• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were any changes in taste sensitivity with recurrent aphthous ulceration. Nintyseven subjects(25 males and 72 females) were included for the study and they were categorized into 2 groups(recurrent aphthous ulceration 27 persons, control 70 persons), recurrent aphthous ulceration group was investigated in the department of Oral Medicine, College of Dentistry, Pusan National University from April, 2005 to August, 2006 and control group was investigated in the clinic at Incheon city from June, 2006 to August, 2006. The electrical taste thresholds were measured using an electrogustometer of the 4 different sites(tongue tip, tongue lateral, circumvallate papilla and soft palate) in oral cavity. The results were as follows ; 1. The electrical taste threshold showed significant lower in the RAU group. 2. The electrical taste threshold showed significant lower in female group, and showed significant lower except soft palate in male group of the RAU group. 3. The electrical taste threshold showed a tendency to increase in all site of the multiple RAU group, but there were no significant differences. 4. The electrical taste threshold showed a tendency to increase in tongue lateral of the acute RAU group, and showed a tendency to increase in tongue tip, circumvallate papilla, soft palate of the chronic RAU group. 5. After treatment, electrical taste threshold was significant increase than initial visit in the RAU group. 6. After treatment, NAS showed a tendency to decrease in the RAU group.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.8
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• pp.868-873
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• 2008

Purpose : Immunotherapy is accepted as the only treatment of allergic disease that can modify the natural course of the disease and ameliorate symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ultra-rush therapy using Dermatophagoides extracts in children. Methods : Of children older than four years who had visited Bundang CHA Pediatric Allergy Clinic, those showing positive reactions only to Dermatophagoides in the skin prick test and to the nasal provocation test were included. In all, 11 and 12 patients respectively preferred conventional and ultra-rush immunotherapy. We elevated allergen concentrations diluted to 1,000:1 of the end strength by 2-3 times with 30-minute intervals and checked oxygen saturation, pulse rate, blood pressure, and systemic reactions every 15 minutes. Immunotherapy effectiveness was valued by changes in nasal provocation test scores before and after immunotherapy. Results : The average ages of patients in the conventional and ultra-rush immunotherapy groups were $8.3{\pm}2.3$ and $9.2{\pm}2.8years$, respectively. Systemic reactions were observed in six in the ultra-rush group (50%) without anaphylaxis and one (9%) in the conventional group. The average scores in the nasal provocation test before and after treatment in the conventional group were $8.2{\pm}1.5$ and $4.6{\pm}2.1$, respectively (P=0.043). In the ultra-rush immunotherapy group, the scores changed from $6.2{\pm}2.2$ to $3.7{\pm}2.5$ (P=0.017). Conclusion : Ultra-rush immunotherapy using Dermatophagoides in children is effective for treating allergic disease but can induce systemic effects rather than conventional immunotherapy.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.192-200
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• 2010

Cyberknife with small field size is more difficult and complex for dosimetry compared with conventional radiotherapy due to electronic disequilibrium, steep dose gradients and spectrum change of photons and electrons. The purpose of this study demonstrate the usefulness of Geant4 as verification tool of measurement dose for delivering accurate dose by comparing measurement data using the diode detector with results by Geant4 simulation. The development of Monte Carlo Model for Cyberknife was done through the two-step process. In the first step, the treatment head was simulated and Bremsstrahlung spectrum was calculated. Secondly, percent depth dose (PDD) was calculated for six cones with different size, i.e., 5 mm, 10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, 50 mm and 60 mm in the model of water phantom. The relative output factor was calculated about 12 fields from 5 mm to 60 mm and then it compared with measurement data by the diode detector. The beam profiles and depth profiles were calculated about different six cones and about each depth of 1.5 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm, respectively. The results about PDD were shown the error the less than 2% which means acceptable in clinical setting. For comparison of relative output factors, the difference was less than 3% in the cones lager than 7.5 mm. However, there was the difference of 6.91% in the 5 mm cone. Although beam profiles were shown the difference less than 2% in the cones larger than 20 mm, there was the error less than 3.5% in the cones smaller than 20 mm. From results, we could demonstrate the usefulness of Geant4 as dose verification tool.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.1 s.45
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• pp.117-134
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• 1994

