• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.6
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• pp.467-470
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• 2009

Serum CA 125 is the most useful marker for monitoring patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. However, it can be elevated above normal level in a variety of conditions other than ovarian cancer such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammation disease, and other malignant or nonmalignant disorders, including pulmonary diseases. Recently, we experienced a case of bronchiectasis in which the serum CA 125 level was elevated, changing with the patient's condition. There was no evidence of underlying malignant disease on positron emission tomography or on gynecologic examination, including transvaginal ultrasonography. During follow-up for 14 months, we could not find any clue of malignant disease that could have been the cause of the elevated levels of serum CA 125. Elevated serum CA 125 level should be interpreted carefully according to the patient's clinical condition. In addition, our case suggests that CA 125 may be used as a surrogate marker for acute inflammatory status for chronic pulmonary diseases.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2009

Purpose : This study aimed to determine the influence of low-dose oxygen ($FiO_2$ <25%) therapy through nasal cannulae on the progress and prognosis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) as well as methods of preventing ROP. Methods : Our subjects comprised premature infants (gestation period <37 weeks; birth weight <1,750 g) born in Daegu Fatima Hospital between February 1, 2001 and January 31, 2006. We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the medical records of 273 patients who were available for eye examination and follow up over 6 months. Results : The factors maximally influencing the occurrence of ROP were low gestation age and low birth weight. We observed that the incidence of ROP increased with the increasing duration of low-dose oxygen therapy. ROP onset was delayed during ongoing oxygen therapy; however, rapid progression of ROP occurred after the discontinuation of oxygen therapy among premature infants up to the prethreshold stage. Conclusion : To prevent of occurrence of severe ROP and its rapid progression, the period of low-dose oxygen therapy needs to be shortened. Moreover, frequent eye examinations should be performed after the discontinuation of oxygen therapy.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2000

From 1998, Oriental Medical Physicians(OMP) is distributed in Public Health Sector. but long term plan for Oriental Medicine in Public Health is not existed. So, this study is designed for the activation of OMP Subjects in this study were comprised 3 groups of oriental medicine related persons, the group of which are Students of 11 Oriental Medical Schools, Oriental Medical Physicians in Public Health Sector, Specialist Croup of Oriental medicine Policy(total 1,458 persons). Data were collected from July 1st to November 30, 1999. Direct interview with key persons, systematic interview by using of interview protocol, e-mail and facsimile have been conducted. The results of survey were coded by Excel 5.0, and analysed with SAS 6.12 statistical package. Inter-group difference determined by T-test, and descriptive statistics have been examined. Major findings can be epitomized as follows. 1) OMP disposition to multifarious organizations and institutes such as Public Health Centers, Public Health Sub-centers, Public Hospitals, Private Hospitals in Remote-Vulnerable Area, Community Social Welfare Centers, Institutes for Heath Policy Research, etc, will promise an effective use of Oriental Medical Physician. 2) Average number of patients treated by OMP was 22.8, average budget for oriental medical department, in which OMP were affiliated, was 39.6 million Won per year. Direct cost per every patient visit was 7,210.9 Won, which is considered expensive for public health service. Therefore, development and transformation for Oriental Medical Service in Public Health Sector is desirable in economic and political aspects. 3) It is recommended that ${\ulcorner}Advisory\;Committee{\lrcorner},{\ulcorner}Planning\;Commission\;for\; Public\;Health\;in\;Oriental\;Medicine{\lrcorner}$ should be established for the activation and for the support of Oriental Medical Physician in Public Health Sector, 4) Most effective programmes for oriental public health doctor are health service programmes for the elderly, Home health visit, chronic degenerative disease control services(p<0.001). 5) Standard guideline for facilities and equipments of Oriental Medicine Department in Public Health Center is needed for optimal supply of resources and activation of public health activity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.3-6
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• 2001

