• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 1992

From March 1979 through December 1986, 232 previously untreated patients with invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix stage IIB were treated at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital. The patients studied were staged according to the FIGO recommendations and the majority of patients were treated with external beam whole pelvis radiation and intracavitary radiation. Pretreatment parameters, including physical examination findings, blood parameters, prior medical illnesses, histology and abdomino-pelvic CT findings were studied, employing univariate and multivariate analyses to identify the potentially significant prognostic factors on locoregional control, disease free survival and overall survival. Histology, extent of parametrial involvement on physical examination and paraaortic lymph node metastasis on CT were found to have prognostic significance in the carcinoma of uterine cervix stage IIB.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2004

A number of plants from different geographical origins have been shown to possess antioxidant activity. Some of them have been developed as natural antioxidant formulations for food, cosmetic and other applications. Bangladeshi flora is a rich source of a range of plant species, many of which are medicinal plants, and have been used in the preparations of the Unani and Ayurvedic traditional medicines. There are no, or just a few, reports on any systematic screening of the extracts of Bangladeshi plants for free radical scavenging activity using DPPH assay available to date. As part of our on-going search for biological activity in Bangladeshi plants, Kadam (Anthocephalus chinensis), Goran (Ceriaps decandra), Swarnalata (Cuscuta reflexa), Gab (Diospyros peregrina), Sundari (Heritiera fomes), Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Possur (Xylocarpus mekongensis) have been selected for the assessment of their free radical scavenging activity, and studies on the contents of alkaloids, anthraqunones, flavonoids and tannins in these extracts. Most of these species have been used in traditional medicine in Bangladesh and other countries for the treatment of various illnesses ranging from common cold to cancer. All extracts, except the methanol extract of Cuscuta reflexa, displayed significant free radical scavenging activity in the DPPH assay $(RC_{50}$ values within the range of $2.75\;{\times}\;10^{-2}\;to\;4.7\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mg/mL)$. Among these extracts, the methanol extract of Xylocarpus granatum exhibited the most potent activity $(4.7\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mg/mL)$ and that of Cuscuta reflexa had the least activity $(1.64\;{\times}\;10^{-1}\;mg/mL)$. While none of these plants showed positive tests with Dragendorff's reagent, presence of low to moderate amounts of phenolic compounds, e.g. anthraquinones, flavonoids and tannins was evident in all of these plants, except for the methanolic extracts of C. reflexa and the barks of D. peregrina, which did not display any evidence for the presence of flavonoids and anthraquinones, respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.74-79
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• 2002

In addition to the well-established use of positron emission tomography (PET) in clinical oncology, novel roles for PET are rapidly emerging in the field of gene therapy. Methods for controlled gene delivery to living bodies, made available through advances in molecular biology, are currently being employed in animals for research purposes and in humans to treat diseases such as cancer. Although gene therapy is still in its early developmental stage, it is perceived that many serious illnesses could be treated successfully by the use of therapeutic gene delivery. A major challenge for the widespread use of human gene therapy is to achieve a controlled and effective delivery of foreign genes to target cells and subsequently, adequate levels of expression. As such, the availability of noninvasive imaging methods to accurately assess the location, duration, and level of transgene expression is critical for optimizing gene therapy strategies. Current endeavors to achieve this goal include methods that utilize magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging, and nuclear imaging techniques. As for PET, reporter systems that utilize genes encoding enzymes that accumulate positron labeled substrates and those transcribing surface receptors that bind specific positron labeled ligands have been successfully developed. More recent advances in this area include improved reporter gene constructs and radiotracers, introduction of potential strategies to monitor endogenous gene expression, and human pilot studies evaluating the distribution and safety of reporter PET tracers. The remarkably rapid progress occurring in gene imaging technology indicates its importance and wide range of application. As such, gene imaging is likely to become a major and exciting new area for future application of PET technology.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.112-124
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was carried out to investigate the relationships among suicidal risk, self-esteem, and spiritual well-being of high school students, and to provide basic data for developing suicide prevention programs. Method: The subjects of this study were 1.176 high school students from six academic high schools and two technical high schools in Daegu City. Data were collected from the 13th to the 25th of September 2004. The research tools were the Suicide Probability Scale developed by Go. Kim and Lee (2000), the Self-Esteem Inventory modified by Choi and Jeon (1993), and the tool of Spiritual Well-Being modified by Yoo (2002). Data were analyzed with SPSS Windows 11.0. Result: Variables that showed statistically significant difference in suicidal risk were school type, whether to have the best friends, the number of close friends, current relationship with close friends, experience of school violation, respect for the teacher, grades, financial condition, parents marital status, father's education level, mother's education level, home atmosphere, conversation with father, conversation with mother, smoking, drinking, experience of counseling for problems, whether to have physical illnesses, experience of thinking about suicide, experience of attempting suicide. Suicidal risk was in a significantly negative correlation with self-esteem and spiritual well-being. Conclusion: The researcher identified many different variables that affect the suicidal risk of high school students. Self-esteem and spiritual well-being were found to be in a significant correlation with suicidal risk. Therefore, the results of this study can be used as basic data and information for suicidal prevention programs.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.182-190
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• 2017

