• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 1999

A nationwide survey was conducted to investigate the annual occurrence rate of neonatal sepsis, maternal risk factors in neonatal sepsis, localized infection in neonates, causative organisms in nosocomial infection and the most common causative organism for neonatal sepsis in Korea. Clinical and bacteriological data wele collected from 37 neonatal units to perform retrospective review of the medical records of the newborn infants who were confirmed as having neonatal sepsis and whose blood culture was collected to isolate organisms for one year study period from January to December in 1997. 78,463 neonates were born at 37 hospital in 1997, and 20,869 neonates were admitted to the neonatal units, During this period, 772 episodes of neonatal sepsis were recorded in 517 neonates. The occurrence rate of neonatal sepsis was 0.73%(0~2.95%). Male to female ratio was 1.15:1, and 303 cases(42.1%) were born prematurely. The main pathogens of early onset of sepsis were S. aureus(20%), S. epidermidis(14.4%) and coagulase negative staphylococcus(14. 4%). Gram negative bacilli including Enterobacter spp (7.2%), E. coli(5.1%), Klepstella(4.5%), Pseudomonas(3.7%) and Enterobacter faectum(3.6%) accounted for 24.1% of sepsis. Group B beta-hemolytic streptococcus were isolated only in two cases. Common obstetric factors were PROM(21.1%), difficulty delivery(18.7%), fetal tachycardia(5.3%), chorioamnionitis(4.9%), and maternal fever(4.7%). The main pathogens of late-onset sepsis were S. aureus(22.3%), S. epidermidis(20.4%) and CONS(9.9%). There were 6 cases(1.0%) of Candida sepsis, Frequent focal infections accompanying sepsis were pneumonia(26.1%), urinary tract infection(10.5%), meningitis(8.2%), and arthritis(3.6%), S. epidermidis(22.0%) and s. aureus(21.7%) were also the most common pathogens in 373 nosocomial infection.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.74-81
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• 2008

Background: Fascin is an actin-bundling protein that induces membrane protrusions and it increases cell motility in various transformed cells. Esophageal cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies, and it exhibits extensive local invasion or frequent regional lymph node metastasis even after curative surgery. We investigate the expression of fascin by performing immunohistochemistry to evaluate the clinical characteristics and prognostic significance of its expression in esophageal cancer patients. Material and Method: Immunochemistry for fascin was performed on 76 tumor samples from 76 patients who underwent esophageal cancer operations. The expression levels of fascin in the 76 esophageal cancer tissues were compared with those in the corresponding normal esophageal epithelium. The fascin-positive samples were defined as those showing more than 75% of fascin-positive cells. Result: Overall, a fascin positive expression was detected in 39 (51.3%) out of the total 76 cases. The tumors with positive fascin expression tended to more frequently show a higher stage (p=0.030), and a higher T-factor (p=0.031). The prognosis of the fascin negative group was significantly better than that of the fascin positive group (p=0.004). Multivariate analysis revealed that lymphovascular invasion and the fascin expression were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: Fascin was expressed in 513% of the esophageal cancer tissues and a positive expression of fascin was associated with more advanced tumor progression and recurrence. Our study suggests that the fascin expression may be an independent prognostic factor for an unfavorable clinical course few those patients suffering with esophageal cancer.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.342-347
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• 2004

A bacterial strain YC4963 with antifungal activity against Colletotrichum orbiculare, a causal organism of cucumber anthracnose was isolated from the rhizosphere soil of Siegesbeckia pubescens Makino in Korea. Based on physiological and biochemical characteristics and 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis, the bac­terial strain was identified as Pseudomonas aurantiaca. The bacteria also inhibited mycelial growth of several plant fungal pathogens such as Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani on PDA and 0.1 TSA media. The antifungal activity was found from the culture filtrate of this isolate and the active compound was quantitatively bound to XAD adsorption resin. The antibiotic compound was purified and identified as phenazine-l-carboxylic acid on the basis of combined spectral and chemical analyses data. This is the first report on the production of phenazine-l-carboxylic acid by Pseudomonas aurantiaca.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.195-206
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• 2004

Paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic investigations have been carried out for the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in the Poongam (also called Gapcheon) Basin in the eastern South Korea. A total of 128 independently oriented core samples were drilled from 13 sites for this study. The mean direction after bedding correction (D/I=353.1$^{\circ}$/55.6$^{\circ}$, k=21.5, =$$\alpha$_{95}$=10.1$^{\circ}$) is more dispersed than the mean direction before bedding correction (D/I=10.5$^{\circ}$/56.9$^{\circ}$, k=73.9, =$$\alpha$_{95}$=5.3$^{\circ}$), and the stepwise unfolding of the characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) reveals a maximum value of k at 20% unfolding. Secondary authigenic hematite accompanied by altered clays such as chlorite was identified by the electron microscope observations. These results collectively imply that the ChRM is remagnetized due to the formation of the secondary authigenic hematite after tilting of the strata. It is interpreted that the chemical remagnetization was connected to the introduction of mixed magmatic-meteoric fluids, which formed hydrothermal vein deposits near the study area. The paleomagnetic pole position (214.3$^{\circ}$E, 81.6$^{\circ}$N, =$A_{95}$=7.4$^{\circ}$) of the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks calculated from remagnetized directions is close to those of the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary poles of the Korean Peninsula. This Late Cretaceous to Tertiary remagnetization seems to be widespread over the Okcheon Belt because the chemical remagnetization is previously reported to be found in rocks from other Cretaceous small basins (e.g., Eumseong, Gongju and Youngdong basins) along the Okcheon Belt and some Paleozoic strata from the Okcheon unmetamorphosed zone.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.236-243
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• 1998

