• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.79-89
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to find out the stable formulation of nano-emulsion containing high concentration of quercetin and to investigate the effect of an ethanol on the nano-emulsion prepared by POE (30) hydrogenated castor oil (HCO-30)/oil/quercetin/ethanol/water system. Nano-emulsion was prepared using emulsion inversion point (EIP) method as low-energy method plus homogenizer as high-energy method. To evaluate effect of ethanol and other components on the nano-emulsion, physical properties such as droplet size, morphology, and size distribution were determined. The optimal quercetin concentration was 0.2 % on the nano-emulsion. The droplet diameter was below 300 nm at the HCO-30 concentration below 2.00 %. Nano-emmulsion containing 4.75 % HCO-30 was the most stable and its mean droplet size was 172.40 nm. Finally, the size of nano-emulsion containing 4.00 % ethanol was 128.15 nm and size distribution was also narrow. The results showed that the breakdown process of this nano-emulsion could be attributed to Ostwald ripening. This study about effect of ethanol on the nano-emulsion showed that loading capacity of drug could be increased by using a small amount of ethanol. As prepared stable nano-emulsion, this study showed that these results could be applied to pharmaceutics, cosmetic including skin-care products, perfume and etc.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.239-246
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• 2013

Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance and multidrug resistance patterns have been studied with a total of 189 samples of Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium isolated from diarrhea patients in Incheon from 2008 to 2012. Methods: Antimicrobial resistance tests were determined by Disc Diffusion method. Results: The serological distribution of Salmonella spp. showed 108 strains (30.1%) of S. Enteritidis, 81 strains (22.6%) of S. Typhimirium, eight strains (8.0%) of S. Typhi, 11 strains ( 3.1% ) of S. Paratyphi, and the 151 other strains (42.1%). The separation rate of Salmonella spp. by year showed 14.5% (52 strains) in 2008, 13.6% (49 strains) in 2009, 22.8% (82 strains) in 2010, 25.3% (91 strains) in 2011, and 23.7% (85 strains) in 2012. Additionally, the separation rate of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimirium in 2010 was the highest. The Salmonella spp. isolated from diarrhea patients showed significant differences according to age (p<0.05), gender (p<0.01) and medical institution (p<0.05). The highest resistance was found to the following antimicrobial agents: imipenem 77 strains, ampicillin 47 strains, ciprofloxacin 34 strains, nalidixic acid 29 strains for S. Enteritidis, and ampicillin 45 strains, nalidixic acid 45 strains for S. Typhimurium. Separated S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium resistance to the antibiotics by the year showed significant differences (p<0.05). The patterns of multidrug resistance rates were 43.1% (47 strains) for one drug, 8.3% (9 strains) for two drugs, 11.0% (12 strains) for three drugs, 15.62% (17 strains) for four drugs, and 13.7% (15 strains) for five or more drugs for S. Enteritidis. For S. Tyhpimurium, the rates were 15.0% (12 strains) for one drug, 10.0% (8 strains) for two drugs, 6.3% (five strains) for three drugs, 18.7% (15 strains) for four drugs, and 23.8% (19 strains) for five or more drugs. Conclusion: The antibiotic resistance issue is directly related to people's lives. Thus, the usage of antibiotics should be reduced in order to manage antibiotic resistance.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.49-76
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of a computerized review program which was introduced in August 1, 2003, using claims data for acute respiratory infection related diseases. National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data on respiratory infection related diseases before and after the introduction, with six month intervals respectively, were used for the analysis. Clinic was the unit of observation, and clinics with only one physician whose specialty was internal medicine, pediatrics, otorhinolaryngology and family medicine and clinics with a general practitioner were selected. The final sample had 7,637 clinics in total. Indices used to measure practice pattern was prescription rates of antibiotics, prescription rates of injection drug per visit, treatment costs per claim, and total costs per claim. Changes in the number of claims for major disease categories and upcoding index for disease categories were used to measure claiming behavior. Data were analysed using descriptive analysis, t-test for indices changes before and after the introduction, analysis of variance (ANOVA) for practice pattern change for major disease categories, and multiple regression analysis to identify whether new system influenced on provider' practice patterns or not. Prescription of antibiotics, prescription rates of injection drug, treatment costs per claim, and total costs per claim decreased significantly. Results from multiple regression analysis showed that a computerized review system had effects on all the indices measuring behavior. Introduction of the new system had the spillover effects on the provider's behavior in the related disease categories in addition to the effects in the target diseases, but the magnitude of the effects were bigger among the target diseases. Rates of claims for computerized review over total claims for respiratory diseases significantly decreased after the introduction of a computerized review system and rates of claims for non target diseases increased, which was also statistically significant. Distribution of the number of claims by disease categories after the introduction of a computerized review system changed so as to increase the costs per claims. Analysis of upcoding index showed index for 'other acute lower respiratory infection (J20-22)', which was included in the review target, decreased and 'otitis media (H65, H66)', which was not included in the review target, increase. Factors affecting provider's practice patterns should be taken into consideration when policies on claims review method and behavior changes. It is critical to include strategies to decrease the variations among providers.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.112-125
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• 2010

