• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.547-555
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• 2009

This study was performed to determine the minimum dose of Poloxamer/Sodium alginate (PX/SA) mixture on preventing intraperitoneal adhesions to evaluate organ toxicity. Twenty five healthy adult mongrel dogs (weighing 4.68${\pm}$1.67 kg) were divided into five experimental groups composed of five dogs respectively; negative control group (NC, non-treated), positive control group (PC, 2% carboxymethyl chitosan solution treated), and experiment 1 group (E1, 0.25 ml PX/SA mixture of abraded area), experiment 2 group (E2, 0.5 ml PX/SA mixture of abraded area), experiment 3 group (E3, 1.0 ml PX/SA mixture of abraded area). Venous blood specimens were collected from all experimental animals for hematologic and biochemical analysis: WBC, fibrinogen, AST, ALT, ALP, BUN and creatinine. The anti-adhesion effect was evaluated using a serosa abrasion model. The denuded ileum was coated with PX/SA mixture, carboxymethyl chitosan solution or neither. The tensile strength of the adhesion site was evaluated with a tensiometer. For histopathological examination, tissue samples of the liver and kidney were collected from all dogs. According to the results, the frequency and tensile strength values for adhesion separation in PX/SA group were significantly lower than those in negative control group (p < 0.05). In E2 group, the tensile strength was significantly decreased in consideration of PX/SA dose. The values of AST, ALT, ALP, BUN and creatinine of the control and the experimental groups showed no statistical differences. No obvious microscopic differences were noted among tissue sections obtained from all groups. The results suggest that PX/SA mixture may be effective on reducing peritoneal adhesion formation in dog and that 0.5 ml PX/SA mixture of abraded area is most effective dose. Moreover, PX/SA mixture was considered not to have toxicity for the liver and the kidney.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.780-785
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• 1997

Mediastinal tumor had been fascinated by its location on heart, great vessels, esophagus, and nervous tissue, its convenience of surgical treatment and superiority of its operative result. Between January 1989 and June 1995, eighty-seven patients with mediastinal tumor which were treated surgically in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Asan Medical Center, School of Medicine, University of Ulsan. To provide the appropriate surgical management of mediastinal tumor, the demographic data, diagnostic evaluation, clinical presentation, location, size, operative finding and histopathologic distribution were reviewed and we analyzed relativity between invasiveness in chest computed tomographic finding or invasiveness on operative finding and histopathologic invasiveness. The anterosuperior mediastinum was the most commonly involved site of a mediastinal tumor(57%), followed by the posterior mediastinum(35%) and middle mediastinum(8%). The most frequently encountered tumors were thymic neoplasia(31%), followed by primary cyst(22%), neurogenic tumor(22%) and teratoma(10%) in decreasing order of frequency. Histopathologically invasive tumors were present in 17 patients(20%) and its site included anterosuperior mediastinum(16%) and posterior mediastinum(4%). All patients in this study underwent chest CT. In chest CT's finding, 15 patients(17%) showed invasiveness. A total excision of the tumor was performed 80 patients(92%), subtotal excision 6 patients(7%) and biopsy only 1 patient(2%). In operative finding, 14 patients(16%) were suspected invasiveness. The mean size of the tumor was 6.0$\pm$ 3.2cm. In anterosuperior mediastinum, the mean size was 6.2$\pm$3.1cm, in middle mediastinum, it was 3.9$\pm$1.1cm, in posterior mediastinum, it was 5.8$\pm$2.6cm. In malignant tumors, the mean size was 7.3$\pm$4.6cm, in benign tumor, it was 5.5$\pm$2.6cm(P<0.05). Relativity between histopathological invasiveness(17 patients) and invasiveness in chest CT's finding(15 patients) included sensitivity 35%, specificity 87% and predictability 35%, relativity between histopathological invasiveness(17 patients) and invasiveness on operative finding included sensitivity 52%, specificity 93% and predictability 64%. In conclusion, since it was proved that the compatibility of preoperative chest CT findings or operative findings and histopathological invasiveness is quite low, it is considered that wide excision of the mediastinal tumor except cystic lesion including adjacent tissues would yield better postoperative results.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.429-435
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic value of preoperative FDG-PET in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with hepatic metastasis (HM). Materials and Methods: 24 CRC patients (M:F=14:10; age, $63{\pm}10$ yrs) with HM who had undergone preoperative FDG PET were included. Cure-intent surgery was performed in all the patients and HMs were controlled using resection (n=13), radio-frequency ablation (RFA) (n=7), and resection plus RFA (n=4). Potential prognostic markers tested were maxSUV of primary tumor, maxSUV of HM, maxSUV ratio of HM over primary tumor (M/P ratio), histologic grade, CEA level, venous/lymphatic/nerve invasion, T stage, N stage, no. of HM, no. of lymph node metastasis, and treatment modality of HM. Results: 14 CRC patients developed a recurrence with a median follow-up duration of 244 days, whereas 10 patients did not develop recurrence with a median follow-up duration of 504 days. M/P ratios but other potential prognostic markers were significantly higher in the recurrent patients ($0.72{\pm}0.14$) than recurrence-free patients ($0.54{\pm}0.23$) (p=0.038). M/P ratio only was found to predict recurrence by Cox multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 37.7, 95% confidence interval 2.01-706.1, p=0.016). The 11 patients with lower M/P ratio of <0.61 had significantly better disease-free survival rate than the 13 patients with higher M/P ratio (${\geq}0.61$) (p=0.026). Conclusion: maxSUV ratio of HM over primary tumor (M/P ratio) may be useful for prognosis prediction of CRC patients with HM. Higher FDG uptake of HM than that of primary tumor may indicate a more advanced status in stage IV CRC.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2001

