• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.73 no.4
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• pp.219-223
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• 2012

Background: We investigated the prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among medical students in South Korea. Methods: Students from one medical school, who were in second- or third-year classes before clerkship course, were enrolled for three consecutive years in the study. A standard questionnaire was given to each participant, and tuberculin skin test (TST), QuantiFERON-TB GOLD In-Tube (QFT-GIT) assay, and chest radiography were performed. Results: A total of 153 participants were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the subjects was $21.9{\pm}0.9$ years, 105 (68.6%) were male, and 132 (86.3%) had been vaccinated with Bacille Calmette-Gu$\acute{e}$rin (BCG). Four students (2.6%) had a history of contact with tuberculosis (TB) patients during medical practice. No abnormal chest radiograph findings were found for any of the subjects. Of the 153 subjects, 23 (15.0%) tested positive for the TST, and 8 (5.2%) tested positive for the QFT-GIT. The agreement between the two tests was determined to be 0.34 using kappa coefficients. Of the four students who had a history of contact with TB patients, only one subject tested positive for both tests, and the other three students tested negative for both tests. Conclusion: A low prevalence of LTBI was found among medical students before clerkship course in South Korea.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.143-151
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• 2000

Acute and subacute toxicity of Artemisia asistica Nakai Aqua-acupuncture Solution (ANAS) were studied in ICR mice. In acute toxicity test, mice were injected intraperitoneally with single dose of $1{\times}$, $5{\times}$, $10{\times}$ ANAS, and toxicological responeses were observed for consecutive 14 days. Mortality, body weight changes, organ weight, and serum chemistry were performed. The mortality and body weight changes of mice treated with $1{\times}$ and $5{\times}$ ANAS were not affected during the experimental periods. With the $10{\times}$ ANAS treatment, there were dead animals and changes of body weight, organ weight and serum biochemical values were observed during the experimental period. In subacute toxicity test, mice were injected intraperitoneally with doses of $1{\times}$, $10{\times}$ ANAS for 14 days. No difference was found between control and $1{\times}$ ANAS treated group in mortality, changes of body weight and organ weight, and serum biochemical values. However, Dead animals, changes of body weight and organ weight, and increased serum biochemical values were observed with $10{\times}$ ANAS treated groups. These results suggest that $1{\times}$ ANAS causes no toxicity in acute and subacute toxicity tests. However $10{\times}$ ANAS causes toxicity in both tests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.22-33
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• 2008

The plane strain test has been used widely in order to examine the stress-strain relation and failure behavior. Its advantages are more realistic simulation of deformation and failure behaviors of soils. Most plane strain tests have been carried out with restrained end plates due to difficulties in manufacturing the equipment with free end condition and also performing it. In this study, plane strain tests with/without bottom plate restraint were performed on Jumunjin-sand. The measurement of overall and local deformation was accomplished by digital image correlation technique as well as external LVDT. By applying digital image correlation method using two consecutive images captured through the transparent wall, local deformation behavior of various parts inside the specimen was estimated. From digital image analysis result, the restrained effect of end plate was examined about formation and development of shear band, and deformation mechanism of sand under plane strain condition.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2018

Pullout tests are usually employed to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of reinforced soil, and the load-displacement curve can be obtained easily. This paper presents an analytical solution for predicting the full-range mechanical behavior of a buried planar reinforcement subjected to pullout based on a bi-linear bond-slip model. The full-range behavior consists of three consecutive stages: elastic stage, elastic-plastic stage and debonding stage. For each stage, closed-form solutions for the load-displacement relationship, the interfacial slip distribution, the interfacial shear stress distribution and the axial stress distribution along the planar reinforcement were derived. The ultimate load and the effective bond length were also obtained. Then the analytical model was calibrated and validated against three pullout experimental tests. The predicted load-displacement curves as well as the internal displacement distribution are in closed agreement with test results. Moreover, a parametric study on the effect of anchorage length, reinforcement axial stiffness, interfacial shear stiffness and interfacial shear strength is also presented, providing insights into the pullout behaviour of planar reinforcements of MSE structures.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.36-39
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• 2006

Background: Floppy infant syndrome has a number of different etiologies. Methods: One hundred twenty-three consecutive patients of floppy infant syndrome were included in this study. We reviewed all the electrophysiologic tests of these patients and the medical record of patients showing abnormalities in the electrophysiologic studies. Results: Of the 123 patients, twenty-six (21.1%) showed definite abnormalities in electrophysiologic tests; 8 myopathies, 14 neuropathies and 4 unclassified. The neuropathy was further classified as 5 neuronopathies and 9 sensorimotor polyneuropathies. With muscle or sural nerve biopsy and genetic test, a final diagnosis was made of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 4, Becker muscular dystrophy in 1, spinal muscular atrophy in 2, and metachromatic leukodystrophy in 1. Conclusions: About 21% of patients presented with floppy infant syndrome showed abnormalities in the neuromuscular system. The electrophysiologic test is valuable to guide further investigations in diagnosing the cause of floppy infant syndrome.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.28-31
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• 2015

