• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.131-138
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• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study is to present a retrospective review of patients who had a sudden onset of facial palsy after trauma and who underwent facial nerve decompression. Methods: The cases of 25 patients who had traumatic facial palsy were reviewed. Facial nerve function was graded according to the House-Brackmann grading scale. According to facial nerve decompression, patients were categorized into the surgical (decompression) group, with 7 patients in the early decompression subgroup and 2 patients in the late decompression subgroup, and the conservative group(16 patients). Results: The facial nerve decompression group included 8 males and 1 female, aged 2 to 86 years old, with a mean age of 40.8. In early facial nerve decompression subgroup, facial palsy was H-B grade I to III in 6 cases (66.7%); H-B grade IV was observed in 1 case(11.1%). In late facial nerve decompression subgroup, 1 patient (11.1%) had no improvement, and the other patient(11.1%) improved to H-B grade III from H-B grade V. A comparison of patients who underwent surgery within 2 weeks to those who underwent surgery 2 weeks later did not show any significant difference in improvement of H-B grades (p>0.05). The conservative management group included 15 males and 1 female, aged 6 to 66 years old, with a mean age of 36. At the last follow up, 15 patients showed H-B grades of I to III(93.7%), and only 1 patient had an H-B grade of IV(6.3%). Conclusion: Generally, we assume that early facial nerve decompression can lead to some recovery from traumatic facial palsy, but a prospective controlled study should and will be prepared to compare of conservative treatment to late decompression.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.111-124
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• 2013

Purpose: We should prepare proper medical service for disaster control as South Korea is not free from terrorism and war, as we experienced through the two naval battles of the Yeonpyeong, one in 1999 and the other in 2002, the sinking of Cheonan in 2010, and the attack against the border island of Yeonpyeong in 2010. Moreover, North Korea's increasingly bellicose rhetoric and mounting military threats against the world demand instant action to address the issue. The aim of this article is to describe our experience with three patients with combat-related gunshot and explosive injuries to their extremities and to establish useful methods for the management of patients with combat-related injuries. Methods: Three personnel who had been injured by gunshot or explosion during either the second naval battle of the Yeonpyeong in 2002 or the attack against the border island of Yeonpyeong in 2010 were included in our retrospective analysis. There were one case of gunshot injury and two cases of explosive injuries to the extremities, and the injured regions were the left hand, the right foot, and the right humerus. In one case, the patient had accompanying abdominal injuries, and his vital signs were unstable. He recovered after early initial management and appropriate emergency surgery. Results: All patients underwent emergent surgical debridement and temporary fixation surgery in the same military hospital immediately after their evacuations from the combat area. After that, continuous administration of antibiotics and wound care were performed, and definite reconstructions were carried out in a delayed manner. In the two cases in which flap operations for soft tissue coverage were required, one operation was performed 5 weeks after the injury, and the other operation was performed 7 weeks after the injury. Definite procedures for osteosynthesis were performed at 3 months in all cases. Complete union and adequate functional recovery were achieved in all cases. Conclusion: The patient should be stabilized and any life-threatening injuries must first be evaluated and treated with damage control surgery. Staged treatment and strict adherence to traditional principles for open fractures are recommended for combat-related gunshot and explosive injuries to the extremities.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.562-568
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• 2008

Theosteoporosis, which is occurred after menopause, is a kind of metabolic bone disorder. It develops when the bone mass begins to decrease radically and its main symptoms are the bone fracture and the height-shortening. This thesis aims at what effects the Phlomis umbrosa will have for the prevention of the osteoporosis in the SD-rat that is caused by the ovariectomy. The 24 female white rats, after their ovaries are removed, were divided into the Normals, the Control group, Phlomis umbrosa Administrated group. After then, for 8 weeks, D.W to the normals and the control, and the Phlomis umbrosa(46 mg/100 g) to the Phlomis umbrosa group were given in the mouths of them. After 8 weeks the rats were sacrificed. And the weight, albumin, AST, ALT, total-cholesterol, triglyceride, P, Ca, T4, estradiol, the weight of the femur, the amount of tibia ash, the area of trabecular bone, the thickness of trabecular bone were measured. The serum analysis shows that the total cholesterol of the Phlomis umbrosa Administrated group reduced remarkably, compared to that of the control group. AST, ALT, ALP, T4 of Phlomis umbrosa group were decreased, but not in distinct measure. Estradiol of Phlomis umbrosa group increased substantially compared to that of the control group, but albumin, triglyceride, Phosphorous, calcium of the group showed the tendency to increase, but not so remarkably. The histological observation shows that the area and the thickness of (trabecular bone), the number of osteoclast of the Phlomis umbrosa groups increased significantly compared to those of the control group. Conclusions: The above experiment shows that Phlomis umbrosa has the prevention effect by supplying estradiol.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.148-154
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• 2016

