• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.371-374
• /
• 2010

The blossom midge, Contarinia maculipennis Felt (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) originated in Southeast Asia and is present in Japan, the continental USA, and Hawaii. Recently, C. maculipennis was intercepted in Japan, USA and the Netherlands by using orchid flowers imported from Southeast Asian countries. This pest is designated as a quarantine pest in Korea because of its potential damages to vegetables and ornamental plants. In Korea, similar symptoms of damage, which mighty be caused by C. maculipennis, have been investigated in western orchids, especially on Dendrobium phalaenopsis, from Mid-2000s. Official recognition was given to C. maculipennis in 2007, followed by an investigation on the occurrences of C. maculipennis and its damages, mainly on D. phalaenopsis, in 2008~2009. We emphasize caution concerning the possibilities that C. maculipennis could infest flower buds of orchids and carry out management strategies for this pest in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.344-352
• /
• 2012

Mercury is a toxic and non-essential metal in the human body. Mercury is ubiquitously distributed in the environment, present in natural products, and exists extensively in items encountered in daily life. There are three forms of mercury, i.e., elemental (or metallic) mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, and organic mercury compounds. This review examines the toxicity of elemental mercury and inorganic mercury compounds. Inorganic mercury compounds are water soluble with a bioavailability of 7% to 15% after ingestion; they are also irritants and cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Upon entering the body, inorganic mercury compounds are accumulated mainly in the kidneys and produce kidney damage. In contrast, human exposure to elemental mercury is mainly by inhalation, followed by rapid absorption and distribution in all major organs. Elemental mercury from ingestion is poorly absorbed with a bioavailability of less than 0.01%. The primary target organs of elemental mercury are the brain and kidney. Elemental mercury is lipid soluble and can cross the blood-brain barrier, while inorganic mercury compounds are not lipid soluble, rendering them unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. Elemental mercury may also enter the brain from the nasal cavity through the olfactory pathway. The blood mercury is a useful biomarker after short-term and high-level exposure, whereas the urine mercury is the ideal biomarker for long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic mercury, and also as a good indicator of body burden. This review discusses the common sources of mercury exposure, skin lightening products containing mercury and mercury release from dental amalgam filling, two issues that happen in daily life, bear significant public health importance, and yet undergo extensive debate on their safety.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.288-293
• /
• 2013

Purpose: Number of arthroscopic surgery is gradually increasing with development of its equipment and technique. Arthroscopic ankle surgery performed with the traction device has various complications and need more time for preparation. We investigated whether the complication rate increased when surgery was performed without the traction device, and compared the complication rate of arthroscopic surgery with the traction device. Materials and Methods: From January 2009 to June 2012, arthroscopic ankle surgery was performed without the traction device in four hundred eleven cases. There were two hundred sixty-one males and one hundred fifty females. The average age at operation was 35 years (range, 17-56), and the average follow up period was 28 months (range, 12-41). Postoperative symptoms and complications were checked. Results: There were difficulties performing arthroscopic surgery without the traction device in five cases with severe traumatic osteoarthritis. However, after burring and shaving, we had enough space to work on. Superficial peroneal nerve symptom was found in two cases, grooving of talus was found in 11, and saphenous vein injury was found in five. Since preparing for the traction device was unnecessary, we were able to save time with the mean duration of surgery of 50 minutes (range, 30-120). Conclusion: With only manual traction, we could explore the entire ankle joint without damage on cartilage. Yet, skilled arthroscopic technique will be necessary for arthroscopic surgery without the traction device.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.33-41
• /
• 2017

