• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.333-341
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to investigate the hypolgycemic activity of water extract of fermented yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) leaves tea (Yacon LWE) in high-fat diet (HFD)/streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. Male ICR mice were fed with a HFD (37% calories from fat) for 4 weeks prior to intraperitoneal injection with STZ (100 mg/kg body weight). Diabetic mice were supplemented with two doses of Yacon LWE (0.16% and 0.8%, wt/wt) for 6 weeks. The supplementation of high-dose Yacon LWE significantly lowered blood glucose levels and plasma ALT and AST activities compared with the control group. High-dose Yacon LWE also improved the insulin tolerance without any changes in plasma and pancreatic insulin concentrations in HFD/STZ-induced diabetic mice. Yacon LWE supplementation increased the insulin staining of pancreatic $\beta$-cells in a dose-dependent manner. Both 0.16% and 0.8% of Yacon LWE significantly elevated plasma leptin concentration, hepatic glucokinase activity and glucokinase/glucose-6-phosphatase ratio compared with the control group. However, glycosylated hemoglobin concentration was not different among the groups. These results suggest that high-dose Yacon LWE lowers the blood glucose level partly by enhancing insulin sensitivity and hepatic glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic mice.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.522-528
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to inquire into molecular epidemiological characteristics of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. For this study, 120 strains(120 strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus sampled from diarrhea patients) were examined and analyzed for biochemical characteristics, TDH (thermostable direct hemolysin) antibiotics sensitivity and detection of toxR, gyrE, tdh, and tds gents. G-S PCR (Group Specific Polymerase), PFGE (Pulsed-field Gel Electrophoriesis) methods were performed on the materials from patients were results. 1 Vibrio parahaemolyticus didn't grow in 0% density of NaCl, but the fact was found that those grew in 8% density of NaCl. 2. O：K serotypes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus was turned up in domestic patients was 17 types. Among those O3：K6 was the most, it was 68.3%. 3. In 18 kinds of antibiotic tests resistant against Ampicillin, Ticacillin was comparatively high. the case of resistant against Ampicillin, Ticacillin, Vancomycin at the multiple resistant was 52.5%. 4. Toxin gene tdh had only 109 strains among 120 ones isolated from patients held the genes of 199bp size, and 11 strains was negativity 5. In the test of Kanagawa toxic productivity, 107 strains among strains isolated from patients appeared to be positivity reaction 6. The strain that held trh toxin was only 3, and those among test strains had the genes of 250bp size and that had tdh, trh genes at a time were 3 strains, and TDH toxic productivity of those were 16 times, and it was weak. 7. Group Specific-PCR appeared to be useful in the confirmation of O3:K6 serotype interrelations. 8. Three strains which showed difference of 7 DNA sequence even in the same serotype were detected by the result of analyzing the regular gene, toxRS DNA sequence. These strains are differ from general strains which carry infection easily. 9. These mutual dose epidemiological relations were classified into smaller-parts through PFGE method. As a result of such classify, 3 findings were found. V. parahaemolyticus sampled from diarrhea patients were classified into 3 types. And third, the result obtained through PFGE method can be used as a useful tool in a point of molecular-epidemiological view.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2009