Purpose: Gastroesophgeal reflux (GER) is defined as involuntary movement of gastric contents into esophagus. Relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter caused by immature anatomical development in newborn and young infants produces GER frequently. We wanted to know whether the frequency of GER is influenced by feeding types and position or not. We studied in 16 subjects according to feeding types (breast feeding group: BFG-7, formula feeding group: FFG-9) who admitted to the Soonchunhyang university hospital for recurrent regurgitation with 24 hr esophageal pH monitoring from August 1996 to July 1999. Methods: We compared two groups by number of reflux episode, reflux rate, longest episode, numbers of episodes lasting >5 minutes, longest episode in upright position and longest episode in supine position. We used Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis. Results: 1) The subjects were 7 infants in BFG and 9 infants in FFG, 16 in total, and mean age was 2.1, and 2.6 months for BFG and FFG, respectively. 2) The reflux numbers were $244{\pm}151/day$, $275{\pm}155/day$ for BFG and FFG, respectively. 3) The reflux rate was $14{\pm}15%$ for BFG and $28{\pm}22%$ for FFG. It was lower in BFG. 4) The longest episode was $20{\pm}28$ minutes for BFG and $58{\pm}66$ minutes for FFG. It was significantly longer in FFG. 5) The numbers of episodes lasting >5 minutes were $5{\pm}6$ for BFG and $9{\pm}3$ for FFG. 6) The longest episode in upright position was $10{\pm}8$ minutes for BFG and $40{\pm}47$ minutes for FFG. It was significantly shorter in BFG. 7) The longest episode in supine position was $18{\pm}29$ minutes for BFG and $52{\pm}66$ minutes for FFG. It was significantly shorter in BFG. Conclusion: Breast feeding is strongly recommended to reduce the regurgitation in infancy. It is an another benefit of breast feeding.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.151-167
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• 2017

