published NSSC notification no. 2015-005 which is "Technological standards for radiation safety of medical field". This notification regulate to establish guidelines for quality assurance which includes organization and job, devices, methods/frequency/tolerances and action levels for QA, and to implement quality assurance in each medical institution. For this reason, all of these facilities using medical machine for patient treatment should establish items, frequencies and tolerances for proper QA for medical treatment machine that use the techniques such as non-IMRT, IMRT and SRS/SBRT, and perform quality assurance. For domestic, however, there are lack of guidelines and reports of Korean Society of Medical Physicists (KSMP) for reference to establish systematic QA report in medical institutes. This report, therefore, suggested comprehensive quality assurance system such as the scheme of quality assurance system, which is considered for domestic conditions, based the notification of NSSC and AAPM TG-142 reports. We think that the quality assurance system suggested for medical linear accelerator also help establishing QA system for another high-precision radiation treatment machines.

Economic analysis of Phellinus spp. cultivation (진흙버섯속(상품명: 상황버섯) 재배방법에 따른 경제적 효과 분석)

  • Chang, Hyun-You;Lee, Young-Suk
    • Journal of Mushroom
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.76-87
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    • 2004
  • This experiments were conducted to study on the economic analysis of Phellinus spp.(Comercial name: Sanghwang mushroom). These results were as follows: Phellinus spp. can be cultivated about 4 years by one time inoculation. This mushroom has been cultivated by the method of burying log into the soil(BM) at the first time. Recently, however, the method of hanging log on the shelves in the house(HM) is used, because HM has more advantage than BM that HM can be cultivated more pieces of logs than BM. On the other hand, HM is required to invest more 5,678,230Won for the equipments than the BM. And also, HM is required 14,400 pieces(2.8 times) more log numbers than BM 5,000 pieces. Also, HM is required more 3,680,000Won to purchase log, 1,104,000Won to purchase spawn. The cost of production is required to 20,180,971Won for BM, and 37,953,825Won for HM. Accordingly, product cost of HM is 1.9 times higher than BM. The operating cost is required to 1,207,712Won for BM, and 24,075,432Won for HM. Accordingly, operating cost of HM is 2.0 times higher than BM. The net income is 580,940,000Won for BM, and 1,683,300,000Won for HM. Accordingly, net income of HM is 2.9 times higher than BM. The income is 589,040,000Won for BM, and 169,718,000Won for HM. Accordingly, income of HM is 2.9 times higher than BM. In conclusion, HM is required 2.8 times more logs. HM has 1.03 times more products per a piece of log. HM has 1.9 times more production cost, and 2.0 times more operating cost. As you read above, HM and BM have two different aspects. BM is required less investment cost than HM, but BM has lower income because of the different capacity of production. By the comparing those two methods, HM is resulted more efficient method for the producing mushroom. Only in the side of cash flowing, the cash expenditure of BM is required less money at first year. But it has no production at first year. BM would get the income after 2 years buring the logs. The cash expenditure of HM is required much money for the equipments and the logs at first year, but HM would get the income at first year.

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