• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.303-309
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• 2016

Purpose: Malignant ascites is a common complication in terminal cancer patients. Less-invasive pigtail catheter insertion is the most frequent procedure in patients who need repeated ascites drainage. This study investigated effects and adverse events associated with catheter insertion for ascites drainage and evaluated prognostic outcomes. Methods: We reviewed medical records between 2010 and 2013 of hospice and palliative care institutions in Seoul, South Korea. Among 2,608 inpatients, 67 patients received ascites pigtail catheter drainage. We reviewed demographic data, palliative performance scale, laboratory data, duration of catheter insertion, prevalence and type of complications, use and duration of antibiotics, and survival time. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to evaluate prognostic outcomes related with catheter insertion. Results: Ascites drainage was performed most commonly in hepatobiliary and gastric cancer patients. Ascites symptoms improved in 55 patients after the catheter drainage. Adverse events included pain (19.4%), leakage (14.9%), disconnection (7.5%), catheter occlusion (6%) and fever (4.5%). In Cox regression analysis, survival time from the catheter insertion was significantly associated with Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) (HR 0.73; P value 0.045) and serum sodium level (HR 2.77; P value 0.003) in a multivariate model. Conclusion: Patients' PPS and serum sodium level should be considered before making a decision of pigtail catheter insertion.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1422-1430
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• 2016

This study was performed to investigate the modulatory effects of two prototypes of Panax ginseng saponin fractions, 20(S)-protopanaxadiol saponins (PDS) and 20(S)-protopanaxatriol saponins (PTS), on the induction of inflammatory mediators in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells. For this purpose, RAW264.7 cells were treated with LPS ($10{\mu}g/ml$) before, after, or simultaneously with PDS or PTS ($150{\mu}g/ml$), and the released level of nitric oxide (NO) and expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were evaluated. When RAW264.7 cells were treated with LPS and ginseng saponin fractions simultaneously for 24 hr, PTS, compared to PDS, more strongly attenuated the NO production induced by LPS treatment. When the cells were pretreated with LPS for 2 hr followed by PDS or PTS treatment for 24 hr, both ginseng saponins strongly reduced NO release. The pretreatment of RAW264.7 cells with PDS or PTS for 2 hr followed by LPS treatment for 24 hr significantly attenuated the LPS-induced production of NO. PTS showed stronger inhibitory potency to NO generation than PDS. Our western blot experiment showed that both PDS and PTS ($150{\mu}g/ml$) also significantly down-regulated the expressions of iNOS and COX-2 induced by LPS treatment. Our results suggest that both PDS and PTS possess strong protective effects against LPS-stimulated inflammation and that their protective effects are mediated by the suppression of NO synthesis via down-regulation of pro-inflammatory enzymes, iNOS, and COX-2 in the RAW264.7 cells.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.71-85
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• 2018

A recent topic of interest within ecology is ecosystem services that are importantly connected with biodiversity. Biodiversity is a fundamental component of ecological studies and has been the subject of many studies worldwide. However, studies on the diversity and distribution of freshwater fish were not undertaken in earnest until 2000, and the number of internationally available studies is therefore still limited. In this study, we used data from "The Survey and Evaluation of Aquatic Ecosystem Health (hereafter SEAEH)" within the framework of which whole water systems on the Korean peninsula are annually monitored to investigate and determine the current status of the diversity and distribution of freshwater fish, as well as to elucidate major factors impacting freshwater fish. A total of 130 species from 28 families were identified at around 953 sites in the SEAEH investigation of 2014. The species Zacco platypus (relative abundance: 28.2%) and Z. koreanus (19.3%) were identified as the most abundant species on the Korean peninsula, and besides these 20 endangered species, 51 endemic species and 4 exotic species were also collected. Highest (96 species) and lowest (72 species) diversity were identified in the Han River Watershed and the Yeongsan/Seomjin River Watershed, respectively. The mean endemic rate was 32.7%, which is higher than the previous rate determined in 1995. The exotic species Micropterus salmoides, Lepomis macrochirus and Carassius cuvieri were found in the whole river system except north Yeongdong, whereas Oreochromis niloticus occurred only at three sites due to the cold water temperatures in winter. Totally, 28 species were found to be translocated to different water systems not connected with known original habitats, most translocations occurring in the Nakdong River and the Yeongdong region. Among the translocated species, Opsariichthys uncirostris amurensis, and Erythroculter erythropterus were dominantly distributed in the mid- to lower reaches of Nakdong River where they may be harmful to the native fish assemblages due to their strong predation. The construction of weirs in connection with the "4 River Project" generated changes in fish assemblages before, during and after the project, resulting in altered habitat condition. Especially, a decrease in the number of endemic species and an increase in the abundance of lentic species were seen. Human-induced global warming will allow exotic species requiring high water temperatures to adapt to the environmental conditions of the Korean peninsula, which may enhance the diversity of native fishes and create changes in distribution. For the establishment of realistic and efficient management and protection strategies for Korean freshwater fish, SEAEH, which produces fundamental and quantitative data for Korean streams, is an important and necessary tool.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.625-634
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• 2016