The main objective of this study was to investigate the climatic impact of $PM_{10}$ concentration on the temperature change pattern in Busan Metropolitan City(BMC), Korea during 2001~2015. Mean $PM_{10}$ concentration of BMC has gradually declined over the past 15 years. While the highest $PM_{10}$ concentration was observed in spring followed by winter, summer, and fall on average, the seasonal variations of $PM_{10}$ concentration differed from place to place within the city. Frequency analysis showed that the most frequently observed $PM_{10}$ concentration ranged from $20{\mu}g/m^3$ to $60{\mu}g/m^3$, which accounted for 64.6% of all daily observations. Overall, the west-high and east-low pattern of $PM_{10}$ concentration was relatively strong during the winter when the effect of yellow-dust events on the air quality was weak. Comparative analyses between $PM_{10}$ concentration and monthly temperature slope derived from generalized temperature curves indicated that the decreasing trend of $PM_{10}$ concentration was associated with increases of annual temperature range, and $PM_{10}$ concentration had a negative relationship with the temperature slope of warming months. Overall, $PM_{10}$ concentration had a weak correlation with the annual mean temperature, but it had a significant, positive correlation with the winter season, which had a dominant influence on the annual mean temperature. In terms of energy budget, it has been known that the change in $PM_{10}$ concentration contributes to the warming or cooling effect by affecting the radiative forcing due to the reflection and absorption of radiant energy. The correlation between $PM_{10}$ concentration and temperature changes in the study area was not seasonally and spatially consistent, and its significance was statistically limited partly due to the number of observations and the lack of potential socioeconomic factors relevant to urban air quality.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.390-395
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• 2004

In order to characterize ion channels present in tomato roots, microsomes were incorporated into an artificial lipid bilayer arranged for electrophysiological analysis. Of the five different ion channels that could be found, a channel of 450 pS conductance was found most frequently. This channel displayed subconductance states of 450, 257 and 105 pS. All subconductance states showed linear current-voltage relationships. At positive holding potentials, high frequency of transient channel openings was observed; however, at negative potentials, the open times were long and open probability high. Po was 0.83 at -40 mV. When an additional 50 mM $K^+\;or\;Na^+$ was added to the cis side of bilayer, the reversal potentials shifted in the negative direction to near -10 mV. Thus, the 450 pS cation channel selects poorly between $K^+\;and\;Na^+$. In the presence of $100\;{\mu}M$ metal ions, the channel activity was severely inhibited by $La^{3+},\;Ba^{2+},\;and\;Zn^{2+}$, and Po was decreased to 0.2 or even less. However, $Al^{3+}\;and\;Cd^{2+}$ decreased the activity by only 20%. Interestingly, each metal ion showed different kinetics of channel inhibition. While $500\;{\mu}M\;La^{3+}$ inhibited the activities of all subconductance state, 1 mM $Zn^{2+}$ inhibited all except the 105 pS state. $Cd^{2+}$ changed the gating of the channel from a long-opening state to brief transient openings even at negative holding potentials. These data represent that the metal ions may have different binding sites on the channel protein and could be useful modulators and probes to investigate structural characteristics as well as the functional roles of the 450 pS channel on the root physiology.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2012

This study is a survey of regulatees' perception on main contents and enforcement effect of the Act, the retailers at food stores within Green Food Zone, for the effective enforcement of "The Special Act on the Safety Management of Children's Dietary Life" legislated in 2008. Percentage, frequency analysis, and T-test are derived from the survey carried out to the 175 retailers at food stores within Green Food Zone, across the country except Jejudo, for the two months March and April of 2011. The survey results are as follows. Over 80% of the respondents are aware of comprehensive policy for child food safety and the enforcement of 'the Special Act' and considering the rate of satisfaction on food safety information provided by government, over 90% of the respondents, virtually most of them, are satisfied. The rate of awareness of Green Food Zone is about 80% and that of outstanding business for children is about 50%, showing little perception of it. The comparison of the survey result of 2011 with that of 2010, which have the same questions to the retailers within Green Food Zone, still indicates a need for enhancement of understanding on absolute standard, though it showed fairly better improvement in general. Several proposals are given in this study based on the survey results, which will contribute to the children food safety and health improvement in the end.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.438-446
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• 2020