This study utilized Corpus-based Analysis process to compare the Cold Pathogen chapter in the 'English version of "Donguibogam"' to the 'English version of the "Shanghanlun"' translated by 罗希文 (Luo xi wen). Results of the linguistic analysis indicate that TTR, a ratio of number of types to number of tokens in the English version of "Shanghanlun" was 5.92% while TTR in the Cold pathogen chapter of English version of "Donguibogam" was 6.01%. It was also noted that the types of words frequently appearing in the two publications were the scientific name of medicinal herbs; the method of producing the herbal prescription (including terminology representing weights and measures); and Chinese descriptions of concepts considered important in both Korean and Chinese medicinal practices. Finally, it was possible to find points of comparison in naming of symptoms, diagnosis, prescriptions, and respective names of six meridians. Though the language difference is minimal, the vocabulary found in the Cold Pathogen chapter of "Donguibogam" was more diverse than Luo's translation of "Sanghanlun". In general, literal translation in keeping with the sense of original text was better performed in Luo's translation of the "Sanghanlun" whereas the English version of the Cold Pathogen chapter in the "Donguibogam" was more of a "free" translation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.269-275
• /
• 2018

$Na^+/H^+$ exchangers (NHEs) have been shown to be involved in regulating cell volume and maintaining fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. Pooled evidences have suggested that loss of $Na^+/H^+$ exchanger isoform 8 (NHE8) impairs intestinal mucosa. Whether NHE8 participates in the pathology of infectious colitis is still unknown. Our previous study demonstrated that somatostatin (SST) could stimulate the expression of intestinal NHE8 so as to facilitate $Na^+$ absorption under normal condition. This study further explored whether NHE8 participates in the pathological processes of infectious colitis and the effects of SST on intestinal NHE8 expression in the setting of infectious colitis. Our data showed that NHE8 expression was reduced in Citrobacter rodentium (CR) infected mice. Up-regulation of NHE8 improved diarrhea symptom and mucosal damage induced by CR. In vitro, a similar observation was also seen in Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) infected Caco-2 cells. Seglitide, a SST receptor (SSTR) 2 agonist, partly reversed the inhibiting action of EPEC on NHE8 expression, but SSTR5 agonist (L-817,818) had no effect on the expression of NHE8. Moreover, SST blocked the phosphorylation of p38 in EPEC-infected Caco-2 cells. Taken together, these results suggest that enhancement of intestinal NHE8 expression by SST could ameliorate the symptoms of mice with infectious colitis.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.34 no.3 s.134
• /
• pp.242-245
• /
• 2003

The effects of chelidonine, a benzophenanthridine isoquinoline alkaloid, on L-DOPA-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells were investigated. The treatment of PC12 cells with chelidonine $(1-4\;{\mu}M)$ decreased dopamine content in a dose-dependent manner (30.2% inhibition at $4\;{\mu}M)$. Chelidonine was not cytotoxic up to $4\;{\mu}M)$. However, chelidonine at concentrations higher than $5\;{\mu}M$ caused a cytotoxicity in PC12 cells. L-DOPA at concentrations higher than $50\;{\mu}M$ led to cell damage by oxidative stress in PC12 cells. Chelidonine at non-cytotoxic concentration ranges of $1-4{\mu}M$ aggravated L- DOPA $(20-50\;{\mu}M)$-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells. The L-DOPA-induced cytotocxicity was synergistically stimulated by chelidonine at concentrations grader than $5\;{\mu}M$. These data demonstrate that chelidonine exacerbates L-DOPA-induced cytotoxicity. Therefore, it is proposed that the long-term L-DOPA therapeutic patients with chelidonine may need to be checked for the adverse symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.67-70
• /
• 2007

Background and Objectives: The nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve(NRLN) is exceedingly rare nerve anomaly that is associated with developmentally aberrant subclavian artery. The presence of NRLN is associated with an increased risk of vocal cord palsy in thyroid surgery. The purpose of this study is to investigate its prevalence, associated vascular anomaly and necessity of recognizing its possibility for prevention of intraoperative nerve damage. Materials and Methods: Between January 2004 and December 2006, 583 thyroidectomy were performed at our hospital. Of these cases, 529 cases(90.7%) were checked preoperative neck CT. Results: Patients with preopreative neck CT, 6 cases show the retroesophageal abberant right subclavian artery that arising directly form the aortic arch. 5 cases of these 6 cases(5/6, 83.3%) and of 583 patients(5/583, 0.8%) performed thyroid surgery were identified NRLN per-operatively. All of them are identified on the right side. There were 4 women and 1 man. In all cases, there were no clinical symptoms. I case was performed only left hemithyroidectomy, so we cannot identified NRLN. No vocal cord palsy was observed. Conclusion: It is possible to predict NRLN from preoperative neck CT. When NRLN is suspected, careful, complete dissection of the nerve is always advocated. These process can reduce the operative morbidity.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.43-47
• /
• 2001

