• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.231-239
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• 2023

Public sewage treatment facilities are a necessary infrastructure for public health that treat sewage generated in cities and basin living areas and discharge it into rivers or seas. Recently, the role of public sewage treatment is receiving attention as a place of use of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), which analyzes human specific metabolic emissions or biomarkers present in sewage to investigate the environment to which the population is exposed in the water drain. WBE is mainly applied to investigate legal and water-law drug use or to predict and analyze the lifestyle of local residents. WBE has also been applied to predict and analyze the degree of infectious diseases that are prevalent worldwide, such as COVID-19. Since sewage flowing into public sewage treatment facilities includes living information of the population living in the drainage area, it is easy to collect basic data to predict the confirmation and spread of infectious diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a new role of public sewage treatment facilities as an infrastructure necessary for WBE that can obtain information on the confirmation and spread of infectious diseases other than the traditional role of public sewage treatment. In South Korea, the sewerage supply rate is about 95.5% and the number of public sewage treatment facility is 4,209. This means that the infrastructure of sewerage is fully established. However, to successfully drive for WBE , research on monitoring and big-data analysis is needed.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.469-490
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• 2023

Survey was carried out on the acoustic outputs from 12 shock wave fields produced by the 10 extracorporeal shock wave lithotriptors whose technical documents are available, among the 33 devices approved by the Ministry of Food & Drug Safety (MFDS).The results show that the acoustic outputs (P+, P-, efd, and E), critical to the therapeutic efficacy and the patient safety, are largely different between the devices. The maximum values of P+, P-, efd, and E vary up to 2.08, 3.72, 3.89, and 15.98 times, respectively. The acoustic output parameters are not thoroughly provided in the technical documents, and some of data (eg. efd) are suspected to be abnormal outside usual ranges. The large device to device differences in the shock wave outputs are likely to undermine equivalence between the ESWL devices approved for the same indication. To verify the reliability of the data in the technical documents of the approved devices and to confirm if the acoustic outputs from the devices in clinical use are the same as those in their technical documents, an authorized test laboratory should be available. A postapproval monitoring led by the regulatory agency is suggested to maintain the acoustic outputs from the ESWL devices that suffer from degrading in performance due to aging.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 2019

Candida vertebral osteomyelitis (CVO) is a rare disease that is a complication of intravenous drug use, but recently it has been recognized as mostly an opportunistic infection. Because CVO appears to mimic pyogenic spondylodiscitis in terms of the clinical and radiologic presentations, it is often neglected in a usual clinical setting. The clinical, radiological, and biological characteristics of CVO are often used to make a differential diagnosis with vertebral osteomyelitis from other etiologies. Once an initial proper diagnosis was performed, the treatment relies on the prompt initiation of appropriate pharmacotherapy and serial monitoring of the clinical progress. This paper report late-onset CVO in two young patients who underwent a heart transplant surgery and had postoperative systemic candidiasis. These two cases are a good reminder of the potential of CVO in immunosuppressive patients treated with anti-fungal agents. This paper presents these two cases with a review of the relevant literature.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2007

Liposomes having particle size from several tens to hundreds nanometers are efficient carriers for injectable drug delivery. Enhancement of liposome stability in bloodstream has been studied because of its relatively short circulation time and fast clearance from human body by reticuloendothelial system (RES) in blood vessel. In this study, new disaccharide-1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DSPE) derivatives in which lactose or sucrose as the disaccharide molecule was conjugated covalently to DSPE were synthesized. Liposomes of which surface had disaccharide molecules were prepared by incorporating the disaccharide-DSPE into liposomes as one of their lipid components. Particle size of the prepared liposomes was approximately 100 nm. The liposomes of which surface were modified with the disaccharide-DSPE showed -25 mV of zeta potential value due to the presence of hydroxyl groups on their surface, while the unmodified control liposomes showed -10 mV of zeta potential value. Loading efficiency of model drug, doxorubicin, into liposomes was about 90%. Stability of the disaccharide-modified liposomes in vitro was evaluated by monitoring the amount of protein adsorption and particle size of the liposomes in serum. Disaccharide-modified liposomes were more stable in serum than unmodified control liposomes or polyethyleneglycol (PEG)-modified liposomes due to less adsorption of serum protein and hence less increase of their particle size. The liposomes of which surface was modified with disaccharide-DSPE conjugate can be used as long-circulating carriers for drugs having high toxicity or short half-life time due to their enhanced stability in blood circulatory system.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.799-806
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• 2002