Inflammation is an outcome or an end effect of disruption of complex immunological balance. A variety of approaches to control immunological unbalance have been tried, and some of them are in practice in the clinic. Since inflammatory disorders are reflection of very complex immunological responses, it should be difficult to have such disorders under complete control. Thus, most of the drugs, being marketed and under development, possess some degrees of undesired side offsets originating from disruption of immunological balance. Steroids are excellent drugs suppressing inflammation in short term, however, long-term use of steroids would incur a serious side effect of "rebound". Another example is TNF-${\alpha}$-neutralizing agents, such as enbrel and infliximab. TNF-${\alpha}$ has been known to play a key role in the exacerbation of inflammation, and knock-out of TNF-${\alpha}$ is regarded essential to control of chronic inflammation. The TNF-${\alpha}$-neutralizing drugs in the market are regarded very efficient in the management of rheumatoid arthritis. Upon long term use, however, those drugs cause sepsis to a certain proportion of patients. It is ironical that a high plasma level of TNF-${\alpha}$ is known to be responsible for sepsis, and that the drugs scavenging TNF-${\alpha}$ cause sepsis. The above two examples illustrate well the difficulty of discovering an anti-inflammatory drug without unwanted immunological side effects. An anti-inflammatory drug would make a case in the market, as long as the drug has huge therapeutic benefits compared to its expected but unwanted immunological side effects, where cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors are positioning. In this presentation, will be discussed general aspects of cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition in conjunction with 3(2Η)furanone derivatives, a novel class of COX-2 inhibitors.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.133-145
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• 1999

The purposesof the study are to analyze the community nursing center in U.S.A and to develop the model of nursing care system based on nurse-midwifery clinic in community for women's health in Korea. 1. In America nursing center is defined as nurse-anchored system of primary care delivery or neighborhood health center. Nursing centers are identified the following four types: (1) community outreach centers, which are similar to traditional public health clinics: (2) institutional-based centers following the mission of a large institution, such as a hospital or university: (3) wellness/health promotion centers, which offer screening, education, counseling, triage, and health maintenance services: and (4) independent practice. Nursing centers are a concept of services provided by nurses in practice arrangements in a community. Nursing centers offer a variety of services, ranging from primary care provided by advanced practice nurses with medical acute management and nursing care to the more traditional education, health promotion, screening wellness and coordination services. Some services, such as the care provided by advanced practice nurses are reimbursed under various insurance plan in some instances and states, where as others, such as preventive and educational services, are not. Thus, lack of reimbursement has threatened the survival of some centers. Licensing of nursing centers varies by state and program and accreditation of nursing centers is also limited. 52% of centers are affiliated with another facility and 48% are freestanding centers. The number of registered nurse at the nursing centers ranges from just one to 115, with a mean of eight RNs peragency and a median of three. Nursing centers avail ability varies: 14% are open 24 hours, 27% have variable short hours, 23% are open 6-7 days per week, and 36% are open Monday- Friday. As the result of my visiting three health centers in Seattle and San Francisco, the women's primary care nurse practitioners focus on a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the health status of women and diagnosis and management of common physical and psychosocial health concerns of women in ambulatory settings. Therapeutic nursing strategies are directed toward self-care, risk reoduction, health surveillance, stress reduction, healthy nutrition, social support, healthy coping, psychological well-being, and pharmacological therapy. They function as primary care providers for the well ness and illness care of women from adolescence through the older adult years and pregnant families. 2. In Korea a nurse-midwife practices independently for pregnant women's health including childbearing family at her own clinic in community. Her services are reimbursed under national health insurance but they are not paid on a fee-for-service schedule covering items. Analyzing the nursing centers in America, I suggest that nurse-midwifery clinics offer primary care for women and home care for chronic ill patients. The health law and health insurance policy should be reovised in order to expand nurse-midwife's and home care nurse's roles at nurse-midwifery clinic.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2007

Hepatitis B is a serious public health problem leading to chronic infection and liver cancer. Quantitation of circulating hepatitis B virus (HBV) is important for monitoring disease progression and for assessing the response to antiviral therapy. In this study, by using Real-Time PCR and novel Micro-PCR assay method, we measured HBV concentration in the clinical sample. A total of 120 serum samples from patients with HBV infection collected was in Dankook university hospital to compare the detection limit, sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the two assay methods. These findings of this study suggest that Micro-PCR and Real-Time PCR assay methods are comparable to each other in there detection limit, sensitivity, and reproducibility for HBV DNA quantitation. However, Micro-PCR assay is more efficient than Real-Time PCR method, because Real-Time PCR is not so time - consuming, technically easy and need to reagent of a small quantity. It will be useful for rapid and reliable clinical diagnosis of HBV in many countries.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.100-110
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• 2017