A urea cycle disorder is a condition caused by a defect of the enzymes in the urea cycle, and deficiency of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), which converts carbamoyl phosphate and ornithine into citrulline, is the most common type of the disorder. OTC deficiency induces the accumulation of precursors of urea, ammonia, and glutamine, leading to neurological symptoms including hypotonia, respiratory failure, seizure, lethargy, and coma and sometimes to death. Because OTC deficiency is inherited in an X-linked manner, typical symptoms such as vomiting, poor feeding, and lethargy appear mainly in male neonates. We recently had a case that presented with neonatal onset lethargy, vomiting, and apnea in a 4-day-old boy. He was diagnosed with OTC deficiency by biochemical phenotype, including hyperammonemia and an increased orotic acid level in the urine. Genetic analysis of the OTC gene showed a novel mutation c.780_781insCAGGCAGTGT (p.Ile261Glnfs*35). He was treated for hyperammonemia using continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) at 118 hours after birth. After 4 days of CVVH, his consciousness and blood ammonia concentration were normalized, and he was discharged at the age of 53 days. At around 12 months of age, bilateral femur fractures and osteomyelitis occurred in this patient. Two months after the fracture, he died of septic shock, insulin-resistant hyperglycemia, and multi-organ failure.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.343-354
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• 2008

A new method is suggested herein to measure the virgin earth stresses by means of a borehole. This novel concept is basically a combination of borehole stress relieving and borehole fracturing techniques. The destressing of the borehole is achieved by means of inducing thermal tensile stresses at the borehole periphery by using a cryogenic fluid such as Liquid Nitrogen($LN_2$). The borehole wall eventually develops fractures when the induced thermal stresses exceed the existing compressive stresses at the borehole periphery in addition to the tensile strength of the rock. The above concept is theoretically analyzed for its potential applicability to interpret in situ stress levels from the tensile fracture stresses and the corresponding borehole wall temperatures. Coupled thermo-mechanical numerical simulations are also conducted using FLAC3D, with thermal option, to check the validity of the proposed techniques. From the preliminary theoretical and numerical analysis, the method suggested for the measurement of in situ stresses appears to be capable of accurate estimation of the virgin stresses by monitoring tensile crack formation at a borehole wall and recording the wall temperatures at the time of crack initiation.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.31-40
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• 2016

Recently, a curtain wall system was applied to skyscrapers to prevent fire spreading along the vertical direction due to stack effect and outside air flow when a fire breaks out in skyscraper. Conventional sprinklers cannot prevent the spread of fire to the upstairs areas, which increases the loss of life and property. In this study, a water curtain nozzle that creates wider water coverage on the surface of glass and can prevent the spread of fire to the upstairs areas was developed. The spray pattern of the water curtain nozzle was compared with that of a sprinkler to determine performance of the water curtain nozzle. A fire experiment was constructed on the second floor to verify performance of the water curtain nozzle in preventing the spread of fire to the upstairs areas. The fire and watering experiment proved that the water curtain nozzle prevented more effectively the spread of fire than the conventional sprinkler. The position of first crack and critical temperature of fracture were also analyzed using numerical analysis.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.3 s.49
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• pp.245-254
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• 2006