In spite of the establishment of chemotherapy and the gradual decrease in prevalence, pulmonary tuberculosis is still mainly treated with an operation. Through analyzing and examining some cases of surgical treatment, we hope to provide some help in treating of pulmonary tuberculosis in the future. Material and Method: By comparing four journals previously published in our department with 144 cases of lung surgery during ten years from January of 1991 to December of 2000 performed by the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery of the National Medical Center, we analyzed and reviewed the most recent trends and the results of the surgical treatment. Annual frequency of the operation, distribution of age, examination of sputum, adaptability and types of techniques, complications, and results of the postoperative follow-up were used as methods. Result: It was found that the annual frequency of operations had decreased. The ratio of men to women, 2:1 indicates that there are more incidences in men. Aging of patients could be speculated by the .results that the decrease in the incidence rate in the 20s age range and increase rate in the 50s age range. The range of preoperative lesions belonged mostly to far advanced and moderately advanced tuberculosis. By monitoring the period of use in preoperative antituberculosis drugs, cases for more than 3 years remarkably increased from 16.0 % to 55.6 %. The positive reactive rate for preoperative sputum examinations were drastically decreased from 91 % to 27 %. Total pulmonary destruction and partial destruction were the most common cases in terms of adaptability to the operations and there were significant increases in forming empyema accompanied by parenchymal lesions from 4.0 % to 20.1 %. Pneumonectomy and pulmonary lobectomy were the major type of operations. Especially, there were increases in the incident rate of empyema and recurrence of tuberculosis resulted. Post operative follow-up indicates that the rate of complete recovery was more than 70 % and the rate of gradual increase in treating with persistent antituberculosis drug was from 5.8 % to 18.0 %. Conclusion: In recent cases, there is an increasing number of patients showing tolerance to chemotherapy. Patients with pleural tuberculosis and severe lesions were typically increased. It is important to accurately analyze those complaints accurately that are mostly difficult to be treated medically. Surgical treatment is strongly recommended Before multiple drug resistance occurs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.477-482
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• 2016

This study is tried to determine whether the management of medical radiation is well handled by comparison the guidelines of KFDA(korea food & drug administration) with analysis of dose indicator in mammography. As a method, it is analysed that kVp, exposure time, mAs, compressed breast thickness, average glandular dose and body mass index that were classified in the examination of both breasts by CC(cranio-caudal) and MLO(medio-lateral oblique) with EMR(electronic medical record) and dose report that were sent to the PACS(picture archiving communication system). As a result, in the site inspection according to the age, Compressed breast thickness in CC and MLO were the thickest of 45.6 mm and 49.6 mm in the 50-59 year old respectively. In the overall average compressed breast thickness, CC were 44.2 mm and MLO were 48.9 mm. MLO has more thick by 4.7 mm. In average glandular dose, CC were 1.05 mGy and MLO were 1.14 mGy. MLO has higher by 0.09 mGy than CC. As the compressed breast thickness increases 10mm, CC and MLO increases 0.15 mGy and 0.17 mGy respectively. When it was compared with the average glandular dose of 1.16 mGy per 1 film presented by KFDA, CC was showed 1.05 mGy. However, the 60 mm or more was found to exceed a 1.30 mGy. Also, As the compressed breast thickness was higher, body mass index showed high score. And in the case of 25 or more in the obese body index according to body mass index, it was showed obesity in case of the compressed breast thickness was more than 50mm.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 2012

It was carried out to detect anti-impotence drug-like compounds, sibutramine and their analogues in dietary supplements, which are doubtful whether they include illegal compounds. A total of 51 food products were bought online and have been investigated. The separation was achieved on a C18 column, with the mobile phase made up of water (5 mM sodium hexanesulfonate and 0.1% phosphoric acid) and 95% acetonitrile, at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min with gradient elution using by HPLC-DAD. The UV signals were monitored at 220 nm and 291 nm. LC-ESI-tandom MS was utilized to confirm that detected compounds in samples are the same as the reference materials. Two nutrient supplement foods and ginseng products were found to contain 1.3-82.1 mg of sildenafil, dimethylthiolsildenafil and pseudovardenafil per serving size. In addition, two other processed products were detected to contain 1.7 and 2.2 mg of didesmethylsibutramine, derived from sibutramine per serving size.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.852-861
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• 1996

