• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.579-592
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• 2020

This study was designed to assess the water quality and phytoplankton community including chlorophyll a in blood cockle (Tegillarca granosa) farms in May, August and November of 2017 in the northwestern Yeoja Bay, Korea. As a result, the seasonal characteristics of water types by water temperature and salinity were clear. Nutrients were abundant in silicate throughout the season, but phosphate was scarce in spring and summer, and nitrogen sources were scarce in autumn. The species composition of phytoplankton community was a very simple distribution, and the standing crop was also very low. The annual dominant species is dominated by the diatoms, with Skeletonema costatum-ls, Nitzschia longissima in spring, Pleurrosigma normanii, Coscinodiscus gigas in summer, and N. longissima, Pseudonitschia pungens, Chaetoceros curvisetus, Eucampia zodiacus in autumn. In summer the results were different from other coastal waters of Korea. The principal component analysis(PCA) and correlation analysis showed that the characteristics of water quality and biological environments differed according to the season. Furthermore, it was determined by the supply of materials through fresh water on land, seawater congestion caused by the refueling of surface sediments with lower depth, and the balance of biological production and mineralization of organic matters in blood cockle farms.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.192-200
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• 2012

Fruits are generally recommended for a balanced meal, as they are good sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which may improve blood glucose control. However, fruits have simple sugars with a wide glycemic index (GI) range. The purpose of this study was to analyze the sugar content and composition and to determine the glycemic indices of the most frequently consumed fruits in Korea, including apple, tangerine, pear, water melon, persimmon, grape, oriental melon, and peach. The sugar content and composition of the fruits were analyzed by high performance anion-exchange chromatography (Dinonex model DX-600). The GI of the fruits was measured in 13 healthy subjects (seven females and six males) after permission was received from the University Hospital institutional review board (KHU-IRB 1114-06). The subjects consumed 50 g of glucose as a reference and carbohydrate portions of eight fruits. Blood samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after consuming the fruits. The GI values for the fruits were calculated by expressing the increase in the area under the blood glucose response curve for each subject. As a result, the total sugar contents of 100 g fruits were: grape (13.9 g), apple (12.3 g), persimmon (11.9 g), oriental melon (11.2 g), watermelon (9.3 g), tangerine (8.9 g), peach (8.6 g), and pear (8.3 g). The GI values of the fruits were as follows: GI value of peach ($56.5{\pm}14.17$), watermelon ($53.5{\pm}18.07$), oriental melon ($51.2{\pm}18.14$), tangerine ($50.4{\pm}15.16$), grape ($48.1{\pm}14.05$), persimmon ($42.9{\pm}18.92$), pear ($35.7{\pm}14.38$), and apple ($33.5{\pm}11.92$). These findings will help individuals choose fruit for controlling blood sugar.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1689-1692
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• 2014

Background: An easy, reproducible and simple marker is needed to estimate phase of endometrial pathologic lesions such as hyperplasia and endometrial cancer and distinguish from pathologically normal results. We here aimed to clarify associations among neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), endometrial hyperplasia and cancer in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding. Materials and Methods: Patients (n=161) who were admitted with abnormal uterine bleeding and the presence of endometrial cells on cervical cytology or thick endometrium were investigated. The study constituted of three groups according to pathologic diagnosis. Group 1 included endometrial precancerous lesions like hyperplasia (n=63), group 2 included endometrial cancerous lesions (n=38) and group 3 was a pathologically normal group (n=60). Blood samples were obtained just before the curettage procedure and the NLR was defined as the absolute neutrophil count divided by the absolute lymphocyte count; similarly, PLR was defined as the absolute platelet count divided by the absolute lymphocyte count. Results: The white blood cell count was significantly higher in patients with cancer than in those with hyperplasia (p=0.005). The platelet count and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were significantly higher in patients with cancer than in control patients, but there was significantly no difference between patients with hyperplasia and other groups (p=0.001 and p=0.025 respectively). PLR was significantly lower in control subjects than in other groups (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference between patients with hyperplasia and those with cancer. Conclusions: PLR was significantly lower in control subjects than in other groups. Thus both hyperplasia and cancer may be differentiated from pathologically normal patients by using PLR. White blood cell count was significantly higher in patients with cancer than in those with hyperplasia and pathologically normal patients. Therefore white blood cell count may be used for discriminate hyperplasia to cancer. By using multiple inflammation parameters, discrimination may be possible among endometrial cancer, endometrial precancerous lesions and pathologically normal patients.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.149-157
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• 2004