Three leading agencies under different ministries - Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) in the ministry of Environment, Han river control office in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and Weather Group of ROK Air Force in the Ministry of National Defense (MND) - have been operated radars in the purpose of observing weather, hydrology and military operational weather in Korea. Eight S-band dual-pol. radars have been newly installed or replaced by these ministries over different places by 2015. However each ministry has different aims of operating radars, observation strategies, data processing algorithms, etc. Due to the differences, there is a wide level of accuracy on observed radar data as well as the composite images made of the cross governmental radar measurement. Gaining fairly high level of accuracy on radar data obtained by different agencies has been shared as a great concern by the ministries. Thus, "an agreement of harmonizing weather and hydrological radar products" was made by the three ministries in 2010. Particularly, this is very important to produce better rainfall estimation using the cross governmental radar measurement. Weather Radar Center(WRC) in KMA has been developed an empirical method using measurements observed by Yongin testbed radar. This study is aiming to examine the efficiency of the empirical method to improve the accuracies of radar rainfalls estimated from cross governmental dual-pol. radar measurements. As a result, the radar rainfalls of three radars (Baengnyeongdo, Biseulsan, and, Sobaeksan Radar) were shown improvement in accuracy (1-NE) up to 70% using data from May to October in 2015. Also, the range of the accuracies in radar rainfall estimation, which were from 30% to 60% before adjusting polarimetric variables, were decreased from 65% to 70% after adjusting polarimetric variables.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2001

Purpose: Following up the cases of cow's milk-sensitive enteropathy (CMSE), We observed the development of clinical tolerance with cow's milk and other foods. We investigated the clinical outcome of CMSE. Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of patients who had been admitted and diagnosed as CMSE by responses to cow's milk challenge and elimination test and the findings of small intestinal biopsy at Department of Pediatrics, Taegu Catholic University Hospital from March 1992 to March 1997. All of them were being fed with protein hydrolysate before 6 months old, and tried cow's milk and other foods challenge test at following each two month. Twenty-one cases of them returned to be followed. The age at admission was $30.7{\pm}8.8$ (18~47) days old and at survey was $43.4{\pm}23.7$ (16~84) months old. Results: 1) Although the body weight at birth of the patients was 25~75 percentile, all on admission was below 3 percentile. The body weight on interview was 25~75 percentile. 2) The development of clinical tolerance in cow's milk was observed at 16~24 months of age and the tolerance rate was 61% at 12 months of age, 90% at 16 months of age. The development of clinical tolerance in other foods was observed at 10~24 months of age and the tolerance rate was 33% at 12 months of age, 80% at 18 months of age. 3) Adverse reactions after challenge test with cow's milk were observed at 19 cases, manifestated as vomiting (31%), diarrhea (31%), irritability or lethargy (21%), skin rash (10%), and abdominal distention (5%). 4) Comparing serum IgE and milk RAST positive group on admission (5 cases) and negative group on admission (16 cases), there was no significant difference at the age of tolerance in cow's milk (p>0.05), the age of tolerance in other foods (p>0.05), allergy history in family, and the incidence of other allergic diseases. 5) The history of family allergy was observed in 3 cases (14%) in 21 patients and 3 cases (14%) showed rhinitis, urticaria or asthma through a follow-up interview. Conclusion: The development of clinical tolerance in cow's and other foods was sharply increased at 12 months of age and most of all tolerated within 24 months of age. CMSE is a temporary disorder of infancy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 1998