Background : Many clinicians have experienced the difficulty of decision on termination of antituberculosis chemotherapy after the 6th month due to relapse of disease. There is still controversy in the effect of 2S(K)HRZ/4HRZ 6-month short course chemotherapy including pyrazinamide for 6 months in patiems with pulmonary tuberculosis. And there is no long term follow-up study of 6-month short course chemotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis in korea. So we had performed the study to find the result of 6-month antituberculosis chemotherapy for 4 years. Method : We studied prospectively the effect of 2S(K)HRZ/4HRZ in one hundred-fifty patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and followed up fifty-nine patients for more than 1 year to 4 years after the completion of 6-month short course therapy. Results : 1) Out of one hundred-fifty patients, seventy-two patients(48%) completed the prescribed 6-month chemotherapy. Sixty-eight patients(45.3%) have experienced premature discontinuation and the most common cause of premature discontinuation was drop-out against advice(thirty-six patients, 24%). Ten patients(6.7%) were treated beyond the 6 months mainly due to irregular treatment. 2) Fifty-nine patients(81.9%) among seventy-two patients with completed treatment have been followed up for more than 1 year and 32 patients(44.4%) for more than 4 years. There was three relapse patients of whom two patients have experienced relapse of pulmonary tuberculosis within 1 year after the termination of chemotherapy. 3) Among one hundred-thirty-four patients who have been assessible for more than two months of chemotherapy, including the patients who experienced within 2 months, there were eighty-two patients(61.2%) who have experienced adverse reactions and the treatment regimen was changed only in thirteen patients(9.7%). The most frequent cause of adverse reactions was arthralgia and/or hyperuricemia, which had occurred in 33 patients(24.6%). Conclusion : In a university hospital in Korea, 6-month shot course chemotherapy of 2S(K)HRZ/4HRZ had unnegligible relapses and premature discontinuation. Therefore, change of the regimen might be carefully considered by drug susceptibility results. Close monitoring of patients, retrial of sputum exam and radiologic evaluation during treatment might be required in the endemic area of drug resistant strains like in Korea. Further study about the effect of 6-month short course chemotherapy including pyrazinamide for 6-month might be needed.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.161-170
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• 2018

The epidemic of disorders associated with synthetic stimulants, such as methamphetamine (MA) and amphetamine (AP), is a health, social, legal, and financial problem. Owing to the high potential of their abuse and addiction, reliable analytical methods are required to detect and identify MA, AP, and their metabolites in biological samples. Thus, a dilute-and-shoot liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrophotometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for simultaneous determination of MA, 4-hydroxymethamphetamine (4HMA), AP, and 4-hydroxyamphetamine (4HA) in urine. Urine sample ($100{\mu}L$) was mixed with $50{\mu}L$ of mobile phase consisting of 0.4 % formic acid and methanol and $50{\mu}L$ of working internal-standard solution. Aliquots of $8{\mu}L$ diluted urine was injected into the LC-MS/MS system. For all analytes, chromatographic separation was performed using a C18 reversed-phase column with gradient elution and a total run time of 5 min. The identification and quantification were performed by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Linear least-squares regression was conducted to generate a calibration curve, with $1/x^2$ as the weighting factor. The linear ranges were 2.0-200, 1.0-800, and 10-2500 ng/mL for 4HA and 4HMA, AP, and MA, respectively. The inter- and intraday precisions were within 6.6 %, whereas the inter- and intraday accuracies ranged from -14.9 to 11.3 %. The low limits of quantification were 2.0 ng/mL (4HA and 4HMA), 1.0 ng/mL (AP), and 10 ng/mL (MA). The proposed method exhibited satisfactory selectivity, dilution integrity, matrix effect, and stability, which are required for validation. Moreover, the purification efficiency of high-speed centrifugation was clearly higher than 6-15 % for QC samples (n=5), which was higher than that of the membrane-filtration method. The applicability of the proposed method was tested by forensic analysis of urine samples from drug abusers.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.836-843
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• 1997

Background : The prevalence of Gastro-esophageal reflux(GER) in patients with asthma is estimated to be 50~60% and treatment of GER has been shown to improve asthma symptoms in Western. But GER has been known to be less common in Eastern and GER prevalence rates in asthmatics are not available in Korea. Method : We compared the prevalence rate of GER in 42 patients with asthma to that in 20 healthy normal controls and examed the efficacy of new prokinetic drug, cisapride(40mg/day, 8weeks) in patients with GER and asthma. For acid GER to be considered pathological, 24 hour esophageal pH monitoring should reveal values exceeding upper limit of 95 percentile for at least one of 6 parameter of DeMesseter's table. Result : The results showed GER was more common in patients with asthma(11/42, 26.2%) than normal controls(3/20, 15%) and asthmatics group showed a significant longer supine time pH<4(%) and total time pH<4(%), and more reflux episodes as compared with normal control group. After 4 asthmatics with GER were treated with cisapride, their asthma symtom scores, FEV1 and composite scores of pH monitoring were improved. Conclusion : GER is more common in asthmatics than in normal controls in Korea and prepulsid reduces asthma symptoms in patients with GER and asthma.