Objectives: Local invasion of the thyroid cancer that is invasion of the upper aerodigestive tract, neurovascular structures of the neck and superior mediastinum, is infrequent and comprises of 1-16% of well-differentiated thyroid cancer. However the proximity of the thyroid gland to these structures provides the means for an invasive cancer to gain ready access into theses structures and when invasion occurs, it is the source of significant morbidity and mortality. So locally invasive thyroid cancer should be removed as much as possible, but still much debates have been exist whether the surgical method should be radical or conservative. This study was desinged to evaluate the clinical characteristics and the surgical treatment of the locally invasive thyroid cancer. Material and Methods: At the department of otorhinolaryngology of Hallym university, 10 patients diagnosed as locally invasive thyroid cancer among the 81 patients treated for thyroid cancer between 1991 to 1997 were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Of the 10 patients, 3 patients had histories of previous surgical treatment with or without radiation or radioactive iodine therapy. The site of invasion of thyroid cancer were trachea(7 cases), recurrent laryngeal nerve(5 cases), mediastinal node(5 cases), esophagus(3cases), larynx(3cases), carotid artery(3 cases), pharynx(l case), and other sites(4 cases). The operation techniques included 1 partial laryngectomy and 1 partial cricoid resection, 2 shavings and 3 window resections of the trachea, 1 sleeve resection of the trachea with end-to-end anastomosis and 1 cricotracheoplasty for tracheal invasion, 2 shavings and 1 partial esophagectomies for esophageal invasion, and 1 wall shaving and 2 partial resections with $Gortex^{\circledR}$ tube reconstruction for carotid artery invasion, and so on. Conclusions: These data and review of literature suggest that the surgical method should be perfomed on the basis of individual condition and complete removal of all gross tumor with preservation of vital structures whenever possible will offer a good result.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.244-252
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• 1998

The thyroid nodules are the most common endocrine disease requiring surgical management. We perfomed a clinical study of 298 cases with thyroid nodules, who were admitted to and operated at the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Gyeong sang National University from January 1987 to April 1997 and the results were summarized as follows: 1) Patients were composed of 214 cases(71.8%) of benign nodule and 84 cases(28.2%) of malignant nodule. Benign and malignant nodules were prevalent in fifth decade. 2) The sex distribution showed a preponderance of females with ratio of 5.88:1 in benign nodule and 11:1 in malignant nodule. 3) The nodules were located in the right lobe(134 cases, 44.9%), the left lobe(121 cases, 40.6%), both lobes(34 cases, 11.4%), and isthmus(8 cases, 2.7%). The possibility of malignancy was higher in the solid rather than cystic lesions. 4) Radioactive iodine scintiscans were perfomed in 273 cases and revealed cold nodules in 237 cases(86.8%), 58 of these cases(24.4%) were malignant. 5) According to the histopathologic classification, benign nodules included follicular adenomas 136 cases(63.5%), adenomatous goiters 67 cases(31.3%), Hurthle cell adenomas 4 cases(1.9%), cysts 3 cases(1.4%) and thyroiditis 4 cases(1.4%). In malignant nodules, papillary carcinomas 72 cases(85.7%), follicular carcinoma 8 cases(9.5%), undifferentiated carcinoma 2 cases(2.4%), medullary carcinoma 1 case(1.2%) and malignant lymphoma 1 case(1.2%). 6) The most commonly performed operative procedure was a lobectomy with isthmusectomy(85.5%) for bengn nodules and a total thyroidectomy(51.2%) for malignant nodules. 7) The rate of complications was higher in the cases with malignant nodules(20.2%) than in the benign cases(0.5%). The recurrence rate was 8.3%(7 cases).

