• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.51-54
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• 2013

Not only Taenia solium and Taenia saginata, but also Taenia asiatica infects humans. The last species is not included in the evaluation of the specificity of the immunodiagnostic techniques for taeniasis/cysticercosis. There is currently no specific immunodiagnostic method for T. asiatica available. Therefore, due to the fact that molecular techniques (the only tool to distinguish the 3 Taenia species) are normally not employed in routine diagnostic methods, the 2 questions concerning T. asiatica (its definite geographic distribution and its ability to cause human cysticercosis), remain open, turning T. asiatica into the most neglected agent of human taeniasis-cysticercosis.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.12.1-12.6
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• 2020

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging swine enteric coronavirus that causes diarrhea in piglets. However, the biological characteristics of PDCoV are unclear. In this study, the hemagglutination (HA) abilities of two PDCoV strains (CH-01 and HNZK-04) were investigated. Our results showed that PDCoV has the ability to agglutinate rabbit erythrocytes after virion pretreatment with trypsin or neuraminidase. Additionally, the HA assay results showed a significant positive correlation with the infectious viral titer. Our results suggest that assessing the HA activity of PDCoV may be a useful diagnostic method for investigating and surveilling PDCoV infections.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제1권3호
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• pp.221-229
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• 2001

Background: Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes is believed to be important in the development of many human malignancies. Recently, several lines of evidence have indicated that the wild type p53 gene located at 17p13.3, may function as a tumor suppressor gene and that a mutant p53 gene could promote transformation by inactivating normal p53 function in a dominant negative fashion. These broad spectrum of p53 mutation in human cancers provide that mutant p53 and their protein may be potential targets of tumor diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Method: Colony formation was performed to investigate growth suppressional ability. p53 expression pattern was examined by western blot and p53-mediated transactivation ability was assessed by CAT activity. SNU C2A cells were observed in apoptotic aspects induced by etoposide and $H_2O_2$ treatment, detecting sensitivity on agent, DNA fragmentation through agarose gel, chromatin condensation by fluorescence microscope, and cell cycle distribution by FACS. Result: 1) p53 mutant his179arg ($histidine{\rightarrow}arginine$) detected in SNU C2A cells lost transcriptional activity and growth suppression ability, showing dominant negative effect on its wild type p53. 2) Etoposide-treated SNU C2A cells induced apoptosis, exhibiting dramatic reduction of cell growth, DNA fragmentation, nuclear condensation formation of apoptotic body and increment of sub-G1 cell fraction. 3) Etoposide and $H_2O_2$-treated SNU C2A cells have no high increase of p53 expression and overexpressed p53 protein changed localization, from cytoplasm to nucleus. Also, p53-mediated transcriptional activity was increased by agents-treatment. Conclusion: SNU C2A cells coexpress wild-type and mutant p53 protein induced apoptosis in the condition on DNA damage, through localizational shift from cytoplasm to nucleus of p53 protein rather than the induction of p53 protein. SNU C2A cells derived mutant p53 his179arg abrogated both the growth supression ability and transactivational activity, showing inhibition effect on transcriptional activity of wild type p53, but did not repress the activity of wild type p53 in SNU C2A cells owing to dominant activity of wild type. These cell condition may provide new gene therapeutic implications leading effective antiproliferation of cell when mutant and wild-type p53 protein were co-expressed in cell.

• 한국간호교육학회지
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• 제3권
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• pp.78-98
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• 1997

