• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.111-118
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• 2009

Puopose : Exposure to dietary phytoestrogens such as genistein during early childhood is a growing public health concern. We examined the effect of early exposure to genistein on sexual maturation in immature rats. Methods : Weaning (3wk-old) Sprague-Dawley female rats were assigned to three groups (n=6 for each): fed by high dose of genistein (100 mg/kg/d), low dose of genistein (10 mg/kg/d) and control group. First vaginal opening (VO) day was observed. Structural alterations in the ovary and uterus were assessed by histologically. Expression of genes of $ER{\alpha}$, $ER{\beta}$, and progesterone receptor (PR) in the ovary and uterus were investigated by RT-PCR. Results : High genistein group had earlier VO than control and low genistein group. Graafian follicles and corpora lutea were observed from the ovary of genistein-treated groups, while primary, secondary follicles and small atretic follicles were observed in the control group. Hypertrophy of luminal and glandular uterine epithelia were found in the genistein-treated groups while poor development of gland and fewer myometrial cell layers were evident in control group. In ovary, the transcriptional activities of $ER{\alpha}$ and $ER{\beta}$ were higher in high genistein group than in controls. In uterus, the transcriptional activities of $ER{\alpha}$, $ER{\beta}$ and PR were higher in low genistein group than in controls. Conclusion : Acute exposure to genistein during the prepubertal period could activate the reproductive endocrine system resulting in the early onset of puberty in female rats. Further clinical investigation on the effect of genistein on the sexual maturation in children is warranted.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2002

Background and Objective : Epileptic seizures are frequent complication of lobar hemorrhage. We investigated the factors affecting development of epilepsy following spontaneous lobar ICH. Methods : From January 1986 to July 1999, 114 patients were admitted to Chungnam National University Hospital with spontaneous lobar ICH. We analyzed 75 patients. Excluded were no follow-up(8 patients) and patients died within few days(31 patients). All the patient was followed up at least two years aside from two patients who underwent epileptic seizure and died five and eight months later each. Medical history was obtained through medical record and by telephone interview. Statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square test, Student's t - test, Fisher's exact test. Results : Seizure occurred in 19 patients. As three patients had previous history of seizures, 16 patients(22.2%) showed first onset early- and late-seizures. Early seizure occurred in 14 patients(19.4%). Three out of 14 were heavy alcoholics. Five patients developed late recurrent seizure 61 days to 800 days after the early seizure. Late seizure with no acute seizure occurred in two patients. The types of seizure were diverse as generalized tonic clonic seizure(10), partial seizure with secondary generalization(5), and complex partial seizure(1). The common risk factors for lobar ICH were hypertension(HT), arteriovenous malformation(AVM), and excessive use of alcohol. We could not find any causes in 23 patients. Although size of hematoma, age of onset, sex, incidence of HT or AVM were not different between patients with seizure and without seizure, the history of excessive alcohol drinking was more frequent in patients with seizure. Five patients with late recurrent seizure had ICH involving temporal area. Conclusions : This study suggests that the risk of seizure in patients with lobar ICH was increase in chronic alcoholics and patient with late recurrent seizure had ICH frequently involving temporal area.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1024-1030
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• 1998

We investigated the effects of vitamin E supplementation on protein glycosylation in early and end stage product, and light microscopic studies were done on the renal glomeruli of KK-mice of various ages and various duration of diabetes. Weaned KK-mice were fed high fat diets containing 20% corn oil(wt/wt), and sacrificed at 4,6, and 9 months of age. The high vitamin E diet was a high fit diet supplemented with an excess amount of d1-$\alpha$-tocopheryl acetate (2080IU/kg diet). We measured Hemoglobin $A_{IC}$ (Hb $A_{IC}$) as a glycosylation early product, and renal collagen-linked fluorescence as a glycosylation end product. In the diabetic group, levels of Hb $A_{IC}$ were increased within 2 months after onset of diabetes and remained at a constant level for the duration of experiment. 5 months after onset of diabetes, renal collagen linked fluorescence(CLF) was markedly increased. A quantative, morphologically demonstratable, progressive thickening of the basement membrane and calcification occured in the diabetic KK-mice. There is a statiscally positive correlation between CLF and histologic grade of diabetic nephropathy. Hepatic vitamin E levels correlated with those of Hb $A_{IC}$, renal CLF, and renal calcification. Treatment with vitamin I did not modify the level of blood glucose. However, we observered a significant lowering of CLF and Hb $A_{IC}$ in diabetic mice. Supplementation of vitamin E was found to delay the progression of diabetic nephropathy. (forean J Nutrition 31(6) : 1024-1030, 1998)0, 1998)

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3209-3212
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• 2012