Purpose : Ginkgo biloba extract(GBE) is known to increase the peripheral blood circulation. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of GBE on the acute normal tissue radiation reaction. Materials and Methods : mice were divided into two groups, radiation alone and two doses GBE plus radiation, for both acute skin reaction and jejunal crypt assay. GBE was given i.p. one hour before irradiation with priming dose given one day earlier. Thirty to Fifty Gy for acute skin reaction and 11 to 14 Gy for jejunal crypt were irradiated to right hind leg and whole body, respectively. Results : Radiation doses($RD_{50}$) for Peak skin score of 2.0 were 44.2Gy (40.6-48.2Gy) for radiation alone and 44.4Gy(41.6-47.4Gy) for two doses GBE plus radiation, showing no effect of GBE on acute radiation skin damage. The numbers of regenerating jejunal crypts per circumference were also almost the same for each radiation dose level(p=0.57-0.94), and the mean lethal doses($D_o$) were 1.800y(1.57-2.09Gy) for radiation alone and 1.88Gy(1.65-2.18Gy) for two doses GBE plus radiation, indicating no effect of GBE on jejunal crypt cell survival after radiation. Conclusion : GBE doesn't increase acute normal tissue radiation reaction in this model system. As GBE was verified to enhance radiation effect on tumor, high therapeutic gain is expected when GBE is combined with radiation therapy.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.22-24
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• 1974

1. Object and importance of the research. The exports of plywood are increasing annually and it has ranked first in the world market because of the high quality product developed and manufactured using modern techniques. However, it is known that the exports of the other wood products, except plywood, is inactive because of their low quality. Accordingly, to increase the exports of various wood products investigations were carried out on kiln drying techniques to improve the quality of the wood. 2. The details and scope of the research Wet wood should be kiln dried before use to prevent various drying defects such as distortion, shrinkage etc, which would develop after processing, and also wet wood is not suitable for cutting, gluing and finishing. Therefore, the kiln drying properties of lumber from such species as Persimmon, Oak, Ramin and Meranti which are used in large quantity for manufacturing exporting wood products have been studied. Also the real state of kiln drying industry in Korea was investigated. 3. Results and proposal for practical use of the research 3. 1 Results of the research 3.1.1 The end checks and the time for drying from intial moisture content of about 40 percent to 5 percent moisture content in ovendry were investigated as Table 1. 3.1.2 The kiln dried results, for 30mm stock, which are presented by using kiln schedule Table 2 are as Table 3. 3.1.3 The kiln schedule for Persimmon which has a normal drying properties is given in Table 4. However, the persimmon which has easy checking properties should be air dried under a relative humidity of above 85% until reaching about 25 percent moisture content. 3.1.4 The kiln schedules for ramin, meranti and oak are given respectively as follows. Ramin kiln schedule ............ Table 5 and Table 6 Meranti kiln schedule ............ Table 7 Oak kiln schedule ............ Table 8 3.2 Proposal for practical use of the research Firms using the above species should be informed the results of the research so they can be used to preventing drying defects and shortening drying time.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.533-540
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• 1995