Health education, as the most fundamental concept for national health promotion, alms for developing the self-care ability of the general public. High school days are regarded as the period when most important physical, mental and social developments occur, and most health-related behaviors are formed. School health education is one of the major learning resources influencing health potential in the home and community as well as for the individual student. High school health education in Korea has a fundamental systemic flaw in that health-related subjects are divided and taught under various subjects areas at school. In order to achieve the goal of school health education, it is essential to make a systematic assessment of the learner's concerns connected with his health and life, and the factors affecting them. So far, most of the research projects that had been carried out for improving high school health education were limited in their concerns to a particular aspect of health. Even though some had been done in view of comprehensive school health education, they failed to Include a health assessment of the learner. Therefore, in this study the high school students' concerns related to health and life were investigated in the first place on the basis of the PRECEDE model, developed by Green and others for the purpose of a comprehensive diagnostic research on high school health education. This study was done in two steps : one was the basic study for developing research instrument and the other was the main one. The former was conducted at five high schools in Seoul and Cheongju for 2 months-beginning in March, 1996. The students were asked to respond to questions related to their health and lives in unstructured open-ended question forms. On the basis of analysis of the basic study, the diagnostic instruments for the quality of life, health problems, health behavior and educational factors were constructed to be used for the collection of data for main study. An expert panel and the pilot study were used to improve content validity and reliability of the instruments. The reliability of the instruments was measured at between .7697 and .9611 by the Cronbach $\alpha$. The data for this study were collected from the sample consisted of the junior and senior classes of twenty general and vocational high schools in Seoul and Cheongju for two months period beginning in July, 1996. In analyzing the data, both t-test and $X^2$-test were done by using SAS-$PC^+$ Program to compare data between the sexes of the high school students and the types of high school. A canonical correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationships among the diagnostic variables, and a multivariate multiple regression analysis was conducted by using LISREL 8.03 to ascertain the influences of variables on the high school students' health and quality of life. The results were as follows : 1) The findings of the hypothesis tests (1) The canonical correlation between the educational diagnosis variables and behavioral, epidemiological, social diagnosis variables was .7221, which was significant at the level of p<.001. (2) The canonical correlation between the educational diagnosis variables and the behavior variables was .6851, which also was significant (p<.001). (3) The canonical correlation between the behavioral diagnosis variables and the epidemiological variables was 4295, which was significant (p<.001). (4) The canonical correlation between the epidemiological diagnosis variables and the social variables was .6005, which was also significant (p<.001). Therefore, the relationship between each diagnosis variable suggested by the PRECEDE model had been experimentally proven to be valid, supporting the conceptual framework of the study as appropriate for assessing the multi-dimensional factors affecting high school students' health and quality of life. Health behavior self-efficacy, the level of parents' interest and knowledge of health, and the level of the perception of school health education, all of which are the educational diagnostic variables, are the most influential variables in students' health and quality of life. In particular, health behavior self-efficacy, a causative factor, was one of the main influential variables in their health and quality of life. Other diagnostic variables suggested in the steps of the PRECEDE model were found to have reciprocal relations rather than a unidirectional causative relationship. The significance of this research is that it has diagnosed the needs of high school health education by the learner-centered assessment of variety of factors related to the health and the life of the students. This research findings suggest an integrated system of school health education to be contrived to enhance the effectiveness of the education by strengthening the influential factors such as self-efficacy to improve the health and quality of the lives of high school students.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.173-178
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• 2016

Purpose: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been investigated as a novel diagnostic imaging tool. The utilisation of this equipment has been evaluated through several studies in the field of dentistry. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine through basic experiments the effectiveness of OCT in implant dentistry. Materials and Methods: To assess detection ability, we captured OCT images of implants in each of the following situations: (1) implants covered with mucosae of various thicknesses that were harvested from the mandibles of pigs; (2) implants installed in the mandibles of pigs; and (3) implants with abutments and crowns fixed with temporary cement. The OCT images were captured before cementation, after cementation, and after removing the excess submucosal cement. Results: If the thickness of the mucosa covering the implant body was less than 1 mm, the images of the implants were clearly detected by OCT. In the implants were installed in pigs' mandibles, it was difficult to capture clear images of the implant and alveolar bone in most of the samples. Remnants of excess cement around the implants were visible in most samples that had a mucosa thickness of less than 3 mm. Conclusion: Currently, OCT imaging of implants is limited. Cement remnants at the submucosal area can be detected in some cases, which can be helpful in preventing peri-implant diseases. Still, though there are some restrictions to its application, OCT could have potential as an effective diagnostic instrument in the field of implant dentistry as well.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권14호
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• pp.5759-5765
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• 2014

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a potential supplement for mammogram screening. This study aimed to evaluate and feasibility of EIT as opposed to mammography and to determine pain perception with both imaging methods. Women undergoing screening mammography at the Radiology Department of National University of Malaysia Medical Centre were randomly selected for EIT imaging. All women were requested to give a pain score after each imaging session. Two independent raters were chosen to define the image findings of EIT. A total of 164 women in the age range from 40 to 65-year-old participated and were divided into two groups; normal and abnormal. EIT sensitivity and specificity for rater 1 were 69.4% and 63.3, whereas for rater 2 they were 55.3% and 57.0% respectively. The reliability for each rater ranged between good to very good (p<0.05). Quantitative values of EIT showed there were significant differences in all values between groups (ANCOVA, p<0.05). Interestingly, EIT scored a median pain score of $1.51{\pm}0.75$ whereas mammography scored $4.15{\pm}0.87$ (Mann Whitney U test, p<0.05). From these quantitative values, EIT has the potential as a health discriminating index. Its ability to replace image findings from mammography needs further investigation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.1027-1030
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• 2013

