• 환경위생공학
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.24-35
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• 2003

Recent epidemiologic studies revealed that the concentration of air pollutants and fine particulated matter have some effects on health status and are associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The purpose of this study was to characterize background mass concentration of fine particle (PM2.5) and metallic composition from September 2001 to August 2002 in comparison with a medium city, Asan and metropolitan city, Seoul. Conclusively, proper management for fine particles was required in a medium city, Asan, considering the concentrations of metallic elements in fine particles in Asan were relatively higher than those in Seoul. The results were as followed. 1. Average mass concentrations of fine particles in Asan and Seoul were 37.70(${\pm}18.41{\;}{\mu}g/\textrm{m}^3$) and 5.83(${\pm}38.50$) ${\mu}g/\textrm{m}^3$, respectively. When the weather conditions were classified as normal and yellow-sand, measured average mass concentrations of fine particles in yellow-sand weather condition was significantly higher than those of normal weather condition in both cities (p<0.05). 2. Depending on seasons, measured average mass concentrations of fine particles in Asan and Seoul in spring were 47.76(${\pm}19.07$) ${\mu}g/\textrm{m}^3$m and 61.53 (${\pm}4.37$) ${\mu}g/\textrm{m}^3$, respectively. In summer, the average mass concentrations of fine particles in Asan and Seoul were 29.44(${\pm}9.85$) ${\mu}g/\textrm{m}^3$ and 25.42(${\pm}8.10$) ${\mu}g/\textrm{m}^3$, respectively. Especially, the concentration was the highest in spring and the lowest in summer among four seasons. 3. Average concentrations of manganese(Mn), iron(Fe), chromium(Cr), cadmium(Cd), lead(Pb) and silicon(Si) in fine particles in Asan were significantly higher in Seoul (p<0.05). Average concentration of Si in fine particle in Asan was statistically higher than that of Seoul during yellow -sand condition (p<0.05). 4. Considering the characterization of four seasons, average Pb concentration of fine particle in Asan is significantly higher than that of Seoul in spring(p<0.01). In summer, average Mn and Cr concentrations of fine particle in Asan is higher than those of Seoul (p<0.05). Average Mn, Fe. Cr and Si concentrations in fall (p<0.05), and average Mn, Fe, Cr, Pb, and Si concentrations in winter (p<0.05) in Asan were higher than those of Seoul, respectively. 5. Mass concentrations of each Mn, Fe, Cd and Si in fine particles were significantly correlated with both cities. In normal weather condition, Mn, Cu and Si concentrations are statistically significant in Asan, while Mn, Fe, Cu and Si concentrations are statistically significant in Seoul. Mn, Fe and Si concentrations in both cities were statistically significant during yellow-sand weather.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.349-358
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• 2003

Objectives : Aseptic meningitis is a major cause of Korean childhood morbidity late spring and early summer. However, the nationwide incidences of the disease have not been reported. This study was conducted to evaluate the availability of National Health Insurance data (NHID) for the study of an epidemiological trend in the surveillance of aseptic meningitis in children. Methods : All the claims, under A87, A87.8, and A87.9 by ICD-10, among children below 15 years of age, to the National Health Insurance Corporation, between January and December 1998, were extracted. A survey of the medical record of 3,874 cases from 136 general hospitals was peformed. The availability of the NHID was evaluated by the three following methods: 1) The diagnostic accuracy (the positive Predictive value : proportion of the confirmed aseptic meningitis among the subjects registered as above disease-codes in NHID) was evaluated through a chart review, and according to age, gender, month and region of disease-occurrence. 2) The distribution of confirmed cases was compared with the distribution of total subjects from the NHID, for subjects in General hospitals, or the subjects surveyed. 3) The proportion of confirmed CSF test was confirmed, and the relating factor, which was the difference in CSF-test rate, analyzed. Results : Among 3,874 cases, CSF examinations were peformed on 1,845 (47.6%), and the CSF-test rates were different according to the medical utility (admission vs. OPD visit) and the severity of the symptoms and signs. The diagnostic accuracy for aseptic meningitis, and during the epidemic (May-Aug) and sporadic (Sept-Apr) periods, were 85.0 (1,568/1,845), 86.0 (1,239/l,440) and 81.2% (329/405), respectively. The distributions by age, sex, month or period (epidemic/sporadic) and region, in the confirmed cases, were similar to those in the NHID, in both the subjects at General hospitals and in those surveyed, to within ${\pm}7%$. Conclusions : In this paper, the NHID for the subjects registered with an aseptic meningitis disease-code might be available for an epidemiological study on the incidence-estimation of childhood aseptic meningitis, as the NHID could include both the probable and definite cases. On the basis of this result, further studies of time-series and secular trend analyses, using the NHID, will be peformed.

