• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.51-58
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• 2024

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) bear a significant financial burden and face numerous complications and higher mortality rates. The progression of CKD is associated with glomerular injury caused by glomerular hyperfiltration and oxidative stress. Factors such as uncontrolled hypertension, elevated urine protein levels, anemia, and underlying glomerular disease, contribute to CKD progression. In addition to conservative treatment, several medications are available to combat the progression of CKD to end-stage kidney disease. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers could slow the progression of CKD by reducing glomerular hyperfiltration, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing inflammation. Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists inhibit the mineralocorticoid receptor signaling pathway, thereby attenuating inflammation and fibrosis. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors exhibit protective effects on the kidneys and against cardiovascular events. Tolvaptan, a selective vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist, decelerates the rate of increase in total kidney volume and deterioration of kidney function in patients with rapidly progressive autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. The protective effects of AST-120 remain controversial. Due to a lack of evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of these medications in children, it is imperative to weigh the benefits and adverse effects carefully. Further research is essential to establish the efficacy and safety profiles in pediatric populations.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.152-158
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• 2007

Chloride attach is one of the main factors which cause the deterioration of structures. In the case highway bridges, de-ice salts very significantly increase the surface scaling due to frost action. The deteriorated concrete is subject to experience degrading of durability under chloride attach environment. In this study, diagnosis report of 147 bridges is investigated and core sample of 21 bridge decks is examined and analyzed. The results show that the cover of decks concrete is required more than 8cm for retaining bridge lifetime over 30 years.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2024

Concrete structures must maintain their shielding abilities and structural integrity over extended operational periods. Despite the widespread use of dry storage systems for spent nuclear fuel, research on the properties of deteriorated concrete and their impact on structural performance remains limited. To address this significant research gap, static and dynamic material testing was conducted on concrete specimens carefully extracted from the outer wall of the High-flux Advanced Neutron Application ReactOr (HANARO), constructed approximately 30 years ago. Despite its age, the results reveal that the concrete maintains its structural integrity impressively well, with static compression tests indicating an average compressive strength exceeding the original design standards. Further dynamic property testing using advanced high-speed material test equipment supported these findings, showing the consistency of dynamic increase factors with those reported in previous studies. These results highlight the importance of monitoring and assessing concrete structures in nuclear facilities for long-term safety and reliability.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 2006

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to shed further light on the effect of modifiable health behavior risk factors on dependence in activities of daily living, defined in a multidimensional fashion. Methods: The study participants were 10,278 middle aged Americans in a longitudinal health study, the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS). A multi-stage probability sampling design incorporating the effect of population sizes (Metropolitan and non-metropolitan), ethnicity (the non- Hispanic White, the Hispanic, and the Black), and age (age 51-61) was utilized. Basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL) were measured using five activities necessary for survival (impairment in dressing, eating, bathing, sleeping, and moving across indoor spaces). Explanatory variables were four health behavior risk factors included smoking, exercise, Body Mass Index (BMI), and alcohol consumption. Results: Most participants at baseline were ADL independent (1992). 97.8% of participants were independent in all ADL's at baseline and 78.2% were married. Approximately 27.5% were current smokers at baseline, and the subjects reported moderate or heavy exercise were 74.8%. All demographic characteristics and behavioral risk factors were significantly associated with the ADL status at Wave 4 except alcohol consumption. Risk behaviors such as current smoking, sedentary life style and high BMI at Wave 1 were associated with ADL status deterioration; however, moderate alcohol consumption tended to be more related to better ADL status than abstaining at Wave 4. ADL status at Wave 1 was the strongest factor and the next was exercise and smoking affecting ADL status at Wave 4. People who were in ADL dependent at Wave 1 were 15.17 times more likely to be ADL dependent at Wave 4 than people who were in ADL independent at Wave 1. Concerning smoking cigarettes, people who kept only light exercise or sedentary life style at Wave 1 were 1.70 times more likely to be died at Wave 4 than the people who did not smoke at Wave 1. Conclusions: All demographics and health behaviors at wave 1 had consistently similar OR trends for ADL status to each other except alcohol consumption. Smoking and exercise in health behaviors, and age and gender in demographics at Wave 1 were significant factors associated with ADL group separation at Wave 4.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.387-396
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• 2018