Introduction: Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal malignancy in the older population, but it is also quite frequent among young adults in developing countries. The aim of this study was to update the trends of clinicopathological features of CRC in young Nepalese. Methods: A retrospective comparative study on the data retrieved from the surgical records of all patients between 20 to 39 years of age with CRC was carried out for periods of 5 years each from 1999 to 2003 (early) and 2004 to 2008 (recent), treated at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. Results: The number of young adults with CRC increased from 28 to 34. However, the proportion of young patients in both groups was 28% of all CRC patients. The mean ages were $34{\pm}4.7$ and $31.8{\pm}5.1$ years in early and recent 5 years, respectively, and the male female ratio changed from 2:3 to 4:3. Abdominal pain as the most common presenting symptom was replaced by bleeding per rectum in recent years. The mean duration from onset of symptoms to seeking medical advice decreased from 7.8 months to 5.6 months in recent years. More patients (85.3%) were subjected to endoscopic examination in recent years than early years (60.7%) and right colonic cancer increased from 10.7% to 26.5%. However, the rectum was the commonest site in both early (71.4%) and recent (50%) groups. CRC was detected significantly at an earlier stage (7.1% vs 32.4%) in recent years with large proportion of modified Dukes B stage. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma was the predominant histology in both groups (50% vs 60.7%). Curative resection had risen in recent years (39.3% vs 73.6%). Conclusion: CRC among Nepalese young adults accounts for a high incidence (28%) of all CRC cases. Although right sided colonic cancer has been increasing, rectum is the commonest site. There is also an increasing trend for diagnosis at earlier stages of the disease which can be treated with curative intent.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.977-986
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• 1996

The uncertainty of rains at the onset of wet season (WS) and the drought risk involved hinder growing more than one rainfed lwoland rice crop per year. Establishing transplanted rice well into the WS leaves insufficient moisture in the soil for subsequent crop. Rice establishment early in the season gives the farmer better opportunities to grow a crop after rice. An experiment was conducted startign in 1993 to evaluate dry seeding of rice through slit soil seeding. It is done utilizing the vertical metering slit seeder for conserving soil moisture coming from the first rains in the early WS to sustain germination and establishment of the seeding at least until the succeeding rains under therainfed lowland (RL) environment. The treatment consisted of slit-seeding the PSBRc 14 into the tilled and nontilled plots at 100kg/ha and at depths of <10 mm (shallow seeding) and 60-70m (deep seeding). The control treatment was broadcast seeded on tilled soil and harrow to cover the seeds The superior crop establishment observed in 1995 WS experiment on nontilled, slit-seeded plots confirmed the results observed in 1993 WS and 1994 WS experiments. Emergence in deep seeding was not significantly different from shallow seeding in nontilled plots giving an average yield of 2.1 t/ha in all slit-seeded plots. This offers an advantage of reduced energy in put in nontilled shallow seeding. However, heavy weed infestation has to be addressed at the early stage of rice in nontilled soil to get the full advantage from slit seeding. The consistently better crop establishment observed in slit seeding over that of broadcast seeding in the WS of 1993, 1994 and 1995 also demonstrates that the slit seeding technology can be adopted with confidence in the rainfed lowland field condition to reduce the risks involved in broadcast seeding.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.241-251
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• 2010

Crucian carp (Carassius auratus) has been used as the sentinel species for POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) monitoring in aquatic environment. However, there is little information for dioxin toxicity and especially, early life stage toxicity in crucian carp have been never carried out. In this study, we investigated several toxic effects for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) in fertilized egg obtained by natural fertilization from crucian carp. The embryos at 3 h post-fertilization (hpf) were treated with 0.039, 0.156, 0.625, and 2.5 (${\mu}g/L$) TCDD by waterborne exposure for 60 minutes and changed with fresh water 2 times per day. Fertilized eggs started hatching at 51 hpf and TCDD exposed embryo showed decrease of hatching rate in a dose-dependent manner at 75 hpf. Pericardial edema was continuously observed in larvae exposed to TCDD from hatching start time (51 hpf), followed by the onset of mortality. In addition, AhR-related gene, CYP1A was clearly increased by TCDD in a dose dependent manner. These results indicated that fertilized eggs obtained from crucian carp have the TCDD related gene regulation and a distinct TCDD developmental toxicity syndrome by TCDD exposure. Therefore, we suggested that early life stage test in crucian carp could be used as test methods on dioxins toxicity.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.767-773
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• 2018