Objectives The purpose of this study is to find the relationships between the allergy and weakness in children in Seong-Dong district. Methods 802 day care centers children were participated for survey on allergic disease, risk factors, and weakness. From the result, we analyzed the relationships between the aforementioned factors. Results 1. 802 children were participated for the survey. We eliminated survey answers with unclear answers, and selected 792 survey sheets as our final subject of study. The age of majority of subjects(720 children) were between one to six years old, and the others were under the age of one and over seven. 2. The prevalence rate of asthma in a lifetime was 6.69%, allergic rhinitis was 14.87%, atopic dermatitis was 28.82%, allergic conjunctivitis was 6.29%, food allergies was 9.58%, and drug allergies was 1.4%. In 2009, the prevalence rate of allergies during treatments is 6.69% for asthma, 13.41% for allergic rhinitis, 13.64% for atopic dermatitis, 4.13% for allergic conjunctivitis, 5.23% for food allergies, 0.96% for drug allergies. 3. The significant risk factors were types of dwelling, pet with fur, dirty environments without vacuum cleaners, the numbers of times bed covers were washed, frequency of air ventilation, changes in body after moving, family history. 4. The distribution of the number of children with weakness within the five visceras were respiratory weakness, digestive weakness, psychoneurologic weakness, neuromotor weakness, and urogenital weakness in the order of most to the least. More specifically, children who only has respiratory weakness were the majority, while children who have respiratory and digestive weaknesses, children who have respiratory, digestive, and psychoneurologic weaknesses, children who have respiratory and psychoneurologic were followed. 5. With the exception of children with urogenital weakness, Most of the children with respiratory weakness, digestive weakness, psychoneurologic weakness, and neuromotor weakness had been treated for allergies in 2009, while children who were diagnosed with allergic diseases at least once in their lifetime most likely had weak respiratory, digestive or psychoneurologic systems. Conclusions The results of this study showed that there was a correlation between children with weak viscera and children with allergic diseases. However, further research would be necessary.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.119-126
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• 2017

Background: As the demands of pharmacist's role and quality performance have increased, the verification of pharmacist's ability has been required. In this study, we aimed to select appropriate items for assessment of pharmacist's knowledge, attitude and performance. Methods: Based on the pharmacist job analysis, we selected duties and tasks in consideration of applying pharmacy practical examination through brainstorming of internal researchers and group discussion with experts. Survey was conducted to evaluate the tasks according to the criteria detailed below: Realistic, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral and Achievable (RUMBA). The subjects included professors at colleges of pharmacy and instructors of institutional or community pharmacy settings. Results: Nine duties including 41 tasks were drawn for the survey through primary internal researchers. Of the 90 respondents, 95.6% were professors or preceptors who was engaged in practical training, and 62.2% had more than five years of practical experience. As a result of survey and discussion with expert panel, selected seven duties were selected as followings: 'Patient (customer) reception', 'Drug preparation and distribution', 'Patient care', 'Administration', 'Patient counseling', 'Non-prescription medication counseling', and 'Provision of drug information'. The final 20 tasks from seven duties were chosen to assess skills that a pharmacist should be able to perform. Conclusion: This is the first study to select the items that can be included in pharmacist practical examination in the future, based on the RUMBA criteria. As a next step, it is necessary to study how to implement these items.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.112-124
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• 2002