• 한국동물위생학회지
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.103-125
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• 1997

An epidemiologic study on pleuropneumonia in the slaughter pigs(Chonan and Asan area, Chungnam province, Korea) during the period of January 1994 through December 1995 was conducted. Isolation of A pleuropneumoniae was attempted in 425 pigs with pneumonic lesions. Biochemical properties, antimicrobial susceptibility, serotypes and pathogenicity of isolated A pleuropneumoniae were investigated. In addition, outer membrane protein(OMP) of the Isolates were extracted to determine its properties and immunogenicity in both mice and piglets The results obtained through this study were summarized as followed ; 1. Of 3, 395 slaughter pigs, pleuropneumonia was observed in 425 pigs(10.6%). A pleuropneumoniae was isolated from 22 pigs(5.2%) out of 425 pigs with pneumonic lesions. The biochemical properties of all isolates were same as those of reference A pleuropneumoniae strain. Among 22 isolates, 9, 1 and 12 isolates were serovar 2, 3 and 5, respectively. 2. The results of antimicrobial susceptibility test revealed that the isolates showed high susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and cephalothin, moderate susceptibility to amikacin, gentamicin, kanamycin and streptomycin, and low susceptibility to erythromycin, tylosin and sulfadimethoxin. 3. The isolates were varied in pathogenicity to mice. Median lethal dose of LE9402(serovar 2) and LE9511(serovar 5) were $9.2{\times}10^7$ CFU and $2.8{\times}10^7$%CFU, respectively. Specific pneumonic lesions were observed from the infected mice with clinical signs. Bacteria recovery rate was high in the lung, but low In heart blood and tracheas. 4. Serovar 2 was found to be more pathogenic than serovar 5 in guinea pig. Mortality on guinea pigs inoculated with serovar 2($5.4{\times}10^8-5.4{\times}10^6$CFU) and serovar 5($2.8{\times}10^8-2.8{\times}10^6$ CFU) was 20~40% and 40~80%, respectively. A severe hemorrhagic lesions and focal pneumonic lesions were observed from dead guinea pigs. Bacteria recovery rate was relatively higher in the lung than that of other organs. 5. In the SDS-PAGE analysis, OMP-enriched fractions of both isolates and reference strains contain common peptide bands equivalent to molecular weight of 17, 27, 42, 52 and 95Kd. In addition to common peptide bands, the bands which are specific to each isolate were also observed. The profiles of Sephadex G25 fractions showed 3 major peaks. The common peptide bands which were observed by SDS-PAGE of the crude OMPs were found in the peaks 1 and 2. 6. The OMPs extracted from serovar 2(LE9402) and serovar 5(LE9511) provided high level of protection in mice(70~80%) and pigs(100%). All animals inoculated with OMPs were seroconverted, showing micro-agglutination titer of 640 to 1280.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.52-62
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• 2017

Purpose: The Trastuzumab for gastric cancer (GC) trial identified human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) as a predictor of successful treatment with trastuzumab (HER2 receptor targeting agent) among patients with advanced/metastatic GC. To date, the prevalence of HER2 overexpression in the Korean population is unknown. The present study aimed to assess the incidence of HER2 positivity among GC and gastroesophageal (GE) junction cancer samples and the relationship between HER2 overexpression and clinicopathological characteristics in Korean patients. Materials and Methods: Tumor samples collected from 1,695 patients with histologically proven GC or GE junction enrolled at 14 different hospitals in Korea were examined. After gathering clinicopathological data of all patients, HER2 status was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) at each hospital, and IHC 2+ cases were subjected to silver-enhanced in situ hybridization at 3 central laboratories. Results: A total of 182 specimens tested positive for HER2, whereas 1,505 tested negative. Therefore, the overall HER2-positive rate in this study was 10.8% (95% confidence interval=9.3%-12.3%). The HER2-positive rate was higher among intestinal-type cases (17.6%) than among other types, and was higher among patients older than 70 years and 50 years of age, compared to other age groups. Conclusions: Our evaluation of the HER2 positivity rate (10.8%) among Korean patients with GC and GE junction indicated the necessity of epidemiological data when conducting studies related to HER2 expression in GC and GE junction.