1. All the male students and female students who had taken these herb medicines showed a strong increase in immunity (P<0.01) and they were more effective to the male students (P<0.01) rather than the female students (P<0.05) (figure 1). Generally, immunity may be reduced at the time of fatigue and overwork but as these herb medicines have the effect of increasing immunity. Therefore, it is considered that they not only reduce the fatigue of human body but also heighten immunity against disease. 2. The students who had taken these herb medicines showed some reduction in Cortisol concentration in blood, which didn't show the difference of concentration up to statistical meaning compared to before taking the medicines (figure 2). Accordingly, it is regarded that these herb medicine drink restrained stress slightly. 3. The students who had taken these herb medicines showed some reduction in BUN concentration in blood, which didn't show the difference of concentration up to statistical meaning compared to before taking the medicines (figure 3). For the women, they restrained the toxicity of the kidneys just a little. Accordingly, it shows that these medicines are safe herb medicines without the toxicity of the kidneys. 4. The students who had taken these herb medicines didn't show the difference of concentration up to statistical meaning in sFOT and sGPT concentration in blood compared to taking them (figure $4{\sim}5$). Accordingly, it is suggested that these medicines are safe stuffs without the toxity of the liver. 5. Seven members of the university students answered to the questionaire that they were pleasant while taking the medicines and didn't feel fatigue. They answered very positively that they had better effects than before taking the medicines in many things (Refer to the Questionaire). However, one male student and two female students of them complained of temporary headache and indigestion for 2 days after taking these herb medicines but they said they had been taking cold medicines due to cold symptom before taking the medicines. Accordingly, it turns out that such temporary symptom is not irrelevant to these medicines. In conclusion, it is considered that these herb medicines have the effects of increasing immunity, restraining fatigue and stress through this clinical study carried out in simple way and that they are valuable as herb medicines without the toxity of the liver and kidneys.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2002

This study was conducted to develop a method for direct determination of phagocytic activities in human circulatic systems and to measure the phagocytic activities in human leukocytes from the alcoholics, since phagocytic activity was considered to be very important in human immune mechanism at early stage for the health care of the alcoholics. The subjects for this study were 130 among which 95 males and 3 females were diagnosed as alcoholism and 32 was healthy blood donors. A thin layer of heat-killed Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I was placed on a plastic dish and reacted with whole blood to measure the phagocytic plaque formation by human leukocytes. In order to determine the health conditions of the subjects, some clinical laboratory tests, such as white blood cell counts, hemoglobin contents (Hgb), mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells(MCV), serum electrophoresis, B and T-lymphocytes, T-lymphocyte subtypes and phytohemagglutination test were also implemented. Compared to the non-alcoholism, new and old alcoholic inpatients showed statistically significant differences on levels of Hgb and MCV (p<0.05), but showed that T and B-lymphocyte numbers decreased and Helper T cell/Suppressor T cell ratio ($1.6{\pm}0.8$%) increased. Compared to non-alcoholism, phagocytic plaque activities of leukocytes from alcoholic patients decreased significantly and an unusual pattern in phagocytic plaque was observed, showing a strange body and chain shaped phagocytosis. Based upon these results, it is concluded that a phagocytic-plaques of Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I by leukocytes was very simple and useful method for the early immunological determination of phagocytic activities in alcoholic patients without requiring any special equipments.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.773-780
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• 2000