Three male patients diagnosed with surfer's myelopathy (19-30 years) were admitted to our hospital. All three patients were novice surfers showing a typical clinical course of rapid progression of paraplegia following the onset of back pain. Typical history and magnetic resonance imaging features indicated the diagnosis of surfer's myelopathy. Two patients received high-dose steroid therapy and the other was treated with induced hypertension. One patient treated with induced hypertension showed almost full recovery; however, two patients who received high-dose steroid therapy remained completely paraplegic and required catheterization for bladder and bowel dysfunction despite months of rehabilitation. Our case series demonstrates the potentially devastating neurological outcome of surfer's myelopathy; however, early recovery in the initial 24-72 hours of presentation can occur in some patients, which is in accordance with previous reports. Ischemic insult to the spinal cord is thought to play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of surfer's myelopathy. Treatment recommendations include hydration, induced hypertension, early spinal angiography with intra-arterial intervention, intravenous tissue plasminogen activator, and high-dose steroid therapy; however, there is no standardized treatment option available. Early recovery appears to be important for long-term neurological outcome. Induced hypertension for initial treatment can be helpful for improving spinal cord perfusion; therefore, it is important for early and long-term neurological recovery. Education and awareness are essential for preventing surfer's myelopathy and avoiding further deterioration of neurological function.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.298-309
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• 2021

Rheumatoid arthritis refers to acute and chronic arthritis due to unexplained autoantibody attack. Rheumatoid arthritis should be accompanied by difficulty in mobility and severe distress due to the progression of systemic arthritis. Therefore, this study early diagnoses the effects of Rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (Anti-CCP), which are typical serum markers for rheumatoid arthritis by meta-analysis. Pubmed and EMBASE, were used as PICO criteria, and two independent researchers selected papers according to the criteria set in this study. The selection criteria was a study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who developed early onset, and the paper was evaluated using the NCS. Forest plot and Funnel plot graphs for each serum marker were calculated using Revman 5.4. After finding 193 papers on Pubmed and 184 papers on EMBASE and selecting according to the criteria, a total of 41 papers were used for the analysis. The magnitude of the effect that appears in the Forest plot of RF with the Mean differnce value is 134.34, CRP is 21.42 and Anti-CCP is 270.41. The magnitude of the effect of Anti-CCP in meta-analysis was analyzed to be larger than that of RF and CRP, and it is considered that the development of early-diagnosis serum markers using Anti-CCP and additional retrospective studies are highly effective. The combination of RF, CRP, and Anti-CCP as a panel marker is expected to be very efficient.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.183-191
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• 2001

Objective: To document the signal characteristics of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) at evolving stages on diffusion-weighted images (DWI) by comparison with conventional MR images. Materials and Methods: In our retrospective study, 38 patients with ICH underwent a set of imaging sequences that included DWI, T1-and T2-weighted imaging, and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR). In 33 and 10 patients, respectively, conventional and echo-planar T2^* gradient-echo images were also obtained. According to the time interval between symptom onset and initial MRI, five stages were categorized: hyperacute (n=6); acute (n=7); early subacute (n=7); late subacute (n=10); and chronic (n=8). We investigated the signal intensity and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of ICH and compared the signal intensities of hematomas at DWI and on conventional MR images. Results: DWI showed that hematomas were hyperintense at the hyperacute and late subacute stages, and hypointense at the acute, early subacute and chronic stages. Invariably, focal hypointensity was observed within a hyperacute hematoma. At the hyperacute, acute and early subacute stages, hyperintense rims that corresponded with edema surrounding the hematoma were present. The mean ADC ratio was 0.73 at the hyperacute stage, 0.72 at the acute stage, 0.70 at the early subacute stage, 0.72 at the late subacute stage, and 2.56 at the chronic stage. Conclusion: DWI showed that the signal intensity of an ICH may be related to both its ADC value and the magnetic susceptibility effect. In patients with acute stroke, an understanding of the characteristic features of ICH seen at DWI can be helpful in both the characterization of intracranial hemorrhagic lesions and the differentiation of hemorrhage from ischemia.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Recently, intensive research has been conducted to develop innovative methods for diagnosing plant diseases based on hyperspectral technologies. Hyperspectral analysis is a new subject that combines optical spectroscopy and image analysis methods, which makes it possible to simultaneously evaluate both physiological and morphological parameters. Among the physiological and morphological parameters are classifying healthy and diseased plants, assessing the severity of the disease, differentiating the types of pathogens, and identifying the symptoms of biotic stresses at early stages, including during the incubation period, when the symptoms are not visible to the human eye. Plant diseases cause significant economic losses in agriculture around the world as the symptoms of diseases usually appear when the plants are infected severely. Early detection, quantification, and identification of plant diseases are crucial for the targeted application of plant protection measures in crop production. Hence, this can be done by possible applications of hyperspectral sensors and platforms on different scales for disease diagnosis. Further, the main areas of application of hyperspectral sensors in the diagnosis of plant diseases are considered, such as detection, differentiation, and identification of diseases, estimation of disease severity, and phenotyping of disease resistance of genotypes. This review provides a deeper understanding, of basic principles and implementation of hyperspectral sensors that can measure pathogen-induced changes in plant physiology. Hence, it brings together critically assessed reports and evaluations of researchers who have adopted the use of this application. This review concluded with an overview that hyperspectral sensors, as a non-invasive system of measurement can be adopted in early detection, identification, and possible solutions to farmers as it would empower prior intervention to help moderate against decrease in yield and/or total crop loss.