Background: Respiratory viruses play a significant role in the etiology of acute respiratory infections and exacerbation of chronic respiratory illnesses. This study was conducted to identify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of children with acute viral lower respiratory infections. Methods: This study investigated 1,168 children diagnosed with acute viral lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs) between January 2012 and December 2014. Specimens of respiratory viruses were collected using a nasopharyngeal swab and analyzed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and analyzed the clinical features of children hospitalized for acute lower respiratory infections. Results: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the main cause of infection in children aged <5 years, was the most commonly detected pathogen in children with bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and resulted in high proportions of children requiring oxygen treatment and intensive care unit admission. Rhinovirus was preceded by RSV as the second most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and was detected most frequently in the children aged ${\geq}6$ years. In addition, asthma was predominantly caused by rhinovirus in children aged ${\geq}6$ years, whereas croup was mostly caused by parainfluenza virus in those aged <5 years. Rhinovirus infection (p<0.001) and history of asthma (p=0.049) were identified as significant risk factors for readmission within a month. Conclusion: We identified the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of respiratory viruses in children with acute lower respiratory infections during the last 3 years. Our findings may provide useful clinical insight to comprehend the acute viral lower RTIs in children.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2002

Objectives: This study was conducted to find out risk factors related to elderly hip fracture, so that the result could provide basic data to establish prevention programs for hip fracture among the elderly. Methods: The data were collected from 199 cases hospitalized in 4 university hospitals in Pusan from January, 1996 to December, 1998, 193 healthy controls who visited elderly facilities in Pusan. The data were obtained from medical records and by using questionnaires through telephone contact or direct personal interview with the subjects or their family, and were analyzed for 2-test and multiple logistic regression. The risk factors were shown with odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Results: In univariate analysis, the odds ratio of hip fracture risk was estimated to be 1.9 for the elderly aged 75 years as compare with those aging less than 65 years; 42 for those with job as compared with those without job; 3.3 for those with more than 6 children as compared with those with one or two children. For the variables related to physical characteristics, small height (p=0.015), light weight (p=0.000), and low BMI (p=0.014) were risk factors for elderly hip fracture. Sane variables related to health, such as previous history of illness (OR=3.3.), abnormal blood pressure (OR=1.6), previous fracture history (OR=22), lower limbs weakness (OR=12.1) and gait disturbance (OR=42.6), were significantly associated with the risk of hip fracture. In multiple logistic regression, risk factors for hip fracture were age, having job, lower limb weakness and previous history of illness. The adjusted odds ratios of hip fracture risk among the elderly were age (OR=1.1), having jobs (OR=11.7), weak lower limb (OR=10.8) and previous history of illnesses (OR=3.3), respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that the plan for improving the daily living environment for the elderly systematically should be implemented to avoid the chances of fall, and that programs encouraging to practice regular exercise for physical activity and to promote health of the elderly should be developed.

• Convergence Security Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.61-68
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• 2013

Compared to the past, the number of disabled people in Korea is continuing to increase. As for the scope of the disability, it is expanding as well since it now includes all types of illnesses, car accidents, complications resulting from aging, industrial accidents and others accidents. Attempts are made in terms of applying sports game method that grafts IT technology in order to ensure that the disabled people participate continually in sports. While casting away the notion of play which was the role of a game in the past, new roles and domains were developed. In fact, serious game genre is what leads this change. Because serious game is leading the game industry fast, centered on education, sports, fitness and medical use, its market value can be considered very significant since it can be both fund and effective as it targets the disabled who cannot enjoy sports easily in reality. Accordingly, this research seeks to present the direction for the application of serious game for the disabled people by analyzing the current situation pertaining to the integrated and converged cases applied to the field of sports for the disabled when it comes to the serious game that uses contents based on the IT technology.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.7
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• pp.1141-1148
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• 2017