A case report of a patient who developed radiation-induced sarcoma in the left chest wall is presented. The patient had partial mastectomy and adjuvant radiation therapy (total dose, 5,220 cGy) and chemotherapy. Five years later, she visited with rapidly growing mass with central ulceration in the irradiated chest wall. The mass was diagnosed as malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The chest wall mass resected en bloc ($23{\times}18cm$) including five consecutive ribs. After the defected thoracic cage was reinforced using a polytetrafluoroethylene patch, omental flap and split thickness skin graft was done for soft tissue coverage. We applied negative pressure wound closer system for effective suction of omeantal exudate. The wound healed without complications. The patient suffered no perioperative pulmonary complications. Pulmonary function tests showed no significant changes. Each of Gore-Tex, omental flap, negative pressure wound therapy and skin graft is widely used method. However, If these methods are used in combination, we can reconstruct the large defect of chest wall including multiple ribs without any repiratory function problems.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.473-480
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• 2005

Purpose: Adenosine myocardial perfusion SPECT has proven to be useful in the detection of coronary artery disease, in the follow up the success of various therapeutic regimens and in assessing the prognosis of coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study is to define the reproducibility of myocardial perfusion SPECT using adenosine stress testing between two consecutive Tc-99m sestaMIBI (MIBI) SPECT studies in the same subjects. Methods: Thirty patients suspected of coronary artery disease in stable condition underwent sequential Tc-99m MIBI SPECT studies using intravenous adenosine. Gamma camera, acquisition and processing protocols used for the two tests were identical and no invasive procedures were performed between two tests. Mean interval between two tests were 4.1 days (range: 2-11 days). The left ventricular wall was divided into na segments and the degree of myocardial tracer uptake was graded with four-point scoring system by visual analysis. Images were interpretated by two independent nuclear medicine physicians and consensus was taken for final decision, if segmental score was not agreeable. Results: Hemodynamic responses to adenosine were not different between two consecutive studies. There were no serious side effects to stop infusion of adenosine and side effects profile was not different. When myocardial uptake was divided into normal and abnormal uptake, 481 of 540 segments were concordant (agreement rate 89%, Kappa index 0.74). With four-grade storing system, exact agreement was 81.3% (439 of 540 segments, tau b=0.73). One and two-grade differences were observed in 97 segments (18%) and 4 segments (0.7%) respectively, but three-grade difference was not observed in any segment. Extent and severity scores were not different between two studios. The extent and severity scores of the perfusion defect revealed excellent positive correlation between two test (r value for percentage extent and severity score is 0.982 and 0.965, p<0.001) Conclusion: Hemodynamic responses and side effects profile were not different between two consecutive adenosine stress tests in the same subjects. Adenosine Tc-99m sestaMIBI SPECT is highly reproducible, and could be used to assess temporal changes in myocardial perfusion in individual patients.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.25-28
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• 2008

Diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) is the most frequently encountered form of neuropathy in diabetic patients, and it either relentlessly progresses or remains relatively stable for many years, not showing any trend towards improvement. From this point of view, early detection of DPN is very important to prevent the irreversible change of the peripheral nerve from diabetic insults. Although a number of clinical symptoms and/or deficit scales have been developed for clinical or research purposes, nerve conduction study (NCS) has been known one of the most objective and sensitive tools to detect peripheral nerve dysfunctions in diabetic patients. NCS, however, also have several shortcomings. The next two consecutive articles will focus on debates about diagnostic usefulness of NCS and on recent updates of other diagnostic tests including quantitative sensory testings and skin biopsy in the field of diabetic polyneuropathy.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.42-46
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• 2011

Light can be divided into ultraviolet rays, visible rays, and infrared rays depending on the wavelengths. Visible rays with specific wavelength are those predominantly used for would treatment. Especially low level laser irradiates into cells, effectively stimulating cellular tissues and activating cellular function. This study was intended to verify the effect of white LED irradiation therapy on wound recovery in animal tests by applying white LED irradiator, which was independently designed and developed to emit beams of similar wavelength to that of a laser. The designed LED Irradiator was used to find out how white LED light source affected the skin wound of SD-Rat(Sprague-Dawley Rat). We divided the participants into two groups; white LED irradiation group which was irradiated 1 hour a day for 9 consecutive days, and none irradiation group. The results showed that the study group had lower incidence of inflammation and faster recovery, compared with the control group.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 1986

The single treatment of mice with steam distillate, non-volatile ether extract and methanol extract from mace (Arils of Myristica fragrans) caused a significant prolongation of hexobarbital-induced narcosis and increase in strychnine toxicity as well as a significant decrease in hepatic microsomal drug metabolizing enzyme activities. On 7 consecutive daily administrations, however, the duration of hypnosis was markedly shortened and significant increases in the hepatic enzyme activities were shown. With systematic fractionation by $SiO_2$ column chromatography of non-volatile ether fraction monitoring by animal tests a new lignan (mp $70{\sim}72^{\circ}$, MW 328, $[{\alpha}]^{20}_D+5.28$) was isolated as an active principle and its structure was elucidated as (2R, 3S)-1-(3,4-methylendioxyphenyl)-2,3 dimethyl-4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) butane.