Background : pH measurement is an important test in assessing the etiology of pleurisy and in identifying complicated parapneumonic effusion. Although the blood gas analyzer is the gold standard method' for pleural pH measurement, pH meter & pH strip methods are also used for this purpose interchangably. However, the correlation among the pH data measured by the three different methods needs to be evaluated. In this study, we measured the pH of pleural fluid with the three different methods respectively and evaluated the correlation among the measured data. Methods : From August 1999 to March 2000, we measured the pleural fluid pH in 34 clinical samples with three methods-blood gas analyzer, pH meter, and pH strip. In the blood gas analyzer and pH meter methods, the temperature of pleural fluid was maintained around $0^{\circ}C$ in air-tight condition before analysis and measurement was performed within 30 minutes after collection. As for the pH strip method, the pleural fluid pH was checked in the ward immediately after tapping and in the clinical laboratory of our hospital. This part is unclear. Results : The causes of pleural effusion were tuberculosis pleurisy in 16 cases, malignant pleural effusion 5 cases, parapneumonic effusion 9 cases, empyema 3 cases, and congestive heart failure 1 case. The pH of pleural fluid (mean$\pm$SD) was 7.34$\pm$0.12 with blood gas analyser, 7.52$\pm$0.25 with pH meter, 7.37$\pm$0.16 with pH strip of immediate measurement and 6.93$\pm$0.201 with pH strip of delayed measurement. The pH measured by delayed pH strip measurement was lower than those of other methods (p<0.05). The correlation of the results between the blood gas analyzer and pH meter(p=0.002, r=0.518) and the blood gas analyzer and pH strip of immediate measurement(p<0.001, r=0.607). Conclusion : In the determination of pH of pleural fluid, pH strip method could be a simple and reliable method under immediate measurement conditions after pleural fluid tapping.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 1994

The urinary excretion of ${\delta}$-aminolevulinic acid has been widely used as a measure of the biological effect of lead in lead exposed workers. It is usually measured by colorimetric method based on the color reaction of ALA-pyrrole with Ehrlich's reagent. But the results of ${\delta}$-ALA in urine by this method are somewhat artificially higher than expected due to the urinary ALA-like compound such as aminoacetone. On the other hand, the recently developed fluorometric HPLC method is very sensitive and specific for the measuring urinary ALA. In order to compare the data obtained by two methods and to investigate the interrelation between two methods, 117 lead workers with different lead exposure were checked urinary ${\delta}$-ALA, blood lead and other lead exposure related indices. The results obtained are as follows; 1. Urinary excretion of ${\delta}$-ALA by colorimetric method is 2.15 times higher than HPLC method in overall, revealing 2.47 times in workers of blood lead less than $20{\mu}g/dl$, 2.53 times in workers of blood lead $21-40{\mu}g/dl$ and 1.86 times in workers of blood lead over $41{\mu}g/dl$, respectively. 2. While the correlation coefficients of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by colorimetric method with blood lead and blood ZPP was 0.571 and 0.629, those of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by HPLC with blood lead and blood ZPP were 0.6l0 and 0.637. All the correlation coefficients were statistically significant, but there was no statistical difference of correlation coefficients between two methods. 3. The correlation coefficient of urinary excretion of ${\delta}$-ALA between two method was 0.838 without any correction, but it was 0.852 with the correction of specific gravity 1.024. 4. Simple linear regression of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by HPLC method on ${\delta}$-ALA measured by colorimetric method was (ALA-UPH)=-0.245+0.536 (ALA-UCO) without any correction and it was (SP ALA)=-0.525+0.598 (SP ALA-UCO) with the correction of specific gravity 1.024. With above results, it is recommended that the diagnostic criteria of ${\delta}$-ALA for lead poisoning needed to be revised if ${\delta}$-ALA is measured by HPLC rather than colorimetric method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 1996