Generally, a thermistor made by sintering a metal oxide is widely used to measure the ambient temperature. This thermistor is widely used not only for industrial use but also for medical use because of its excellent sensitivity, durability, temperature change characteristics and low cost. In particular, the normal body temperature is 36.9 degrees relative to the armpit temperature, and it is most closely related to the circulating blood flow. Previous studies have shown that body temperature changes during biomechanical changes and body temperature changes by anomalous signs or illnesses. Therefore, in this study, we propose a Lock-In-Amp design to detect minute temperature changes of clothing and thermistor wired by a preacher as a method to regularly measure body temperature in daily life. Especially, it is designed to measure the minute resistance change of the thermistor according to body temperature change even in a low-cost microprocessor environment by using a micro-processor-based Lock-In-Amp, and a jacquard and the thermistor is arranged so as to be close to the side, so that the reference body temperature can be easily measured. The temperature was measured and stored in real time using short-range wireless communication for non - restraint temperature monitoring. A baby vest was made to verify its performance through temperature experiments for infants. The measurement of infant body temperature through the existing skin sensor or thermometer has limitations in monitoring infant body temperature for a long time without restriction. However, it can be overcome by using the embroidery fabric based micro temperature monitoring wireless monitoring device proposed in this study.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.308-319
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• 2018

Background: Some mental illnesses such as depression are known to be one of the risk factors of suicide and proper antidepressant therapy can reduce suicidal behavior. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze regional variations in antidepressant consumption and adherence, suicide rate, prevalence of suicide related mental disorders, and access to relevant healthcare services. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using National Patients Sample data compiled by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service between 2014 and 2016. We included patients who had a diagnosis record of suicide related mental disorders during the study period. Cause of death statistics and National health and medical statistics were used to identify suicide rate and distribution of healthcare service. We conducted visual analyses, chi-squared tests, independent t-tests and correlation analyses to demonstrate regional variations. Results: Between 2014 and 2016, the average prevalence of suicide related mental disorders was 5.4 per cent. Suicide rate and prevalence of suicide related mental disorders were higher in Gangwon, Chungcheong, and Jeolla (p < 0.001), and lower in Seoul (p < 0.001) than the national average. Unexpectedly, regional variations in antidepressant consumption were seen in the limited area including Daejeon, Chungnam and Gyeongnam (p < 0.05). The number of mild patient-centered clinics was associated positively with antidepressant consumption (p < 0.01) and associated negatively with suicide rate (p < 0.01). Conclusion: There were some regional variations in prevalence of suicide related mental disorders, antidepressant adherence and suicide rate. The higher level of antidepressant therapy and the lower level of suicide rates were seen in regions with easy access to mild patient-centered clinics.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.137-143
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was performed to determine the clinical features of full-term infants with hypoxemia detected by pulse oximetry and to establish the diagnosis of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of neonates who had been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit within 2 weeks of birth at Korea University Ansan Hospital between January 2013 and October 2017 (n=450). We classified these neonates based on the presence of hypoxemia at admission and investigated neonatal characteristics, initial symptoms, echocardiographic findings, and final diagnosis associated with hypoxemic diseases. Results: Of 450 term infants, 265 infants (58.9%) were identified hypoxemia by pulse oximetry at admission. The most common symptoms of them were cyanosis and tachypnea. Among them, 80.1% of infants (214/265) were diagnosed with respiratory tract disease and 8.3% of infants (22/265) had congenital heart disease. Thirteen infants (13/265, 4.9%) had CCHD and were treated with urgent surgery or transcatheter intervention within 28 days of birth. Majority of infants with respiratory tract disorder were transferred from hospital immediately after birth, but 46.1% of infants (6/13) with CCHD remained asymptomatic after birth and were admitted after 48 hours after birth. In addition, other hypoxemic illnesses were identified as neonatal infectious and neurological diseases. Conclusion: This study showed the importance of assessment in neonates with hypoxemia, including those diagnosed with CCHD. The possibility of CCHD should be considered in the differential diagnosis in neonates demonstrating hypoxemia after 48 hours of birth. A larger prospective study is needed to assess the effectiveness and outcomes of pulse oximetry for neonatal screening in Korea.