Purpose: We explored Koreans' perception of the meaning of death with dignity that Korean people. Methods: A phenomenological research methodology was applied. A total of 13 participants were sampled based on their age and gender. Participants were interviewed in depth from September 2015 through February 2016. Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method was used for data analysis. To establish the validity of the study, we evaluated its realistic value, applicability, consistency and neutrality of the qualitative evaluation criteria of Lincoln and Guba. Results: Koreans' perception of death with dignity was structured as 19 themes, nine theme clusters and four categories. The four categories were "comfortable death", "good death", "resolving problems before death", and "death with good reputation". The theme clusters were "death without pain", "death submitting to one's fate", "death that is not ugly", "leaving good memories to others", "dying in a way we want", "death after proper settling of things", "dealing with chronic resentment before death", "death after living a good life", and "death with recognition". Conclusion: For Koreans, death with dignity meant not burdening others, settling things right and leaving good memories to their families and friends. Such perceptions can be applied to hospice care for terminally ill patients.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2005

We propose a method to measure atrial arrhythmias (AA) such as atrial fibrillation (Afb) and atrial flutter (Afl) with a SQUID magnetocardiograph (MCG) system. To detect AA is one of challenging topics in MCG. As the AA generally have irregular rhythm and atrio-ventricular conduction, the MCG signal cannot be improved by QRS averaging; therefore a SQUID MCG system having a high SNR is required to measure informative atrial excitation with a single scan. In the case of Afb, diminished f waves are much smaller than normal P waves because the sources are usually located on the posterior wall of the heart. In this study, we utilize an MCG system measuring tangential field components, which is known to be more sensitive to a deeper current source. The average noise spectral density of the whole system in a magnetic shielded room was $10\;fT/{\surd}Hz(a)\;1\;Hz\;and\;5\;fT/{\surd}Hz\;(a)\;100\;Hz$. We measured the MCG signals of patients with chronic Afb and Afl. Before the AA measurement, the comparison between the measurements in supine and prone positions for P waves has been conducted and the experiment gave a result that the supine position is more suitable to measure the atrial excitation. Therefore, the AA was measured in subject's supine position. Clinical potential of AA measurement in MCG is to find an aspect of a reentry circuit and to localize the abnormal stimulation noninvasively. To give useful information about the abnormal excitation, we have developed a method, separative synthetic aperture magnetometry (sSAM). The basic idea of sSAM is to visualize current source distribution corresponding to the atrial excitation, which are separated from the ventricular excitation and the Gaussian sensor noises. By using sSAM, we localized the source of an Afl successfully.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.203-209
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• 2004

Background : Methotrexate (MTX) has been used to treat a wide range of malignant and benign diseases including osteosarcoma, advanced stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, psoriasis, severe rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, and Wegener's granulomatosis. MTX-induced lung injury occurs in up to 10% of treated patients. Although both acute and chronic presentations have been described, typical manifestation of MTX-induced lung injury is subacute with symptoms usually developing within several months after starting therapy. Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) is the most common histopathologic manifestation of MTX-induced lung disease, while bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) and diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) are less common. Granuloma formation is reported in 34.7%. In Korea, Two reports of MTX pneumonitis have been published. The one presented with NSIP and the other with DAD. We recently experienced a case of MTX pneumonitis with presentation of hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2009

Most mediastinal teratomas are histologically well-differentiated tumors and benign. The majority of patients with a mediastinal teratoma are asymptomatic and their tumors are usually discovered incidentally on chest radiography. On rare occasions this tumor will rupture spontaneously into the adjacent organs. A 72-year-old female patient was admitted for dyspnea and she had a multiloculated pleural effusion in the left lung field. Although repeated pleural biopsy and pleural fluid cytology did not prove the presence of malignancy, we assumed that this was a malignant effusion because it revealed consistently high levels of carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9, and the chest CT scan did not show typical fat or bone density in the mass. Secondary infection and an uncontrolled septic condition due to pleural empyema finally compelled the patient to undergo a surgical operation. Mature teratoma was the final diagnosis and she has done well without recurrence for 2 months.