• 대한미생물학회지
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.9-17
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• 1980

In the ecology and epidemiologic studies on various serotypes of atypical mycobacteria(AM), Schaefer's bacterial agglutination test(BA) provided the basis of the serologic procedures. Recently, attempts have been made to modify and to simplify the Schaefer's BA such as a slide agglutination test(Engel & Beerwald, 1970), a "simplified" BA(Reznikov & Leggo, 1972), an agglutination inhibition test(Richards & Eacret, 1972) and "micromethod"(Thoen et al., 1975). The BA, however, was not widely applied as a routine laboratory test mainly because it requires much times and labors to perform and partley because it is not applicable to hydrophobic strains either often encountered in the isolation of AM in the clinical bacteriology or stock strains maintained in the laboratory. On the contrary, fluorescent antibody technique with mycobacteria may have advantages over the BA because it is far more simpler in serologic procedures and is applicable to all strains of mycobacteria regardless of smooth or rough types of cultures. At the present, it is well known that the type-specific antigens are lacking on the surface of rough type of AM compared to that on smooth type of strain, but the antigenicity on the surface of the hydrophobic strains of AM which resulted from a series of subculture and the strain in the laboratory for 3 to 6 months has not been clarified. In this study, an attempt to serotype the hydrophobic strains of M. scrofulaceum serotype 41, 42 and 43 by fluorescent anti-complement(FAC) technique was made. The FAC technique with mycobacteria was also described in detail. In the summary, the complement fixing antibody titres of reference sera to smooth types of homologous serotype was highest, but the antibody titres of reference sera to hydrophobic strains of serotypes, 41, 42 and 43 gave two-to 8-folds lower than those to smooth type of strains. Although the sensitivity of type-specific antigens on the hydrophobic strains to reference sera was much lower, using the two units of reference sera determined by titration with hydrophobic strains, three serotypes, i. e., 41, 42 and 43 were specifically differentiated one another by FAC technique. This result indicated that the hydrophobic strains which were maintained in the laboratory at least for 6 months still retain type-specific antigen detectable by FAC technique.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.141-148
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• 2012

목 적 : 뇌실-복강 단락 수술은 수두증이 있는 소아 환자에서 중요한 치료 방법 중 하나이다. 뇌실-복강 단락에서 단락 감염은 중요한 합병증이며 수술의 예후를 결정하는 중요한 요인이다. 이 연구는 소아 환자에서의 뇌실-복강 단락 감염의 역학적 특성과 임상 증상, 치료와 예후를 파악하고 진단 및 치료에 도움이 되고자 하였다. 방 법 : 1995년 4월부터 2010년 6월까지 뇌실-복강 단락 수술을 시행 받은 18세 이하의 환자를 대상으로 하였으며 후향적으로 의무 기록을 분석하였다. 결 과 : 총 190명(여자 82명, 남자 107명)의 환자에서 327건의 뇌실-복강 단락 수술을 시행하였다. 중위 연령은 2.4세이며(0.02-17.9세) 뇌실-복강 단락 수술의 가장 흔한 원인은 악성 뇌종양이었다. 수술 1건 당 감염률은 6.7% (22/327건), 환자 1명 당 감염률은 9.5% (18/190명)이며 100건의 수술-년 당 감염은 0.45건 이었다. 가장 흔한 원인 균은 coagulase-negative staphylococcus (7건) 이며 methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus에 의한 감염은 1건 이었다. 10건의 감염에서 vancomycin과 beta-lactam antibiotics (cephalosporin or carbapenem)의 복합 정주 치료를 시행하였으며 7건의 감염에서 vancomycin 단독 정주 치료를 시행하였다. 치료 기간의 중앙값은 26일(7-58일)이었으며 수술적 치료는 18건에서 시행하였다(18/22건, 81.8%). 결 론 : 본 연구는 단일 기관에서 15년 동안의 뇌실-복강 단락 감염의 역학을 요약한 연구로 소아 환자에서의 뇌실-복강 단락 감염의 역학적 정보는 적절한 치료를 시행하는데 큰 도움이 될 것이다. 향후 단락 감염의 발생과 관련한 위험 인자에 대한 추가적인 연구가 필요할 것으로 사료된다.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.31-43
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• 1997

Obesity usually is defined as the presence of and abnormally amount of adipose tissue. In many epidemiologic study, obesity as a health risk factor has been estimated by Body Mass Index(BMI) in general. This study was conducted to review of body fat percent measured by Bioelectric impedance analyzer as a estimator of obesity in a rural adult population. The study subjects were 421 men and 664 women who reside in the area on the Juam lake. They were sampled by multistage cluster sampling. Their mean age was 59 years old. Body fat percent increased with age, but BMI decreased with age in this study. Body fat percent was more larger at female and elder on the same BMI. The correlation coefficient between with body fat percent and body mass index was low (r=0.4737). Body fat percent was explained by not only BMI but also sex and age $(r^2=0.63)$. The result suggested that it is inadequate for BMI only to estimate obesity about elderly person who reside in the rural community. The relation of body fat percent and body mass index of this study agreed with the preceding know-ledges and studies in general.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.227-234
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• 2007