Meju and nuruk (respectively soybean and malt) are traditional Korean fermentation starters that are vulnerable to contamination by harmful microorganisms such as aflatoxigenic fungi and their associated aflatoxins (AFs). In this study, Aspergillus spp. were isolated and identified from a total of 57 meju and 18 nuruk samples collected from Korean markets. Their potential aflatoxigenicity was investigated by examining the presence of three aflatoxin biosynthetic genes (aflO, aflP, and aflR) using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) assays. Thereafter, aflatoxin production of isolates and the natural occurrence of AFs in meju and nuruk samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 177 Aspergillus isolates were identified and 130 isolates were obtained from meju samples. Of these, 25 isolates (19.2%) contained all three aflatoxin biosynthetic genes, and five (20%) of these isolates produced aflatoxins. Forty-seven of the Aspergillus isolates were obtained from nuruk samples, five of which (10.6%) expressed all three AF biosynthetic genes; however, none of these strains produced AFs. HPLC analysis showed that 88% (51/58) of the meju samples and 39% (7/18) of nuruk samples were not contaminated with AFs (below limit of detection). Among the isolates isolated from meju and nuruk, there were aflatoxigenic strains containing all three aflatoxin biosynthetic genes or producing aflatoxin in medium, but the frequency of aflatoxin contamination was low in the meju and nuruk samples.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2011

We examined the effect of the turbid water on the periphytic diatom community in an artificial stream system. The artificial stream was constructed with transparent acryl and composed of four channels. Each channel ($20\;cm{\times}200\;cm{\times}40\;cm$) was supplied continuously with eutrophic lake water. In order to the freely colonize and grow diatoms, artificial substrate was installed with commercial slide glass soaked in 1% agar. Prior to introducing turbid water, the artificial stream was operated with lake water for 6 days to permit the propagation of diatom community on the substrates. The turbid water prepared with sediment sieved with ${\varphi}$ $64\;{\mu}m$ at $2\;g\;L^{-1}$ (final concentration, 300 NTU) was provided daily for 50 minute duration. The experiment was conducted for 7 days with manipulated experimental condition of light ($50{\sim}80\;{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$, light:dark=24:0), temperature ($10{\pm}1^{\circ}C$), and flow rate ($0.31\;cm\;s^{-1}$). Sampling and analysis were conducted daily for water quality and diatom. Turbidity of the water varied 162.2~173.2 NTU during the experiment. After introduction of turbid water, DO, pH and TN were decreased, while SS and TP increased significantly. A total of 14 genera and 47 species of diatoms was observed on the artificial substrates during the experimental period. Of these, Navicula appeared to be a most dominant genus with 10 species, followed by Cymbella (6 species), Fragilaria (6 species) and Gomphonema (5 species). Achnanthes minutissima was the most dominant species (>70% of total frequency) in both control and treatment experiments. Increase in diatom abundance lasted for three days since turbid water introduction, after that they gradually decreased by the termination of the experiment. These results suggest that frequent supply of highly-concentrated turbid water significantly decreases the periphytic diatom community, and retard the recovery of the stable food-web within the stream.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.156-164
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to bone mineral contents (BMC) at os calcis of adolescents. The subjects were 604 students (327 boys and 277 girls) between 7th and 9th grade in Seoul, Korea. The mean age was 14.2 ${\pm}$ 0.9 years. General characteristics were collected by a questionnaire, bone mineral contents (BMC) were measured in os calcis by Duel Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (PIXI, General Electronics, USA) and height and weight were measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis method (Inbody 4.0, Biospace Co. Ltd, Seoul, Korea). Mean BMC of os calsis were 2.241 g. Height (p <.0001), weight (p <.0001I), BMC (p <.0001I) ofboys were higher than those of girls. Percent body fat of girls, however, was higher than that of boys (p <.0001). Anthropometric measurement, pocket money, sibling, experience of fracture, pubertal stage, intake of supplements, physical or outdoors activity, and eating habit had significant influence on BMC of boys. Anthropometric measurement, physical or outdoors activity, and eating habit had significant influence on BMC of girls. Multivariate regression with adjustment for sex and age showed that BMC was associated positively with height, BMI, frequency of regular activity, and intake of spinach or radish leaves (all p <0.05), and negatively with percent body fat (p <.0000 and Korean traditional diet pattern (p = 0.01). On the basis of these results, it is recommended to develop nutrition education and physical activity program for adolescents to improve BMC and prevent osteoporosis.