In order to compare the difference of the measurement of delta aminolevulinic acid(${\delta}$-ALA) in urine between HPLC method(HALA) and colorimetric method(CALA), and also to provide useful information for the new diagnostic criteria of ${\delta}$-ALA in urine in lead poisoning, if at all possible in the future, authors studied 234 male lead workers who were selected from 7 storage battery factories, 3 secondary smelting industries, and 2 litharge making industries. Study subjects were selected on the basis of blood Zinc protoporphyrin(ZPP) level from low to high concentration to cover wide range of lead exposure. Study variables for this study were ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two different methods, blood lead(PbB), and blood ZPP. The results were as follows: 1. There was very high correlation between ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two method(r = 0.989 : HALA = -0.8194 + 0.8110 ${\times}$ CALA), but the value of CALA was measured about 2mg/L greater than HALA. 2. While the correlations of ${\delta}$-ALA by two method with blood lead and blood ZPP were 0.46 and 0.37 respectively, they were increased to 0.63 and 0.57 if ${\delta}$-ALA values were log-transformed. 3. Simple linear regression of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two method on ZPP were as follows: CALA = 2.0421 + 0.0341 ${\times}$ ZPP ($R^2=0.1385$ p = 0.0001) HALA = 0.8006 + 0.0280 ${\times}$ ZPP ($R^2=0.1389$ p = 0.0001) 4. Simple linear regression of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by two method on PbB were as follows: CALA = - 0.4134 + 0.1545 ${\times}$ PbB ($R^2=0.2085$ p = 0.0001) HALA = -1.2893 + 0.1287 PbB ($R^2=0.2154$ p = 0.0001), 5. Simple linear regression of log-transformed ${\delta}$-ALA by two method on ZPP and PbB were as follows: logHALA = 0.3078 + 0.0060 ZPP ($R^2=0.3329$ p = 0.0001) logCALA = 1.0189 + 0.0044 ZPP ($R^2=0.3290$ p = 0.0001) logHALA = -0.0221 + 0.0246 PbB ($R^2=0.4046$ p = 0.0001) logCALA = 0.7662 + 0.0184 PbB ($R^2=0.4108$ p = 0.0001) 6. The cumulative percent of colorimetric method to detect lead workers whose value of PbS and ZPP were over screening level such as $40{\mu}/dl$ and $100{\mu}/dl$ respectively was higher than HPLC method if cut-off level of ${\delta}$-ALA for screening of lead poisoning was 5 mg/L. But if cut-off level of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by HPLC was reduced to 3 mg/L which is compatible to 5 mg/L of ${\delta}$-ALA measured by colorimetric method, there were good agreement between two methods and showed dose-response relationship with other lead exposure indices such as PbB and ZPP.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.191-196
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• 1996

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful technique to detect scanty amount of DNA from living organisms. The present study intended to develope specific primers for PCR diagnosis of pneumocystosis and to evaluate diagnostic efficacy by preparation of template DNAs from invasive BAk fluid and also to screen serum or blood as a non-invasive specimen. Albino rats of Wistar or Fischer strains were experimentally infected by Pneumocwstis ccrinii. Extracted DNAs or cell Iysates of their blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and lung homogenate were used as the tenlplate DNA. Primers were synthetic oligonucleotides among 16s rDNA sequences. All of the primer combinations gave PCR products, but the primer pair of #24 and #27 gave best quality product of 666 bp. The sensitivity of PCR with Iysates of BAk fluid was 57.7% but it increased to 84.6% with extracted DNAs. None of BAL Iysate or DNA was positive among 13 microscopically negatives. The serum DNAs were positive only in 2 cases out of 20 morphologically positive rats. DNAs of human, rat, other parasites, yeast, and microorganisms were negative. The findings suggest that the present primers are specific but simple Iysate of BAL fluid is not sensitive. PCR may be used as a routine diagnostic method of pneumocystosis if simple and rapid preparation of non-invasive clinical specimens are available.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.363-369
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• 2018

A salivary testing instrument has an advantage that the method is simple and can be performed in a short time. However, it is necessary to verify the factors that affect the reliability of the result, because the device is easy to use and even saliva collection is simple. The aim of this study was to compare the difference of the test results according to the measurement time in order to analyze the time factor of the external variable among the factors that may affect the measurement results of the salivary testing instrument. The relationship between the measured values of the salivary testing instrument to identify the internal variables was analyzed. Saliva was collected from 20 randomly selected patients regardless of age, sex, or diseases. The mean age was 46.6 years, 10 males and 10 females. The saliva collected was directly measured with the salivary testing instrument as group I. The saliva samples were placed in air in a paper cup for 10 minutes, and then measured as group III. Then group I was remeasured after 30 minutes and assigned as group II. Group III was remeasured after 30 minutes and called as group IV. As a result, all of the cariogenic bacteria, acidity, buffer capacity, blood, leukocyte, protein and ammonia, except buffer capacity, showed statistically significant changes in group II and IV. This means that the reliability of the test results is poor if the measurement time is not observed. Cariogenic bacteria were correlated with leukocyte and protein, buffer capacity was related to acidity, protein, and protein was related to buffer capacity and leukocyte. In conclusion, the result according to the measurement time as the external variable was different, which means that time must be strictly monitored when testing saliva. It is also necessary to take into account the relevance of the correlations between the internal variables and the clinical data.