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been reported to exert detrimental toxicities on various organ systems including reproductive, cardiovascular, nervous, or dermal system. Immunomodulatory effects of TCDD is thymic atrophy, downregulation of cytotoxic T or B lymphocyte differentiation and activation, which were demonstrated using experimental animals, whereas immunotoxicity in human has not been investigated well. This study was proceeded to evaluate general immunologic spectrum of the Korean Vietnam War veterans exposed to TCDD during their operation, and compare with that of the non-exposed control subjects with similar age. Regarding composition and quantity, immune cells in peripheral blood collected from the TCDD-exposed was not much different from those of the control except decreased red blood cell, hemoglobin and hematocrit level. Furthermore, plasma IgG2, G3, and G4 isotype distribution was similar between two groups, but IgG1 level was significantly lowered in the TCDD-exposed, indicating a TCDD-mediated functional alteration of B cells. Significantly enhanced level of IgE in plasma, a hallmark of dermal or respiratory allergic response, was also observed in the TCDD-exposed compared with that of the control. Elevated generation of IL-4 and IL-10 was resulted from in vitro stimulation of T cells with PMA plus ionomycin or PHA, respectively, from the TCDD-exposed in comparison to those of the control, suggesting a skewed type-2 response. In addition, the level of IFN${\gamma}$, a multifunctional cytokine for T cell-mediated immunity, was lowered in the TCDD-exposed with upregulation of tumor necrosis factor $\alpha$. The present study suggests that TCDD exposure disturbs immunohomeostasis in humans observed as an aberrant plasma IgE and IgG1 levels and dysregulation of T cell activities.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2005

The majority of acute toxic poisoning occur via oral route. The most important emergency treatment of acute poisoning are gastric lavage. Gastric lavage should be considered a patient has ingested a potentially life-threatening amount of a poison and the procedure can be undertaken within 60 mins of ingestion. But, gastric lavage does not consist properly in the cases of emergency situation or an inexperienced doctors treat. The purpose of this study was to determine whether gastric lavage is performed properly. Eighty patients were enrolled in the study in 12-month period from January to December 2002. A retrospective chart review was performed on patients identified as drug overdose who admitted to ER. To assess whether there was a subgroup of patients who may have been candidates for the initiation of gastric lavage in the ER, the patients divided in two groups by time interval from toxin ingestion to ER arrival. The group 1 that admit within 60 minutes after drug ingestion was 38 cases ($47.5\%$), and the group 2 patient who admitted after 60 minutes was 42 cases ($52.5\%$). The average age was $44\pm19$ years in group 1, and $48\pm24$ years in group 2. There were no differences in sexual distribution of two groups. The mean time interval was $49\pm20$ minutes in the group $1,258\pm190$ minutes in the group 2. Only thirty ($37.5\%$) of the patients had an overdose for which the treatment of gastric lavage was potentially feasible according to guideline. The correctly performed gastric lavage was 18 ($47.4\%$) in group 1, 12 ($28.6\%$) in group 2. We must enforce education about the gastric lavage, and do so that may treat according to guideline.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2010

Purpose: There are an insignificant number of studies done on the demographics of intoxication patients and on the characteristics of toxic exposure on a long term basis in Korea. The objective of our survey is to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of intoxication in a metropolitan emergency department in order to more efficiently manage intoxication patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of intoxication patients who visited the emergency department of a high end medical facility between January, 1998 and June, 2009. We investigated the trend of the substances people became intoxicated with during the study period and we analyzed the age, gender, year and distribution of patients and the outcome of the patients. Results: There were 1544 cases of intoxication during the study period, and the cases made up 0.37% of the total visitors to our emergency department, which is a high end medical facility located in the city. Most of the patients were female (70%) in their twenties and thirties. The most commonly ingested intoxication substances were sedatives, analgesics and pesticides. Unlike in the province, antidepressant abuse is on the rise while pesticide abuse is falling. The overall admission rate was 24.8% and the mortality rate was 1.6%. Pesticides intoxication was the most common cause of death (76%). Pesticides intoxication, a male gender and old age were the most significant fatality-related factors. Conclusion: We think that there is a need to investigate the actual conditions of drug intoxication in the city and prepare measures to prevent drug intoxication.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6135-6140
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• 2013