The effects of regional medical insurance on utilization of medical care in urban population was examined in this study. The data was collected in a 2-year follow-up household survey conducted at Taegu city before and after implementation of the regional medical insurance. The study population was divided into 2 groups. Cohort I was the uninsured in 1989 and cohort II was the insured in 1989. After the coverage of medical insurance, physician visit rate per 1,000 population, use-disability ratio and use-restricted activity ratio in cohort I were increased compared to cohort II in both of acute and chronically ill people. The use-disability ratio and use-restricted activity ratio of the insured poor were lower than those of the insured nonpoor in both of cohort I and cohort II. The major reasons for pharmacy use were accessibility and affordability before the coverage of medical insurance in cohort I, however, after the coverage of medical insurance, the important reason was accessibility rather than affordability. In logistic regression analysis of physician visit, the significant independent variables were acute illness episode (+), chronic illness episode (+) and income (+) in both of cohort I and cohort II. In cohort I, after the coverage of medical insurance, more people replied that the medical cost of hospital and clinic was reasonable. The people who covered by the regional medical insurance were more dissatisfied with the imposed premium than those who covered by other types of medical insurance in both of cohort I and cohort II. More people in cohort II than cohort I were dissatisfied with the services from hospitals and clinics after implementation of the regional medical insurance. In conclusion. after the coverage of medical insurance, the gap between the poor and the nonpoor still exists in terms of medical care utilization.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2006

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to evaluate epidemiological data of pathogens obtained from stool exams and compare them with the clinical course in pediatric patients with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. Methods : Subjects were selected from patients presenting with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis who visited the outpatient clinic or who were admitted to the Dankook University Hospital from December of 2004 to December of 2005. Stool exams for 17 pathogens was performed. RT-PCR was used to detect norovirus and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA) was used to detect rotavirus, adenovirus and astrovirus in the subjects stool samples. Ten different species of bacteria(Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Clostridium perfrigens, Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Vibrio spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Yersinia spp., and L. monocytogenes) were each selectively cultivated and enzyme immunoassays(EIA) was used to test for antigens for C. parvum, E. histolytica and G. lamblia. Retrospective chart review was performed for comparisons of clinical manifestations. Results : A total of 215 subjects was selected and of these 89 cases(41.4%) showed positive results for at least one pathogen. Male to female ratio was 1.3:1. Age distribution showed 4 cases less than one month(4.5%), 4 cases from 1~2 months(4.5%), 24 cases from 3~12 months(26.7%), 47 cases form 13~48 months(52.8%), 10 cases greater than 48 months (21.2%). Viruses showed the greatest proportion of cases with 68 subjects(77.5%), of these rotavirus being the most commonly reported in 50 cases. Bacteria was identified in 26 cases (29.2%), of these nontyphoidal salmonella was noted in 10 cases. Protozoa followed with 21 cases(23.6%), of these C. parvum was noted in 11 cases and G. lamblia was noted in 10 cases. Mixed infections with more than two pathogens were seen in 22 cases(24.7%), of these viral infection with accompanying parasitic infection was seen in 12(54.5%) cases. Conclusion : In this study we examined various pathogens known to cause acute gastroenteritis in children. Further studies for various pathogens can provide useful information for management of the acute gastroenteritis.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.22 no.1 s.25
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• pp.146-152
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• 1989