Recent epidemiologic studies show that gestational exposure to air pollution adversely affects pregnancy outcomes including low birth weight in preform birth. In this study, we evaluated the effect of air pollutants on LBW (low birth weight) on firstborn fetus throughout the gestational period using the birth cohort between 1999 and 2003 in Seoul. Using birth cohort data from the National Statistics Office of Korea we identified 288,346 firstborn births (excluded missing data on lack of information for birth weight and discordance between residential and certificated address from a total of 316,451) during 1999 to 2003 with complete covariate (gender, parity, date of birth, gestational age, parental age and educational level, maternal occupation etc.) and maternal residential history data. Our subjects were defined as more than 37 weeks and less than 44 weeks of completed gestation and we identified 5,457 persons (1.89%) by low birth weight (<2.5 kg) in this study. Using logistic regression, we estimated the risk of mean (entire pregnancy and trimester period) air pollution concentrations for CO, $O_3,\;PM_{10},\;NO_2\;and\;SO_2$. In terms of trimester-specific exposure, we found that some air pollutants exposure in each trimester would increase the risk for LBW. Results also showed that the effect size of air pollutants exposure during the first and third trimester is higher than during the second trimester. In all trimester, the estimated risk of LBW was 1.831 (95% CI=1.573-2.132) with unit increase for CO, 1.139 (95% CI=1.107-1.172) for 50, and 1.009 (95% CI=1.001-1.017) for $O_3$. Our results suggest that exposure during the gestation period to relatively low levels of some air pollutants may be associated with a reduction in birth weight on first-born fetus. These findings implicate the effective risk management strategies should be applied to minimize the public health impacts for pregnant women.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.85-90
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• 2018

성병(Sexually transmitted infection, STI)은 전세계적인 건강 문제이며 임산부의 유산, 조기 출산, 골반 내 감염과 같은 심각한 합병증을 유발할 수 있다. 따라서 정확한 진단 및 역학 동향에 대한 정보가 중요하다. 그러나 2012년 이후 천안의 STI 추세에 대한 연구는 이루어지지 않았다. 이에 저자들은 2012년 이후 천안의 STI 추이를 조사했다. 2011년 1월부터 2017 년 9월까지 단국대학교에 방문한 여성 환자에서 채취 한 3,362개의 자궁 경부 샘플을 multiplex PCR 방법으로 분석했다. 3,362개의 표본 중 1,281개가 STI 양성이었고(38.92%) 총 1,893개의 병원균이 검출되었다. Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis 및 Chlamydia trachomatis가 병원체 양성 검체에서 각각 36.29% (687/1,893), 30.16% (571/1,893) 그리고 19.97% (378/1,893)를 차지하는 가장 흔한 병원균이었다. 2009-2012년 분석에서는 M. hominis가 가장 흔하게 검출됐지만 이번 연구에서는 U. urealyticum가 가장 흔하게 검출됐다. 한국과 미국을 비롯한 많은 국가에서 STD 발병률이 증가하는 반면 천안에서는 감소하는 경향이 나타났다.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.272-278
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• 1996

B형 간염 표면항원(HBsAg)의 4가지 주요 아형 조사를 통해 HBsAg과 B형 간염표면항체가 모두 양성인 환자에서 항원과 항체의 아형이 다름을 밝힘으로 항원-항체 공존을 이해하게 되었으며, 감염경로를 추적하는 역학적 조사, 인구이동양상의 지표에 유용하게 사용될 수 있다. 현재까지 우리나라의 HBV 아형에 관한 연구는 전체적인 빈도의 조사나 HBsAg과 anti-HBs가 공존하는 경우에서 아형이 가지는 의미에 대한 것이 전부였다. 본 연구에서는 영남대학교 의과대학 부속병원에서 만성 간질환으로 진단받고 경과추적중인 HBsAg 양성인 환자 214명을 대상으로 혈청에 존재하는 HBsAg 아형을 단세포군 항체를 이용한 혈청학적 방법으로 조사하였다. 214명의 검체중 206명(93.9%)에서 adr, 6명(2.8%)에서 adw, 2명(0.9%)에서 ayr, 2명(0.9%)에서 ar, 3명(1.4%)에서 adwr로 나타났으며 ayw는 한 례에서도 발견되지 않았다. 아형과 질환의 중증도 사이에는 유의한 연관성은 발견되지 않았다. 결론적으로 만성 간질환 환자에서 adr이 가장 많고 질환의 중증도와 아형간에 유의한 연관성은 발견되지 않았지만, 아형이 만성 B형 바이러스 간염의 간경변증이나 간세포암으로의 진행과 예후에 영향을 미치는지 밝히기 위해서는 좀 더 연구를 진행하여야 할 것이다.