Background: Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor which affects health of women and multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the main factors leading to failure of chemotherapy. This study was conducted to establish paclitaxel-resistant breast cancer cell line and nude mice models to explore underlying mechanisms of MDR. Methods: The breast cancer drug-sensitive cell line MCF-7 (MCF-7/S) was exposed in stepwise escalating paclitaxel (TAX) to induce a resistant cell line MCF-7/TAX. Cell sensitivity to drugs and growth curves were measured by MTT assay. Changes of cell morphology and ultrastructure were examined by optical and electron microscopy. The cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, expression of proteins related to breast cancer occurrence and MDR was tested by immunocytochemistry. In Vivo, nude mice were injected with MCF-7/S and MCF-7/TAX cells and weights and tumor sizes were observed after paclitaxel treatment. In addition, proteins involved breast cancer and MDR were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: Compared to MCF-7/S, MCF-7/TAX cells had a higher resistance to paclitaxel, cross-resistance and prolonged doubling time. Moreover, MCF-7/TAX showed obvious alterations of ultrastructure. Estrogen receptor (ER) expression was low in drug resistant cells and tumors while expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and Ki-67 was up-regulated. P-glycoprotein (P-gp), lung resistance-related protein (LRP) and glutathione-S-transferase-${\pi}$ (GST-${\pi}$) involved in the MDR phenotype of resistant cells and tumors were all overexpressed. Conclusion: The underlying MDR mechanism of breast cancer may involve increased expression of P-gp, LRP and GST-${\pi}$.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2012

Background: The common causes of lower back pain with or without leg pain includes disk disease and spinal stenosis. A definitive diagnosis is usually made by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but treatment is often difficult because the MRI findings are not consistent with the symptoms of the patient in many cases. The objective of this study was to observe the correlation between the patterns of epidurography performed in patients having lower back pain with or without leg pain and the position or severity of the pain as subjectively described by the patients. Methods: The subjects of this study were 69 outpatients with lower back pain with or without leg pain who visited our clinic and complained of predominant pain on one side. We performed caudal epidural block using an image intensifier. A mixture of the therapeutic drug and the contrast agent (10 ml) was injected to observe the contrast flow pattern. The patients who complained of predominant pain on one side were divided into the left side group and the right side group. A judgment of inconsistency was made if the contrast agent flowed to the side of the pain, while a judgment of consistency was made if the contrast agent flowed to the opposite side of the pain. The degree of the drug distribution was evaluated by counting the number of cells to which the contrast agent's flowed for evaluating the correlation between the contrasted cell and the severity of pain (one group ${\leq}$ VAS 7, the other group ${\geq}$ VAS 8) the degree of the contrast agent's contrast was evaluated by dividing and counting an image into 15 cells (the left, right, and middle sections at each level of L4, L5, S1, S2, and S3). Results: Thirty out of the 69 patients who had laterality in pain, that is, those who complained of predominant pain on one side, showed that the laterality of the pain and the contrast agent flow was consistent, while 39 patients showed that the laterality was inconsistent (P: 0.137). The evaluation of the correlation between the pain and the contrast agent flow showed that the mean number of contrasted cells was $9.0{\pm}2.2$ for the 46 patients in the group with a VAS of 7 or lower and $6.5{\pm}2.0$ for the 23 patients in the group with a VAS of 8 or higher, indicating that the former group showed a significantly greater number of contrasted cells (P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study, conducted with patients having lower back pain with or without leg pain, showed that the contrast flow pattern of caudal epidurography had a significant correlation with the severity of the pain but not with the laterality of the pain.