To test the validity of referral of high risk pregnancy in the MCH Center, 6,017 pregnant women who visited MCH Center of South District Health Center for delivery between 1 April 1985 and 31 March 1987 were interviewed on arrival to obtain the data for demographic characteristics and obsteric history and traced to check the delivery outcome. Out of 5,820 women whose delivery outcomes were confrmed, 704 women(12.1%) were referred to other hospital or clinic for high risk factors. The proportion of poor delivery outcome(stillbirth, low birth weight and neonatal death) among referred cases was 4.4% while that of the women delivered at the MCH Center was 2.2% (p<0.01). Decision of the midwives for the referral of high risk pregnancy based on their clinical assessment was consistent with the delivery outcome (good or poor) in 86.5%. Major reasons for referral were premature rupture of membrane(46.5%) and cephalopelvic disproportion(20.0%) and the C-section rates for these cases were 10.1%, 17.6%, respectively. Discriminant analysis of the demographic characteristics and obstertric history for the discrimination of delivery outcome showed that gestational age had the highest discriminant function coefficient(0.88) and it was followed by parity(0.37) and maternal education(0.30). Referral of high risk pregnancy by the midwives based on their clinical assessment was considered to be reasonably valid. However, a risk scoring system for an MCH Center which can improve the validity may be developed if one applies the discriminant analysis for more comprehensive independent variable(including clinical assessment of midwife, demographic characteristics and obstetric history) and dependent variable (including medically indicated C-section, complication of pregnancy and delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, neonatal death and maternal death).

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.226-232
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• 2006

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of leptin on biochemical markers of bone metabolism in childhood obesity. Methods: A total of 50 male children (25 obese and 25 controls) were recruited from the pediatric outpatient clinic at the Chosun University Hospital from November 1st 2005 to May 30th 2006. BMI, body fat percentage, serum leptin, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP), C-terminal propeptide of type 1 collagen (CICP), total deoxypyridinoline crosslinks (total DPD) were measured. The correlations of leptin with BMI, body fat percentage, B-ALP, CICP, total DPD were analyzed by Pearson's correlation. In a multiple stepwise regression analysis, leptin after correction for body weight was evaluated if there was a correlation with biochemical markers of bone formation and resorption respectively. Results: The leptin levels of the obese group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p=0.012). In the obese group, the leptin level was significantly positively correlated with the BMI (r=0.551, p=0.01) and the percentage of body fat (r=0.584, p=0.018). In the obese group, of bone markers, B-ALP (r=-0.613, p=0.026) and CICP (r=-0.583, p=0.037) were negatively correlated with leptin. B-ALP (r=-0.728, p=0.007) and CICP (r=-0.684, p=0.014) were negatively correlated with leptin when corrected for body weight. In the control group, bone markers were not correlated with leptin. In the multiple stepwise regression analyses, there was a negative correlation between the leptin and B-ALP (Y=-39.653X+356.341, p=0.026), CICP (Y=-13.437X+ 116.013, p=0.037) respectively in the obese group. Conclusion: Leptin was a significant factor in the bone formation but not in bone resorption in childhood obesity.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2006

Headache is a common disease which influences not only individually but also socially. Temporomandibular disorders(TMD) refers to pain and dysfunction within the temporomandibular joint(TMJ) and associated muscles. TMD is presented commonly, and 70% of population are found to have one or more related symptom. A number of studies have been conducted to verify the association between headache and TMD, and some authors have proposed that headache and TMD may be related. In this study, we studied the patterns of headache presented by the patients who visited the TMJ and Orofacial pain clinic. Among the patients participated in this study, tension type headache showed the highest prevalence(48.5%), followed by migraine without aura(15.0%), probable migraine(10.6%), migraine with aura(7.1%), probable tension type headache(4.8%), and other primary headaches(1.8%). The high prevalence of tension type headache may be due to the accompaniment of orofacial pain by pericranial muscle tenderness. Comparison of sex showed that the rate of migraine was higher in female than male(female to male ratio 35.8:25.3). In age analysis, the rate of migraine was high in the twenties(42.2%) and the thirties(40.0%). As the age increased, the rate of migraine decreased, and this trend was in accordance with the previous studies. The percentage of the patients who had previously received treatment was only 26.2%, and that of those who were aware of the diagnosis was merely 8.7%. Therefore, it is not common for headache patients to get treatment, however, since orofacial pain is often accompanied by headache, more systematic diagnosis as well as precise treatment would be necessary. Moreover, since TMD could induce and aggravate headache, proper evaluation and management of TMD would be essential for diagnosis and treatment of headache. In the future, more systematic and broad investigation on the influence of causative factors of TMD on headache as well as the change in headache pattern with the treatment of TMD would be required.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 1999

