• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2006

Objectives: In spite of the recent increased concern for Asian dust storms, there are few studies concerning how dangerous the general public recognizes these dust storms to be. This study examined the public's perceptions of the risk of the Asian dust storms and also the source of the information concerning the risk. Methods: A telephone interview survey using a standardized questionnaire was done for the adults living in Seoul and its metropolitan area from May 15th, 2003 to May 16th, 2003. The contents of the questionnaire were the sociodemographic characteristics, the perceptions of risk to the Asian dust storms, and the coping strategy of the study participants. Results: The study participants get their information on Asian dust storms mainly from TV newscasts and they have a good knowledge of them. They regard it as one of the most dangerous health risks, along with dioxin. They think that it is associated with allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis and bronchial asthma, etc. Of the 500 study participants, 201 (40.2%) persons suffered bodily discomforts during the Asian dust storm period. Conclusions: Although there are uncertainties about the health risks of Asian dust storms, the public thinks these dust storms are very dangerous to health in many ways This negative perception will not disappear easily. To fill the gap of the public's perceptions of the risk and the objective evidence of its health effects, more studies about its health effects and the methods to reduce exposure are required.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.247-250
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• 2009

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) presents with widespread blisters, erythematous or purpuric macules, and one or more mucous membrane erosions. Various etiologic factors, including infection, vaccination, drug administration, systemic diseases, physical agents, and food have been implicated as causes of SJS. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is the most common infectious agent to cause SJS in children. In recent literature, M. pneumoniae-induced SJS with mucositis that lacks the typical target lesions has been described. We report a case of a 6-year-old boy with swelling, peeling of the lips, and red eyes with photosensitivity. On physical examination, he showed severe oral mucositis and conjunctivitis with no evidence of skin lesions. Mycoplasma antibody, which was positive with titers of more than 1:2,560. For patients presenting with fever and mucositis of unknown origin, M. pneumoniae should be considered.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.355-361
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• 2008

Pollen is very important causing factor for allergy such as allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and asthma, and pollen allergy has a remarkable clinical impact all over Korea. The main pollination period covers about half the year, from spring to autumn, and the distribution of airborne pollen taxa of allergological interest is related to pollen season dynamics. Korean academy of pediatric allergy and respiratory diseases (KAPARD) has evaluated the pollen characteristics and nationwide pollen count for over 10 years since 1997. Airborne particles carrying allergens were collected daily from nationwide 8 stations (Seoul, Guri, Cheongju, Daegu, Kwangju, Busan, Kangneung, and Jeju) by using 7 days-Burkard sampler (Burkard Manufacturing Co Ltd, Hertfordshire, UK) in South Korea (July 1, 1997-June 30, 2007). They were counted and recorded along with the meteorological factors daily. Tree pollen is a major airborne allergen in spring, grass is most common in summer, and weed pollen is major pollen in autumn in Korea. There has two peak seasons for pollen allergy, as summer and autumn. There is some evidence suggesting that the prevalence of allergic diseases in Korea has been on the increase in the past decade. However, recent findings of the phase I and II studies of the international Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) study showed the absence of increases or little changes in prevalence of asthma symptoms and diagnosis rates in Korea, whereas the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis were increased. We reported the evidence that sensitization rate to weed pollen has been increased yearly since 1997 in childhood. Climate change and air pollution must be the major causing factors for the increase of pollen counts and sensitization rate to pollen. Climate change makes the plants earlier pollination and persisting pollination longer. In conclusion, data on pollen count and structure in the last few years, the pathogenetic role of pollen and the interaction between pollen and air pollutants with climate change gave new insights into the mechanism of respiratory allergic diseases in Korea.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1142-1153
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• 2010