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.54-58
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• 2005

Background : To evaluate the role of estrogen and progesterone in the carcinogenesis of NSCLC, IHC studies for the expression of the receptors of estrogen and progesterone have been performed with inconsistent results. Recently the TMA method has been developed and has become recognized as a useful and rapid method for extensively analysing molecular markers at the gene and protein level. We have investigated their expressions in the tissue from NSCLC using the microarray method. Methods : The TMA construction was made with 70 formalinfixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of NSCLC. After heat-induced epitope retrieval, IHC staining on primary tissues of NSCLC was performed with the monoclonal antibodies, ER1D5 and PR1A6. Results : Our sample of 70 consisted of 74% men and 26% women. Of the patients, 49% were current smokers, 27% were non-smokers and 24% were former smokers. By histologic classification, 34 patients had squamous cell carcinoma, 24 had adenocarcinoma, 9 had adenosquamous cell carcinoma, and 3 had other carcinomas. No cancer cells were immunostained with these monoclonal antibodies in any primary tissues of NSCLC. Conclusions : No expression of neither of the two receptors was found in any of the lung cancer tissues. This suggests that adequate genetic variants for IHC staining need to be developed for NSCLC.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2007

Background: Korean national guidelines for examining contacts with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) are a tuberculin skin test (TST) and chest radiographs. The treatment of a latent TB infection as performed only in those younger than six years of age who test positive for TST. Although there is a high incidence of active TB in young Korean soldiers, the current national guidelines for controlling contacts with active TB in soldiers are insufficient. This study highlights the problems with the Korean guidelines for controlling a TB outbreak in a small military unit. Material and Methods: In December of 2005, there was a tuberculosis outbreak in a military unit with a total of 464 soldiers in Kyung Gi province. The chest radiographs were taken of all the soldiers, and TST were carried out on 408 candidates. Results: In the first screening of the chest radiographs, two active TB patients were detected. By August of 2006, four additional cases were detected, making a total of six cases after the outbreak. All the patients showed active pulmonary TB or TB pleuritis. When the results of TST in the close contacts and non-close contacts were compared, there was a significant difference in the absolute size of the induration($9.70{\pm}7.50mm$ vs. $6.26{\pm}7.02mm$, p<0.001) as well as the ratio of patients showing an induration > 10mm (50.0% vs. 32.0%, p<0.001) and 15mm (33.2% vs. 20.9%, p= 0.005). Conclusion: Although the national guidelines for managing a TB outbreak in a military unit were followed, there were continuous instances of new active TB cases. This highlights the need for new guidelines to prevent the spread of TB.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.383-390
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• 1984

The present paper was carried out to elucidate the effect of salt-treatment and the addition of some food additives on the histamine formation and histidine decarboxylase activity in mackerel muscle during storage under different conditions. The histamine formation was inhibited by salting and histamine was hardly formed regardless of the brine concentraction during storage at $5^{\circ}C$. While, during storage at $25^{\circ}C$, the inhibitory effect upon the histamine formation and histidine decarboxylase activity was in proportion to the increase of the brine concentration. The addition of accidulants such as citric acid, malic acid and succinic acid inhibited the histamine formation and histidine decarboxylase activity. Especially, the histamine contents in the muscle added $10\%$ of citric acid and malic acid was below the critical concentration of poisoning for histamine during storage at $25^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. The histamine formation and histidine decarboxylase activity were inhibited by the $10\%$ addition of D-sorbitol, while there was no significant effect in the case of $5\%$ addition. Generally, the histamine content was increased with histidine decarboxylase activity, but didn't reveal the quantitative correlation ship with the enzyme activity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.1236-1247
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• 2014

Gamma irradiated-treatment of natural medicinal plants can be used to improve extraction transference number and for qualitative improvement of color when applied to functional material exploration. This study investigated the biological activities of Aralia elata cortex extracts upon gamma irradiation. In addition, different physical techniques [photostimulated luminescence (PSL) and thermoluminescence (TL)] were used for irradiation identification of Aralia elata cortex. In PSL analysis, non-irradiated (0 kGy) sample showed a negative result of 400 photon counts (PCs), whereas irradiated (5, 10, and 30 kGy) samples showed positive results of 90,100.00, 312,614.33, and 321,661.67 PCs, respectively. In the TL method, growth curve showed very unusual behaviors around $200^{\circ}C$ upon natural-irradiation of the non-irradiated (0 kGy) sample and around $150{\sim}250^{\circ}C$ for the irradiated (5, 10, and 30 kGy) samples. The TL ratio was 0.1 in non-irradiated samples at 0.011, whereas the values of irradiated samples (5, 10, and 30 kGy) were 0.1 at 1.105, 1.009, and 2.206, respectively. For phenolics of gamma-irradiated Aralia elata cortex, water and 50% ethanol extracts had the highest amounts, $17.30{\pm}0.40mg/g$ and $18.87{\pm}0.46mg/g$ at 10 kGy irradiation, respectively. The inhibitory activities of angiotensin-converting enzyme and xanthin oxidase were higher in both irradiated water and 50% ethanol extracts than in non-irradiated ones. For pancreatin ${\alpha}$-amylase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities, water and 50% ethanol extracts containing $200{\mu}g/mL$ of phenolics showed high inhibitory activities of 60~100% at all irradiation doses (0~30 kGy). This result confirmed that Aralia elata cortex extracts have greater anti-diabetic effects than acabose as a diabetic remedy. Gamma-irradiated Aralia elata cortex extracts are useful as a functional material with anti-diabetic effects. Thus, Aralia elata cortex extracts can be used as a functional material with various biological activities, and gamma-irradiation can be used to amplify biological activities in plants.