There have been many reports to date regarding the role of GnRH as a local regulatory factor of ovarian function as studies of human and rat ovaries revealed GnRH and its receptor. In recent studies it has been shown that GnRH directly causes apoptosis in the granulosa cells of the rat ovary, and such results leads to the suggestion that the use of GnRH agonist for more stable long term ovarian hyperstimulation in human IVF-ET programs causes granulosa cell apoptosis which may lead to follicular atresia. Therefore this study attempts to determine if granulosa-luteal cell apoptosis occurs in patients during IVF-ET programs in which GnRH agonist is employed for ovarian hyperstimulation. The quality of oocyte-cumulus complexes obtained during ovum pickup procedures were assessed morphologically and then the fertilization rate and developmental rate was determined. Apoptotic cells among the granulosa-luteal cells obtained during the same procedure were observed after staining with Hematoxylin-eosin. The fragmentation degree of DNA extracted from granulosa-luteal cells was determined and comparatively analyzed. There was no difference in the average age of the patients, the number of oocytes retrieved, and fertilization and developmental rates between the FSH/hMG group and GnRH-long group. There was also no difference in the apoptosis rate and pyknosis rate in the granulosa-luteal cells between the two groups. However, when the oocyte-cumulus complexes were morphoogically divided into the healthy group and atretic group without regard for the method of hyperstimulation, the results showed that the number of oocytes obtained averaged $11.09{\pm}8.75\;and\;10.33{\pm}4.53$ per cycle, respectively, showing no significant difference, but the fertilization rate (77.05%, 56.99%, respectively, p<0.01) and developmental rate (65.96%, 41.51%, respectively, p<0.01) was significantly increased in the healthy group when compared to the atretic group. The degree of apoptosis in the granulosa-luteal cells showed that in the healthy group it was 2.25% which was not significantly different from the atretic group (2.77%), but the pyknosis rate in the atretic group (27.81%) was significantly higher compared to the healthy group (11.35%, p<0.01). The quantity of DNA fragmentation in the FSH/hMG group was 32.22%, while in the GnRH-long group it was 34.27%, showing no significant difference. On the other hand the degree of DNA fragmentation was 39.05% and 11.83% in the healthy group and atretic group, respectively, showing significantly higher increase in the atretic group (p<0.01). The above results suggest that death of granulosa-luteal cells according to the state of the oocyte-cumulus complex is more related to pyknosis rather than apoptosis. Also, the GnRH agonist used in ovarian hyperstimulation does not seem to directly affect the apoptosis of retrieved oocytes and granulosa-luteal cells, and which is thought to be due to the suppression of the apoptogenic effect of GnRH agonist as a result of the high doses of FSH administered.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 2000

This survey was conducted to assess the utilization of health center including health sub-center and community health post and the health service demand of residents in a urban and rural unified community. Officials in Up·Myun·Dong offices visited randomly sampled 4,027 households(4.6% of total households in unified City) which included 3,337 households in urban area(4.9% of total households) and 690 households in rural area(3.7% of total households) and interviewed with heads or housewives of the households in September, 1995. There were significant differences in health-related demographic characteristics including age-sex distribution, educational level, period of residence in the community and medical insurance status of the interviewees between urban and rural areas. Of the respondents, 64.8% in urban area and 55.6% in rural replied that they had utilized the health center in the past. The most common purpose for visiting the health center was to get vaccination in urban area and to get outpatient care in rural area. The top priority health center activity that needs to be reinforced was communicable disease control and over 90% of the respondents preferred to have mobile clinic and home health care service in were also highly demanded. Eighty-six percent of the urban respondents replied that a health sub-center must be established in urban area. In the rural area, 90.3% of the respondents replied that they wanted to maintain the health sub-center and 88.3% wanted to maintain the community health post. Along with the improvement of facilities and equipments of the health center by Rural Health Service Improvement Project, new health service programs must be developed to meet the demand of the community.