Exposure to the natural environment can cause damage to domestic wooden cultural assets, such as temples. Deterioration is accelerated by biological damage and various environmental factors. In this study, meteorological factors were monitored by equipment installed at Beopjusa temple of Boeun province and Seonamsa temple of Suncheon province. A statistical model was applied to these data to predict the meteorological factors and to compare the predictive performance of each meteorological factor. The resulting correlation coefficient between air and dew point temperatures was highest, at 0.95, while the correlation coefficient for relative humidity had a moderate value(0.65) at both the Beopjusa and Seonamsa temples. Thus, a general linear model was found to be suitable for predicting air and dew point temperatures. An analysis of correlation between meteorological factors showed that there was strong positive correlation between air temperature and dew point temperature, and between solar radiation and evaporation at both sites. There was a weak positive correlation between air temperature and evaporation at Beopjusa temple. Wind speed was negatively correlated with both air temperature and relative humidity at Seonamsa temple. The wind speed at this location is higher than average in winter and lower than average in summer, and it was hypothesized that the low wind speed plays a role in reducing water evaporation in summer, when both air temperature and relative humidity are high. As a result, damage to the wooden buildings of Seonamsa temple is accelerated.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.450-457
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• 2019

Objective : Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is commonly used surgical procedure for cervical degenerative disease. Among the various intervertebral spacers, the use of allografts is increasing due to its advantages such as no harvest site complications and low rate of subsidence. Although subsidence is a rare complication, graft collapse is often observed in the follow-up period. Graft collapse is defined as a significant graft height loss without subsidence, which can lead to clinical deterioration due to foraminal re-stenosis or segmental kyphosis. However, studies about the collapse of allografts are very limited. In this study, we evaluated risk factors associated with graft collapse. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 33 patients who underwent two level ACDF with anterior plating using allogenous bone graft from January 2013 to June 2017. Various factors related to cervical sagittal alignment were measured preoperatively (PRE), postoperatively (POST), and last follow-up. The collapse was defined as the ratio of decrement from POST disc height to follow-up disc height. We also defined significant collapses as disc heights that were decreased by 30% or more after surgery. The intraoperative distraction was defined as the ratio of increment from PRE disc height to POST disc height. Results : The subsidence rate was 4.5% and graft collapse rate was 28.8%. The pseudarthrosis rate was 16.7% and there was no association between pseudarthrosis and graft collapse. Among the collapse-related risk factors, pre-operative segmental angle (p=0.047) and intra-operative distraction (p=0.003) were significantly related to allograft collapse. The cut-off value of intraoperative distraction ${\geq}37.3%$ was significantly associated with collapse (p=0.009; odds ratio, 4.622; 95% confidence interval, 1.470-14.531). The average time of events were as follows: collapse, $5.8{\pm}5.7months$; subsidence, $0.99{\pm}0.50months$; and instrument failure, $9.13{\pm}0.50months$. Conclusion : We experienced a higher frequency rate of collapse than subsidence in ACDF using an allograft. Of the various preoperative factors, intra-operative distraction was the most predictable factor of the allograft collapse. This was especially true when the intraoperative distraction was more than 37%, in which case the occurrence of graft collapse increased 4.6 times. We also found that instrument failure occurs only after the allograft collapse.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.575-584
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• 2021

Objective : Cervical expansive laminoplasty is an effective surgical method to address multilevel cervical spinal stenosis. During surgery, the spinous processes of C2 and C7 are usually preserved to keep the insertion points of the cervical musculature and nuchal ligament intact. In this regard, dome-like laminectomy (undercutting of C7 lamina) instead of laminoplasty is performed on C7 in selected cases. However, resection of the lamina can weaken the C7 lamina, and stress fractures may occur, but this complication has not been characterized in the literature. The objective of the present study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for C7 laminar fracture after C7 dome-like laminectomy and its impact on clinical and radiological outcomes. Methods : Patients who underwent cervical open-door laminoplasty combined with C7 dome-like laminectomy (n=123) were classified according to the presence of C7 laminar fracture. Clinical parameters (neck/arm pain score and neck disability index) and radiologic parameters (C2-7 angle, C2-7 sagittal vertical axis, and C7-T1 angle) were compared between the groups preoperatively and at postoperatively at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Risk factors for complications were evaluated, and a formula estimating C7 fracture risk was suggested. Results : C7 lamina fracture occurred in 32/123 (26%) patients and occurred at the bilateral isthmus in 29 patients and at the spinolaminar junction in three patients. All fractures appeared on X-ray within 3 months postoperatively, but patients did not present any neurological deterioration. The fracture spontaneously healed in 27/32 (84%) patients at 1 year and in 29/32 (91%) at 2 years. During follow-up, clinical outcomes were not significantly different between the groups. However, patients with C7 fractures showed a more lordotic C2-7 angle and kyphotic C7-T1 angle than patients without C7 fractures. C7 fracture was significantly associated with the extent of bone removal. By incorporating significant factors, the probability of C7 laminar fracture could be assessed with the formula 'Risk score = 1.08 × depth (%) + 1.03 × length (%, of the posterior height of C7 vertebral body)', and a cut-off value of 167.9% demonstrated a sensitivity of 90.3% and a specificity of 65.1% (area under the curve, 0.81). Conclusion : C7 laminar fracture can occur after C7 dome-like laminectomy when a substantial amount of lamina is resected. Although C7 fractures may not cause deleterious clinical outcomes, they can lead to an unharmonized cervical curvature. The chance of C7 fracture should be discussed in the shared decision-making process.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1551-1558
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• 2015