Background: Peritoneal washing cytology (PWC) that shows the microscopic intra-peritoneal spread of gynaecologic cancers is not used in staging but is known as prognostic factor and effective in planning the intensity of the therapy. False negative or false positive results clearly affect the ability to make the best decision for therapy. In this study we assessed levels of tumour markers, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) and carbohydrate antigen (CA19-9), in peritoneal washing fluid to establish any possible contribution to the peritoneal washing cytology in patients operated for gynaecologic cancer. Materials and Methods: Preoperative tumour markers were studied in serum of blood samples obtained from the patients for preoperative evaluation of a gynaecologic operation. In the same group peritoneal tumour markers were studied in the washing fluid obtained for intraoperative cytological evaluation. Results: This study included a total of 94 patients, 62 with malignant and 32 with benign histopathology. The sensitivity of the cytological examination was found to be 21% with a specificity of 100%. When evaluated with CEA the sensitivity of the cytological examination has increased to 37%. Conclusions: In addition to examination of PWC, the level of CEA, a tumour marker, in peritoneal washing fluid can make a diagnostic contribution. Determining the level of CEA in peritoneal washing fluid will be useful in the management of gynaecologic cancers.

• 대한물리의학회지
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.129-136
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• 2017

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the gait of elderly patients with and without dementia to investigate the possibility of an ambulation assessment test as a diagnostic tool for dementia. METHODS: A total of 96 subjects were included with 60 participants without dementia (control group) and 36 patients with dementia (dementia group). To compare the walking ability of the two groups, a 4-m walking test (4MWT) and Groningen Meander Walking Test (GMWT) were conducted. The GMWT is graded by amount of time in seconds and by number of oversteps outside the track. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the gait between the groups and the area under the curve (AUC) with Received Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was analyzed. Statistical significance was considered at a p<.05, with a 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences (p<.05) between the dementia group and the control group for the 4MWT, GMWTSEC, and GMWTSTEP scores. The AUC was .95 for 4MWT, .92 for GMWTSEC, and .96 for GMWTSTEP with the 95% confidence interval. The cut-off values of the ROC curve were 1.03m/s for 4MWT, 10.8 second for GMWTSEC, and 3.75 steps for GMSTEP. CONCLUSION: In our study, we investigated the utility of ambulatory assessment tools to predict dementia. The results of this study suggest that the 4MWT and the GMWT used in this study are appropriate assessment tools for dementia prediction.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권3호
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• pp.263-271
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• 2014

PCR detection of intestinal protozoa is often restrained by a poor DNA recovery or by inhibitors present in feces. The need for an extraction protocol that can overcome these obstacles is therefore clear. $QIAamp^{(R)}$ DNA Stool Mini Kit (Qiagen) was evaluated for its ability to recover DNA from oocysts/cysts directly from feces. Twenty-five Giardia-positive, 15 Cryptosporidium-positive, 15 Entamoeba histolytica-positive, and 45 protozoa-free samples were processed as control by microscopy and immunoassay tests. DNA extracts were amplified using 3 sets of published primers. Following the manufacturer's protocol, the kit showed sensitivity and specificity of 100% towards Giardia and Entamoeba. However, for Cryptosporidium, the sensitivity and specificity were 60% (9/15) and 100%, respectively. A series of optimization experiments involving various steps of the kit's protocol were conducted using Cryptosporidium-positive samples. The best DNA recoveries were gained by raising the lysis temperature to the boiling point for 10 min and the incubation time of the InhibitEX tablet to 5 min. Also, using a pre-cooled ethanol for nucleic acid precipitation and small elution volume ($50-100{\mu}l$) were valuable. The sensitivity of the amended protocol to Cryptosporidium was raised to 100%. Cryptosporidium DNA was successfully amplified by either the first or the second primer set. When applied on parasite-free feces spiked with variable oocysts/cysts counts, ${\approx}2$ oocysts/cysts were theoretically enough for detection by PCR. To conclude, the Qiagen kit with the amended protocol was proved to be suitable for protozoan DNA extraction directly from feces and support PCR diagnosis.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제40권3호
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• pp.137-142
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• 2010

Purpose : This study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic ability of ultrasonography in detection of bone defects and new bone formation. Materials and Methods : Experimental bony defects were prepared on the parietal bone samples acquired from 3.5 kg New Zealand male rabbits. The defects were evaluated using ultrasonography and CBCT, and examined histologically at interval of 1, 3, 6, and 8 weeks. Results : Ultrasonograph demonstrated hyperechogenicity in the defect area at 3 weeks and broadened hyperechogenicity from the margin of bone defect at 6 and 8 weeks due to new bone formation. On the CBCT images, new bone formation was first observed at 3 weeks around the margin of the defect, and showed gradually increase at 6 and 8 weeks. Histologic findings revealed existence of the fibroblasts and fibrous connective tissue with abundant capillary vessels only at 1 week, but osteoid tissue and newly formed trabecular bone at 3 weeks. Bone remodeling in the defect area was observed at 6 weeks and increased calcification and dense trabecular bone formation was observed at 8 weeks. Conclusions : Ultrasonograph proved to be a very useful diagnostic tool in detecting the bony defect and new bone formation. Additionally, ultrasonography provided valuable information regarding the blood supply around the defect area.