Conjunctival injection is the initial symptom of various eye diseases such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, or uveitis. The quantification of conjunctival injection may help the diagnosis and follow-up evaluation of various eye diseases. The size of the sclera is an important factor for the quantification of conjunctival injection. However, previous manual segmentation is time-consuming.Automatic segmentation is needed to extract the objective region of interest. This paper proposed a method based on the level set algorithm to segment the sclera from an anterior eye image. The initial model of the level set algorithm is calculated using the Lab color space, k-means algorithm and the geometric information. The level set algorithm was applied to the images in which the valley between the eyeball and skin was enhanced using the hessian analysis. This algorithm was tested with 52 images of the anterior eye segment. Results showed that the proposed method performs better than those with the level set algorithm using an arbitrary circle, or the region growing algorithm with color information. The proposed method for the segmentation of sclera may become an important component for the objective measurement of the conjunctival injection.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.351-354
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• 2009

Diaphragmatic hernias, whether congenital or acquired (traumatic), are rarely observed in the horse. Acquired diaphragmatic hernias typically occur secondary to trauma or an increase in intraabdominal pressure due to falling, heavy exercise, or parturition. Diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy is difficult to perform in adult horses and the horses with symptomatic diaphragmatic hernias usually die. A 10- year old, 340 kg, Jeju horse (crossbred) broodmare with sudden onset of gait disorder and a moderate emaciation was examined. Findings on physical examination included conjunctivitis, dehydration, shallow breathing, dyspnea, weaken heart beat, lack of auscultatable sounds from the gastrointestinal tract, and anorexia. Rectal temperature was $38.4^{\circ}C$ and respiratory rates were moderately increased. There were slight signs of acute colic. The broodmare died one day after non-specific treatment of fluids, nutriment, antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The cause of death was strangulation of the small intestine through a diaphragmatic hernia. The rent was about 2 cm in diameter and located in the central right part of diaphragm. Around 60 cm of small intestine was protruded into thoracic cavity through the rent. The cause of the hernia could not be ascertained. The broodmare had been pastured with many other horses, and the groom had not noticed any aggressive behavior among them. It was, however, speculated that trauma by stallion's attack may have been the cause of the diaphragmatic hernia, because the new horse may be the object of behaviors ranging from mild threats to seriously aggressive kicking, squealing, rearing, and biting.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 1997

The authors presented the human Thelaziasis case in Korea, with the review of the literatures. The patient was 60-year-old farmer who had lived in Chunchoun since birth. He complained lacrimation and foreign body sensation of the left eye. Total 10 worms, appeared to be slender milky-white nematodes, were extracted from the left upper conjuctival sac by authors. Micrograph morphological features are as follows： Three male worms are 8.83∼9.32 mm in length, 0.24∼0.25 mm in width, 259∼263 cuticular striations per mm, and showing cloaca with spicules. seven female worms are 11.91∼12.77 mm in length, 0.25∼0.26 mm in width, 259∼289 cuticular striations per mm, and vulva opening locating anterior to esophago-intestinal junction. From the above findings, these nematodes were confirmed as Thelazia callipaeda Railliet and Henry, 1910.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.91-94
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• 2011

We report 2 cases of Thelazia rhodesii infection in the African buffaloes, Syncerus caffer, in Zambia. African buffalo calves were captured from the livestock and wildlife interface area of the Kafue basin in the dry season of August 2005 for the purpose to translocate to game ranches. At capture, calves (n = 48) were examined for the presence of eye infections by gently manipulating the orbital membranes to check for eye-worms in the conjunctival sacs and corneal surfaces. Two (4.3%) were infected and the mean infection burden per infected eye was 5.3 worms (n=3). The mean length of the worms was 16.4 mm (95% CI; 14.7-18.2 mm) and the diameter 0.41 mm (95% CI; 0.38-0.45 mm). The surface cuticle was made of transverse striations which gave the worms a characteristic serrated appearance. Although the calves showed signs of kerato-conjunctivitis, the major pathological change observed was corneal opacity. The calves were kept in quarantine and were examined thrice at 30 days interval. At each interval, they were treated with 200 ${\mu}g/kg$ ivermectin, and then translocated to game ranches. Given that the disease has been reported in cattle and Kafue lechwe (Kobus lechwe kafuensis) in the area, there is a need for a comprehensive study which aims at determining the disease dynamics and transmission patterns of thelaziasis between wildlife and livestock in the Kafue basin.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2020