In Korea, many drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) have introduced and are going to introduce biological activated carbon (BAC) process to treated dissolved organic matter (DOM) in water which are difficult to control by conventional water treatment processes. Even though more decade have passed since introduced BAC in Korea, most of BAC operating method was followed to the modified sand filter operating manuals. In case of BAC backwashing, many DWTPs set the periods of backwashing about 3~5 days. In this study, we have collected data to set the proper BAC backwashing periods from both pilot-plant and real DWTPs. We had measured heterotrophic plate count (HPC), turbidity, water temperature, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and headloss from just after backwashing to the next backwashing time for two years. Considering water quality factors, the BAC run time from backwashing to the next backwashing could extend more 30 days without water quality deterioration if the head loss do not reach the limited level which depends on each BAC facilities' condition. It means the BAC treated water could be saved in the proportion of extended the backwashing period to the existing backwashing period.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.345-358
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• 2015

Southeast Asia, a typical tropical region, plays an important role in exporting a variety of fruits worldwide. The market for fresh fruits has been growing consistently, and this is a chance for Southeast Asian countries to increase their national income. However, export of tropical fruits has limitations such as a short shelf life and difficulty in maintaining the quality because of tropical climate conditions and undeveloped postharvest technologies in Southeast Asia. An important objective for developing postharvest technologies is to extend the shelf life of fresh fruits without deterioration in fruit quality. Therefore, it is essential to determine factors that affect the shelf life of fruits. The shelf life of tropical fruits is significantly dependent on the inherent properties of the fruits, extrinsic conditions, postharvest treatment, and microbial contamination. Recently, Southeast Asian countries have supported agricultural research groups for developing new postharvest technologies and minimizing postharvest losses and maintaining export fruit quality so that the total sales of tropical fruit farms can increase. This review introduces how the primary factors for extending the shelf life of tropical fruits can be determined and discusses the development of postharvest technologies for tropical fruits in Southeast Asian countries.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2016

Consumers demand fresh and high-quality eggs. Egg quality may be represented by shell color, shell weight, egg weight, shell thickness, shell density, albumen height, yolk color, albumen pH and viscosity. Various factors such as strain, age of hen, storage temperature, humidity, the presence of $CO_2$ and storage time affect egg quality. Therefore, we investigated the effects of storage time and temperature on egg quality to define the freshness of Korean market eggs. A total of 1,800 eggs were used for this experiment and were separated into 45 treatments with 40 eggs in each. The treatments were consisted of 15 storage periods (2 d to 30 d) and 3 storage temperatures ($2^{\circ}C$, $12^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$). Each egg was weighed and broken, and the height of the thick albumen, Haugh units (HU), egg shell color and yolk color were measured by a QCM+system. We also observed the physiochemical properties of eggs such as yolk pH, albumen pH and albumen viscosity. The egg weight, shell weight, albumen height, HU and albumen viscosity significantly decreased with increasing storage time and temperature. However, the albumen and yolk pH significantly increased with increasing storage period and temperature. The interaction effects between the storage period and temperature were significant for shell weight, shell density, egg weight, albumen height, HU, yolk color, yolk pH, albumen pH and albumen viscosity. In the analysis of the correlation with egg quality, the storage temperature exhibited a higher correlation coefficient than the storage period. In conclusion, storage time and temperature are the major factors affecting egg quality, but the storage temperature is a more sensitive determinant of egg quality deterioration compared with the storage period.