The detection methods are required to monitor and diagnose the abnormality on the insulation condition inside a gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Due to a good sensitivity to the products decomposed by partial discharges (PDs) in $SF_6$ gas, the development of a SWNT gas sensor is actively in progress. However, a few numerical studies on the diffusion mechanism of the $SF_6$ decomposition products by PD have been reported. In this study, we modeled $SF_6$ decomposition process in a chamber by calculating temperature, pressure and concentration of the decomposition products by using a commercial CFD program in conjunction with experimental data. It was assumed that the mass production rate and the generation temperature of the decomposition products were $5.04{\times}10^{-10}$ [g/s] and over 773 K respectively. To calculate the concentration equation, the Schmidt number was specified to get the diffusion coefficient functioned by viscosity and density of $SF_6$ gas instead rather than setting it directly. The results showed that the drive potential is governed mainly by the gradient of the decomposition concentration. A lower concentration of the decomposition products was observed as the sensors were placed more away from the discharge region. Also, the concentration increased by increasing the discharge time. By installing multiple sensors the location of PD is expected to be identified by monitoring the response time of the sensors, and the information should be very useful for the diagnosis and maintenance of GIS.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.185-194
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to identify the bacteria isolated from endodontic lesions by cell culture and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of them against 8 antibiotics. The necrotic pulpal tissues were collected from 27 infected root canals, which were diagnosed as endodontic infection. Samples were collected aseptically from the infected pulpal tissue of the infected root canals using a barbed broach and a paper point. The cut barbed broaches and paper points were transferred to an eppendorf tube containing $500{\mu}l\;of\;1{\times}PBS$. The sample solution was briefly mixed and plated onto a BHI-agar plate containing 5% sheep blood. The agar plates were incubated in a $37^{\circ}C$ anaerobic chamber for 2 to 5 days. The bacteria grown on the agar plates were identified by comparison of 16S rRNA gene (rDNA) sequencing method at the species level. To test the sensitivity of the bacteria isolated from the infected root canals against 8 antibiotics, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined using broth dilution assay. The data showed that 101 bacterial strains were isolated and were identified. Streptococcus spp. (29.7%) and Actinomyces spp. (21.8%) were predominantly isolated. The 9 strains were excluded in antimicrobial susceptibility test because they were lost during the experiment or were not grown in broth culture. The percentage of bacteria susceptible for each antibiotic in this study was clindamycin, 87.0% (80 of 92); tetracycline, 75.0% (69 of 92); cefuroxime axetil, 75.0% (69 of 92); amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (5:1), 71.7% (66 of 92); penicillin G, 66.3% (61 of 92); erythromycin, 66.3% (61 of 92); amoxicillin, 44.6% (41 of 92); and ciprofloxacin, 31.5% (29 of 92). The susceptibility pattern of 8 antibiotics was dependent on the host of the bacteria strains rather than the kinds of bacterial species. These results indicate that antibiotic susceptibility test should be performed when antibiotics are needed for the treatment of infected root canals.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.44-53
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• 2008

Purpose : Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) caused by adenovirus is a highly contagious disease, which has been reported as outbreaks involving adults in the community. However, there has been no report on EKC outbreak by adenovirus in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Korea. Aims of this study were to investigate the EKC outbreak by adenovirus type 8 in NICU and to confirm an effectiveness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis. Methods : Conjunctival swab or nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens were taken from all patients and tested by viral culture and PCR. Adenovirus serotype was determined by sequencing of PCR product of selected region of hexon gene using the virus isolates or specimens. Results : An outbreak of EKC occurred which was involving 12 preterm infants in the NICU of the Seoul National University Children's Hospital between July 12th and August 1st, 2005. Three hospital staffs and one family member of the neonate were also affected. Adenovirus was detected in 12/12 (100%), 6/11 (54.5%) by PCR and virus culture, respectively. Eleven PCR-positive neonates were identified as serotype 8 by sequencing. The first affected 4 babies have had routine ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) examinations one week ago. While previous outbreaks were sustained for a few months, the event in our unit was controlled without complications in 3 weeks. Conclusion : We analyzed the EKC outbreak by adenovirus type 8 in NICU. Adenovirus serotype was identified by PCR and sequencing with high sensitivity for the first time in Korea, so we suggest this method can be very useful for rapid diagnosis and infection control.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2016

Background: The cell cycle-dependent enzyme thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is known to increase during cancer cell proliferation and has been reported as a prognostic marker for various hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. This study aimed to determine the reference interval in Korean healthy controls and to evaluate the usefulness of TK1 as a biomarker for aggressive clinical behavior in B-cell lymphoma patients. Methods: We enrolled 72 previously untreated patients with B-cell lymphoma and 143 healthy controls. Serum TK1 levels were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay ($Liaison^{(R)}$, DiaSorin, USA). We established the reference intervals in healthy controls. The diagnostic performance of serum TK1 was studied using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and the correlation between the cutoff level for serum TK1 and clinical characteristics of B-cell lymphoma was evaluated. Results: The reference range (95th percentile) of serum TK1 in healthy controls was 5.4-21.8 U/L. There was a clear difference in TK1 levels between patients with B-cell lymphoma and healthy controls ($40.6{\pm}68.5$ vs. $11.8{\pm}4.4U/L$, P <0.001). The area under the curve of serum TK1 for the diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma was 0.73 (cutoff, 15.2 U/L; sensitivity, 59.7%; specificity, 83.2%). An increased TK1 level (${\geq}15.2U/L$) correlated with the advanced clinical stage (P <0.001), bone marrow involvement (P =0.013), international prognostic index score (P =0.001), lactate dehydrogenase level (P =0.001), low Hb level (<12 g/dL) (P =0.028), and lymphocyte count (P =0.023). Conclusions: The serum TK1 level could serve as a useful biomarker for aggressive clinical behavior in B-cell lymphoma patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.781-788
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• 2021