Attenuation correction is important in producing quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) images. Conventionally, photon attenuation effects are corrected using transmission measurements performed before tracer administration. The pre-injection transmission measurement approach may require a time delay between transmission and emission scans for the tracer studies requiring a long uptake period, about 45 minutes for F-18 deoxyglucose study. The time delay will limit patient throughput and increase the likelihood of patient motion. A technique lot performing simultaneous transmission and emission scans (T+E method) after the tracer injection has been validated. The T+E method substracts the emission counts contaminating the transmission measurements to produce accurate attenuation correction coefficients. This method has been evaluated in experiments using a cylindrical phantom filled with background water (5750 cc) containing $0.4{\mu}Ci/cc$ of F-18 fluoride ion and one insert cylinder (276 cc) containing $4.3{\mu}Ci/cc$. GE $Advance^{TM}$ PET scanner and Ge-68 rotating pin sources for transmission scanning were used for this investigation. Post-injection transmission scan and emission scan were peformed alternatively over time. The error in emission images corrected using post-infection transmission scan to emission images corrected transmission scan was 2.6% at the concentration of $1.0{\mu}Ci/cc$. No obvious differences in image quality and noise were apparent between the two images. The attenuation correction can be accomplished with post-injection transmission measurement using rotating pin sources and this method can significantly shorten the time between transmission and omission scans and thereby reduce the likelihood of patient motion and increase scanning throughput in PET.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.369-377
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• 2005

Precise application of topdressing nitrogen (N) fertilizer is indispensible for securing high yield and good quality of rice and minimizing N losses to the environment as well. For precise N management, growth and nitrogen nutrition status (NNS) should be diagnosed rapidly and accurately. The objective of the study was to evaluate the applicability of vegetation index (VI) calculated from hyperspectral canopy reflectance measurement and SPAD reading to nondestructive in situ diagnosis of growth and NNS of rice. Canopy reflectance, SPAD read­ing, growth parameters, and NNS characteristics were measured from various N treatments to evaluate the relationships among them for two cropping seasons from 2001 to 2002. The correlation coefficient of VIs with variables of growth and NNS increased positively as rice canopy became more closed. Regardless of growth stages, VIs had significantly high correlations with LAI, shoot dry weight (DW), shoot N content and nitrogen nutrition index (NNI). Those correlation coefficients increased steadily before heading stage as rice grew up. However, tiller number and leaf N concentration showed significantly high correlations with VIs only at and after panicle initiation stage (PIS). Among the VIs, RVIgreen had significantly higher correlation with the measured parameters than the other VIs: it showed correlation coefficients greater than 0.8 with leaf and shoot N concentration and DW, and much higher coefficients greater than 0.9 with LAI, shoot N content, and NNI. At LAI of below 2.5, VIs had non-significant or low correlations with the growth and NNS indicators due to the background effects. SPAD reading had significantly high correlation with leaf N concentration and NNI at each growth stage. In addition, it had significant correlations with variables of growth and NNS at PIS and booting stage, particularly, at booting stage. Though SPAD reading had a significantly high correlation value at a given growth stage in each year, it showed very weak relationship with variables of growth and NNS when pooled across growth stages and years. In conclusion, RVIgreen was found to be the most reliable VI to estimate the growth and NNS of rice around at PIS, but SPAD reading had much limitations.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.249-277
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• 2018

This study aims to review the research trend of articles published in the journal of Economic and Environmental Geology(EEG) over a period of 50 years from 1968 to 2017. Based on the literature review, Research theme as analytical criteria was adopted. 1,886 academic articles were analyzed and classified by decade, by change period of journal name, and by volume(in sets of 10 volumes). Results indicate that from the foundation of journal to the present, the article in the field of petrology and geochemistry covers the highest proportion as 30.4%, the next best things are in the fields of metallic ore deposit(18.3%) and geophysics and exploration(14.9%). Based on the change period of journal name, the field of petrology and geochemistry have the most obvious difference in the number of articles. Until 1993 as before the change of journal name from Mining Geology to Economic and Environmental Geology, the coverage percentage in the field of petrology and geochemistry is 21.5%(N=121). However, after 1994 changed to Economic and Environmental Geology, the coverage percentage in the field of petrology and geochemistry is 34.1%(N=452). According to the analytical result in case of volume and research theme, the number of articles in the field of petrology and geochemistry have the abrupt increase from the volume number in 21 to 30. However, the number of articles in the field of metallic and nonmetallic ore deposit have the decreasing tendency toward the recent volume. In order to explore again the 50 years history of Economic and Environmental Geology, we mainly analyzed the articles quantitatively using the criteria as research theme. Based on these analyses, this review aims to offer the beginning for the exploration of the development subject in the future.