This study was conducted to investigate the integrated control strategy against pear black leaf spot disease. Using indicator plant PS-95 we selected six virus-free trees (cv. Niitaka) from commercial orchards in the major pear production area. Disease symptom by pear black leaf spot in the shoot of pear (Niitaka) has been successfully inhibited by heat treatments for 3 weeks at temperature of $40^{\circ}C$ (day) and $32^{\circ}C$ (night) or 4 weeks at $37^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. However, survival rate of the shoot tips on stocks was low. Seven cultivars Niitaka, Imamura- aki, Waseaka, Nijisseiki, Wasenijisseiki, Shinsetsu and Whangkeumbae produced visible symptoms in the first year after inoculation with the virus. Other 11 selections remained symptomless. Two resistant cultivars Suwhangbae and Gamcheonbae were selected, which showed high fruit quality. It is recommended that these cultivars could be top-grafted onto the infected Niitaka trees to overcome the damage caused by the disease in the orchard.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.165-179
• /
• 2014

Objectives To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of Hyangsayangwi-tang (HY), a Korean traditional medicinal prescription in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. Methods Four groups(each of 10 mouse per group) were used in this study. The neuroprotective effect of HY was examined in a Parkinson's disease mouse model. C57BL/6 mouse treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 30mg/kg/day), intraperitoneal (i.p.) for 5 days. Slow behavioral responses and memory disorder is the major clinical symptoms of PD. In order to investigate the effect of HY on recovery of behavioral deficits and memory, we examined the motor function and memory by using Morris water maze and Forced swimming test. Ischemic mouse brain stained with TTC(2,3,5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride) in the MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease to find out ischemia and tissue damage in mouse. The convenient, simple, and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was established for simultaneous determination of neurotransmitters in MPTP-HY group. To measure the amount of dopamine in mice brain, striatum-substantia nigra, was examined by Bradford assay. Immunohistochemistry was examined in the MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease (PD) mouse to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of Hyangsayangwi-tang on hippocampal lesion, ST and SNpc. Results and Conclusions Hyangsayangwi-tang (HY) prevents MPTP-induced loss of serotonin, hippocampus and TH-ir cell.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.507-515
• /
• 2021

Postoperative ileus (POI), a symptom that occurs after abdominal surgery, reduces gastrointestinal motility. Although its mechanism is unclear, POI symptoms are known to be caused by inflammation 6 to 72 h after surgery. As proton pump inhibitors exhibit protective effect against acute inflammation, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ilaprazole on a POI rat model. POI was induced in rats by abdominal surgery. Rats were divided into six groups: control: normal rat + 0.5% CMC-Na, vehicle: POI rat + 0.5% CMC-Na, mosapride: POI rat + mosapride 2 mg/kg, ilaprazole 1 mg/kg: POI rat + ilaprazole 1 mg/kg, ilaprazole 3 mg/kg: POI rat + ilaprazole 3 mg/kg, and ilaprazole 10 mg/kg: POI rat + ilaprazole 10 mg/kg. Gastrointestinal motility was confirmed by measuring gastric emptying (GE) and gastrointestinal transit (GIT). In the small intestine, inflammation was confirmed by measuring TNF-α and IL-1β; oxidative stress was confirmed by SOD, GSH, and MDA levels; and histological changes were observed by H&E staining. Based on the findings, GE and GIT were decreased in the vehicle group and improved in the ilaprazole 10 mg/kg group. In the ilaprazole 10 mg/kg group, TNF-α and IL-1β levels were decreased, SOD and GSH levels were increased, and MDA levels were decreased. Histological damage was also reduced in the ilaprazole-treated groups. These findings suggest that ilaprazole prevents the decrease in gastrointestinal motility, a major symptom of postoperative ileus, and reduces inflammation and oxidative stress.