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to analyze and report status of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology patients who did funduscopy examination. Through this, we hope that the development of our diagnosis and treatment. Methods : From June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2019, Based on the electronic medical records of patients who had funduscopy examination at Korean Medicine Ophthalmology, Busan University Korean Medicine Hospital, the gender, age, visiting motives and paths, diagnosis, examination number of years, other eye examinations and treatments method were summarized and analyzed. Results : 463 patients were able to check the electronic medical records. They were 283 females and 180 males. The mean age of the patients was 51.5 years and elderly patients who 50s and 60s were 49.3% of whole patients. The most common motives for Korean Medicine Ophthalmology visitation was 'combination treatment with other department in Korean Medicine Hospital'. Outer eye diseases were 283 cases, inner eye diseases were 198 cases. Dry eye syndrome, asthenopia, visual discomfort, conjunctivitis, and eye discomfort were most common in the outer eye diseases. Cataracts, Vitreous floater, Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma and Ocular Pain were most common in the inner eye disease. The most common parts of outer eye diseases were Conjunctival, lacrimal gland, paralytic, corneal, eyelid and front uveal, scleral disease and then in inner eye diseases parts, Retinal, lens, vitreous, glaucoma, optic nerve, behind uveal, choroid disease were most common. The number of funduscopy examination was ups and downs. Herbal medicine was the most common used. Conclusions : The funduscopy examination is essential for diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. We hope that the use of fundus examination and other ophthalmologic examination will be expanded soon in Korean Medicine Ophthalmology.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.367-375
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• 2014

Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to produce background data which can be compared with several large-scale industrial complex regions. Methods: The framework of this study was designed to evaluate and monitor health effects associated with low-level and long-term exposure to environmental pollutants. In this study, 1,009 local residents were recruited in the city of Chungju using personal questionnaires, medical check-ups, and allergen skin-prick tests for 12 common allergens. The prevalence rate of skin allergens was reviewed together with that from large-scale industrial areas. Results: The diagnosis prevalence and medical treatment prevalence of asthma was 5.6% and 1.7%, respectively. Allergic rhinitis was 25.4% and 16.7%, allergic dermatitis was 16.6% and 9.9% and allergic conjunctivitis was 18.7% and 7.9%, respectively. These results were similar with those of industrial complexes. The prevalence of allergen skin-prick test was 16.4% and the most common allergen was dust mites (27.9-31.6%). This result was lower than those of the industrial complexes (22.5-39.9%) and Gangneung (18.2-24.7%). Conclusion: Further study is required to find the cause of the regional differences in skin prick prevalence.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 1999

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Labiatae) has been extensively used in treatment of diarrhea, conjunctivitis, gastritis, enteritis and skin disease. As instructed in old description, the Scutellariae Radix should sometimes be processed before use. To 노디 light on the changes of chemical compositions by processing as well as processing method-activity relationships, Scutellariae Radix was heated at 16$0^{\circ}C$-20$0^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. in furnace or soaked with 20% EtOH (SPE) and boy's urine(SPU), respectively, which are one of processing methods and then heated at 17$0^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. To isolate the chemical components, Scutellariae Radix with/without processing were extracted with EtOH and EtOH extract was fractionated with ether, ethyl acetate and butanol to give respective fractions. Ether and EtOAc fractions obtained from the processed drug with urine (SPU) were subjected to chromatography to obtainsix components, oroxylin A, Wogonin, chrysin, baicalein, baicalein 7-O-$\beta$-D-glucopyranoside and $\beta$-sitosterol 3-O-$\beta$-D-glucopyranoside. All the isolated compounds were identified by means of physicochemical and spectroscopic methods (IR, $^1H-NMR,{\;}^13C-NMR$, Mass). By HPLC determination, the changes of the contents for each isolated components from SPE and SPU samples were observed. It was found that the content of nonglycosidic flavones such as oroxylin A, wogonin, chrysin and baicalein was increased markedly, whereas the content of baicalin and baicalein 7-O-$\beta$-D-glucopyranoside was significantly decreased in both samples as compared with those of Scutellariae Radix. When the sample was soaked with boy's urine, the total amount of nonglycosidic flavones was higher than that of processing with 20% EtOH.