Due to the high sensitivity to radiation, excessive exposure needs to be prevented by accurately measuring the dose irradiated to the skin during radiation therapy. Although clinical trials use dosimeters such as film, OSLD, TLD, glass dosimeter, etc. to measure skin dose, these dosimeters have difficulty in accurate dosimetry on skin curves. In this study, to solve these problems, we developed a skin dosimeter that can be attached according to human flexion and evaluated its response characteristics. For the manufacture of the dosimeter, lead oxide (PbO) with high atomic number (Z_Pb: 82, Z_O: 8) and density (9.53 g/cm³) and silicon binders that can bend according to human flexion were used. In the case of a dosimeter made of PbO material, the performance degradation has been prevented by using parylene and others due to the presence of degradation due to oxidation, but the previously used parylene is affected by bending, so a new form of passive layer was produced and applied to the skin dosimeter. The characteristic evaluation of the skin dosimeter was evaluated by analyzing SEM, reproducibility, and linearity. Through SEM analysis, bending was evaluated, reproducibility and linearity at 6 MeV energy were evaluated, and applicability was assessed with a skin dosimeter. As a result of observing the dosimeter surface through SEM analysis, the parylene passive layer PbO dosimeter with the positive layer raised to the parylene produced cracks on the surface when bent. On the other hand, no crack was observed in the silicon passive layer PbO dosimeter, which was raised to silicon passive layer. In the reproducibility measurement results, the RSD of the silicon passive layer PbO dosimeter was 1.47% which satisfied the evaluation criteria RSD 1.5% and the linearity evaluation results showed the R² value of 0.9990, which satisfied the evaluation criteria R² 9990. The silicon passive layer PbO dosimeter was evaluated to be applicable to skin dosimeters by demonstrating high signal stability, precision, and accuracy in reproducibility and linearity, without cracking due to bending.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.32-43
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• 2021

Multichannel automated chamber systems (MCACs) were developed for the continuous monitoring of soil CO2 efflux in forest ecosystems. The MCACs mainly consisted of four modules: eight soil chambers with lids that automatically open and close, an infrared CO2 analyzer equipped with eight multichannel gas samplers, an electronic controller with time-relay circuits, and a programmable logic datalogger. To examine the stability and reliability of the developed MCACs in the field during all seasons with a high temporal resolution, as well as the effects of temperature and soil water content on soil CO2 efflux rates, we continuously measured the soil CO2 efflux rates and micrometeorological factors at the Nam-san experimental site in a Quercus mongolica forest floor using the MCACs from January to December 2010. The diurnal and seasonal variations in soil CO2 efflux rates markedly followed the patterns of changes in temperature factors. During the entire experimental period, the soil CO2 efflux rates were strongly correlated with the temperature at a soil depth of 5 cm (r2 = 0.92) but were weakly correlated with the soil water content (r2 = 0.27). The annual sensitivity of soil CO2 efflux to temperature (Q10) in this forest ranged from 2.23 to 3.0, which was in agreement with other studies on temperate deciduous forests. The annual mean soil CO2 efflux measured by the MCACs was approximately 11.1 g CO2 m-2 day-1. These results indicate that the MCACs can be used for the continuous long-term measurements of soil CO2 efflux in the field and for simultaneously determining the impacts of micrometeorological factors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.231-242
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• 2023