Using a natural gradient tracer test, the characteristics of hydrodynamic dispersion according to each depth of a fractured rock were studied, and the effective porosity and longitudinal dispersivity of the fractured rock were estimated. The difference of vertical hydrodynamic dispersion was identified by concentration breakthrough curves linear regression analyses of bromide concentrations according to depths versus time, and hydraulic fracture characteristics at two intervals of the monitoring well. Higher concentration and faster arrival time at GL- 18 m depth (RQD 13%, average joint spacing 2 cm, TCR 100%) than at GL- 25 m depth (RQD 41%, average joint spacing 7 cm, TCR 100%) resulted from shorter distance and more fractures. Tracer was transported through the 1 st fractures until the arrival of its peak concentration and through the 2nd fractures or matrix diffusion after the arrival of its peak concentration. The increase/decrease slopes of bromide concentration versus time were 3.46/-1.57 at GL-18 m depth and 3.l9/-0.47 at GL- 25 m depth of the monitoring well. So the faster bromide transport was confirmed at GL- 18 m depth with more fractures. The concentration increment of bromide was fitted by a Gaussian function and the concentration decrement of bromide was fitted by an exponential function. Effective porosity and longitudinal dispersivity estimated by CATTI code were 10.50% and 0.85 m, respectively.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to describe the results of treatment for motor vehiclerelated crushing injuries among children and adolescents under sixteen years in Korea. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of data from children who were under sixteen year and injured foot by motor vehicles. Cases were documented 1) age at the time of injury, 2) injured site, 3) the area of accident, 4) the kind of vehicle, 5) associated injuries, 6) methods of treatment for soft tissue reconstruction and 7) complications. The relationships between the area of accident and associated injuries, and the kind of vehicle and associated injuries were analyzed using Chi-square test and Fisher exact test. Results: There were 97 children who were 15 year and younger. The mean age was 7.4 years, and 65% were boys. The left foot was more dominant side of injury (57%). Seasonal variation was seen with the number of injuries peaking during the summer (43%, p<0.05). Among the vehicles, 78.3% were the large vehicles (bus, truck or van). The where of accident was more frequent at an alley or less than two lanes of traffic. But, the relationships between the place of accident and associated injury or the kind of vehicles and associated injury were not statistically significant. The associated injury were fracture or dislocation (23 cases, 35.9%), injury of tendon (21 cases, 32.8%). There were amputation or disarticulation of foot in 8 cases (8.2%) and post-traumatic deformities such as flatfoot, hindfoot varus or valus deformities by tendon injury in 7 cases (7.2%). Conclusion: More than 50% of crushing or degloving injuries of child's foot by traffic accidents happened in boys between 5 to 9 years old. The associated injury was unrelated with size of vehicles or accident place at the time of accident. But, even though foot injury happened in an alley or one lane by small vehicles, child who hurt feet by car need thorough investigation about associated injury. If a surgeon keep in mind and treat child to associated injury necessarily, can minimize complication. Microsurgical reconstruction for soft tissue defect was prior to other methods.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.231-244
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• 2020

Background: As the population is aging, chronic diseases and depression are becoming the main problems in a country's healthcare system. In this study, we aimed to explore the associations between chronic diseases and depression among the elderly in South Korea. Methods: We analyzed 9,975 (men, 4,147; women, 5,828) respondents obtained from the 2014 National Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Persons. Our dependent variable was either 1 or 0 according to whether a respondent had depression or not, where depression was defined when the Short Form of Geriatric Depression Scale score was 8 or more points. Variables of interest were 24 types of chronic diseases and covariates included various socio-demographic and health behavior characteristics. We performed Rao-Scott chi-square tests and hierarchal logistic regression analyses by gender, reflecting the characteristics of the survey. Results: A significant difference was found in the proportion of having depression between genders (men 18.9% vs. women 23.4%). According to fully adjusted, multivariable analyses, for elderly men, relative to those without any chronic disease, the odds ratio of depression was 1.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-2.22) in the stroke patients group and 1.82 (95% CI, 1.01-3.25) in the osteoporosis patients group. For elderly women, the odds ratio was 1.96 (95% CI, 1.28-3.00) in the fracture/dislocation and aftereffects patients group and 1.30 (95% CI, 1.03-1.64) in the group of patients with other diseases. Conclusion: Even after being adjusted for diverse characteristics, some chronic diseases were significantly associated with depression in the elderly and the association differed between genders. Therefore, public health and medical interventions are needed to manage such chronic diseases together with curing depression symptoms.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.178-189
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• 2011

Tests and analyses were performed in this study to assess the shear strength of Reinforced Concrete(RC) members strengthened by the Near Surface Mounted(NSM) technique in shear, which is drawing attention as an alternative to the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer(CFRP) bonding strengthening technique. Four-point bending tests were performed on 7 RC specimens without any shear reinforcement. The test variables such as the inclination of CFRP strip (45 degrees and 90 degrees), and the spacing of CFRP strip (250mm, 200mm, 150mm, 100mm) were considered. Through the testing scenarios, the effect of each test variable on the failure mode and the shear strength of the RC members strengthened by the NSM technique in shear were assessed. The test results show that the specimens with CFRP strips at 45 degrees go to failure as a result of the strip fracture, but the specimens with CFRP strips at 90 degrees go to failure as a result of the slip of strips. Strips at 45 degrees was the more effective than strips at 90 degrees, not only in terms of increasing beam shear resistance but also in assuring larger deformation capacity at beam failure. In addition, the RBSN analysis appropriately predicted the crack formation and the load-displacement response of the RC members strengthened by the NSM technique in shear.