This study aims to provide basic data to reduce the incidence of radiation dermatitis and improve patient satisfaction by investigating the management status and satisfaction level of radiation dermatitis in patients undergoing radiation therapy. From October 28, 2022, to April 4, 2023, a survey was conducted on 137 breast cancer patients who received radiation therapy at G Hospital in Busan. The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) cutaneous acute radiotherapy toxicity score was used as the standard for measuring skin reactions, and the association between cancer stage and RTOG was analyzed. SPSS program (ver. 18.0) was used for statistical analysis. The frequency of radiation dermatitis occurrence was relatively low, with 73% in the RTOG 0-1 group and 27% in the 2-3 group. Patient satisfaction after radiation therapy varied significantly depending on the RTOG group, with lower levels of dermatitis resulting in higher satisfaction and higher levels resulting in dissatisfaction (p=0.001). Although there was no statistically significant difference in RTOG group and skin satisfaction depending on the frequency of aloe mist use (p=0.065), the group that used it 1-2 times a day (69.3%) showed a higher satisfaction level. The perceived effects of aloe mist use were statistically significant for decreasing heat sensation (p=0.001), pain (p=0.033), itching (p=0.001), and psychological stability (p=0.027), especially in the higher RTOG groups. Additionally, as cancer stage increased, the severity of radiation dermatitis also increased, which was statistically significant (p=0.001). In conclusion, radiation dermatitis is the most common side effect of radiation therapy, and it can appear in various forms depending on individual skin sensitivity and external factors during treatment. Adequate education before treatment and the use of MD Cream and aloe vera mist are recommended to reduce the incidence and manage radiation dermatitis effectively.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 1997

Recently, [I-123]IPT SPECT has been used for early diagnosis of Parkinson's patients(PP) by imaging dopamine transporters. The dynamic time activity curves in basal ganglia(BG) and occipital cortex(OCC) without blood samples were obtained for 2 hours. These data were then used to measure dopamine transporters by operationally defined ratio methods of (BG-OCC)/OCC at 2 hrs, binding potential $R_v=k_3/k_4$ using graphic method or $R_A$= (ABBG-ABOCC)/ABOCC for 2 hrs, where ABBG represents accumulated binding activity in basal ganglia(${\int}^{120min}_0$ BG(t)dt) and ABOCC represents accumulated binding activity in occipital cortex(${\int}^{120min}_0$ OCC(t)dt). The purpose of this study was to examine the IPT pharmacokinetics and investigate the usefulness of simplified methods of (BG-OCC)/OCC, $R_A$, and $R_v$ which are often assumed that these values reflect the true values of $k_3/k_4$. The rate constants $K_1,\;k_2\;k_3$ and $k_4$ to be used for simulations were derived using [I-123]IPT SPECT and aterialized blood data with a standard three compartmental model. The sensitivities and time activity curves in BG and OCC were computed by changing $K_l$ and $k_3$(only BG) for every 5min over 2 hours. The values (BG-OCC)/OCC, $R_A$, and $R_v$ were then computed from the time activity curves and the linear regression analysis was used to measure the accuracies of these methods. The late constants $K_l,\;k_2\;k_3\;k_4$ at BG and OCC were $1.26{\pm}5.41%,\;0.044{\pm}19.58%,\;0.031{\pm}24.36%,\;0.008{\pm}22.78%$ and $1.36{\pm}4.76%,\;0.170{\pm}6.89%,\;0.007{\pm}23.89%,\;0.007{\pm}45.09%$, respectively. The Sensitivities for ((${\Delta}S/S$)/(${\Delta}k_3/k_3$)) and ((${\Delta}S/S$)/(${\Delta}K_l/K_l$)) at 30min and 120min were measured as (0.19, 0.50) and (0.61, 0,23), respectively. The correlation coefficients and slopes of ((BG-OCC)/OCC, $R_A$, and $R_v$) with $k_3/k_4$ were (0.98, 1.00, 0.99) and (1.76, 0.47, 1.25), respectively. These simulation results indicate that a late [I-123]IPT SPECT image may represent the distribution of the dopamine transporters. Good correlations were shown between (3G-OCC)/OCC, $R_A$ or $R_v$ and true $k_3/k_4$, although the slopes between them were not unity. Pharmacokinetic computer simulations may be a very useful technique in studying dopamine transporter systems.