• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary quercetin on feed utilization, blood parameters, and meat quality of Korean native goats. Totally sixteen Korean native goats, 15 kg of average BW aged at 7 months, were employed in the experiment with eight replicates per treatment. One group was fed quercetin at 200 mg/kg level and the other group was fed none as control for 15 days. Dietary inclusion of quercetin did not affect feed intake, water intake, and the amount of urine and feces. Digestibilities of crude fat, NDF, and ADF for 5 days were not affected, but digestibility of crude protein was increased by the dietary inclusion of qurecetin (P<0.05). Quercetin increased rumen total VFA, propionate, and butyrate significantly (P<0.05). Acetate/propionate ratio (A/P) in the quercetin treated group was significantly higher than control. 2,2-Azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) ($ABTS^+$) reducing activity of the loin from goat fed quercetin was higher than that of control. Sensory analysis conducted at 24 hr post mortem revealed that color, texture, and overall acceptability of the loin from goat fed quercetin were significantly preferred to that of control. Feeding quercetin did not influence pH, water holding capacity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, TBARS value, and fatty acid composition of the loin significantly. In conclusion, the dietary inclusion of quercetin increased the digestibility of crude protein, rumen total VFA, propionate, butyrate, and A/P ratio. In addition the higher color and texture preference and ABTS+reducing activity of loin indicating some beneficial effect on enhancement of meat qualityin goats.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 2002

Purpose : Since the successful application of total atrio-pulmonary connection(TAPC) to patients with various types of physiologic single ventricles in 1971, post-operative survival rates have reached more than 90%. However some patients have been shown to present with late complications such as right atrial thrombosis, atrial fibrillation and protein losing enteropathy eventually leading to re-operation to control the long-term complications. The aim of this study is to review the results of total cavo-pulmonary connection(TCPC) in cases with late complications after TAPC. Methods : Between Jan. 1995 and Dec. 2000, 6 patients(5 males and 1 female) underwent cardiac catheterization $11{\pm}3$ months after conversion of previous TAPC to TCPC. We compared the hemodynamic and morphologic parameters before and after TCPC and also assessed the clinical outcomes. The indications for TAPC were tricuspid atresia in 4 cases and complex double-outlet right ventricle with single ventricle physiology in 2 cases. Results : There was no peri-operative mortality and all patients were clinically and hemodynamically improved at a mean follow-up of 11 months(range : 4 to 13). However, protein losing enteropathy recurred in 2 patients; this was were successfully treated with subcutaneous administration of heparin. Right atrial pressure before TCPC was $18.0{\pm}3.6mmHg$, but baffle pressure, corresponding to right atrial pressure decreased to $14.8{\pm}3.6mmHg$ after TCPC. The size of the pulmonary arteries did not regress after TCPC. Conclusion : The conversion of TAPC to TCPC improves clinical and hemodynamic status by decreasing the right atrial pressure and by providing a laminar cavo-pulmonary flow which enhances the effective pulmonary circulation in the so-called Fontan circulation.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 2006

Purpose: Post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMR) is known to decrease loco-regional recurrence. Adequate skin and dermal dose are achieved by adding bolus. The more difficult clinical issue is determining the necessary number of bolus treatment, given the limits of normal skin tolerance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the necessary number of bolus treatment after PMR in patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Four female breast cancer patients were included in the study. The median age was 53 years(range, $38{\sim}74$), tumor were left sided in 2 patients and right sided in 2patients. All patients were treated with postoperative radiotherapy after MRM. Radiotherapy was delivered to the chest wall (C.W) and supraclavicular lymph nodes (SCL) using 4 MV X-ray. The total dose was 50 Gy, in 2 Gy fractions (with 5 times a week). CT was peformed for treatment planning, treatment planning was peformed using $ADAC-Pinnacles^3$ (Phillips, USA) for all patients without and with bolus. Bolus treatment plans were generated using image tool (0.5 cm of thickness and 6 cm of width). Dose distribution was analyzed and the increased skin dose rate in the build-up region was computed and the skin dose using TLD-100 chips (Harshaw, USA) was measured. Results: No significant difference was found in dose distribution without and with bolus; C.W coverage was $95{\sim}100%$ of the prescribed dose in both. But, there was remarkable difference in the skin dose to the scar. The skin dose to the scar without and with bolus were $100{\sim}105%\;and\;50{\sim}75%$. The increased skin dose rates in the build-up region for Pt. 1, Pt. 2. Pt. 3 and Pt. 4 were 23.3%, 35.6%, 34.9%, and 41.7%. The results of measured skin dose using TLD-100 chips in the cases without and with bolus were 209.3 cGy and 161.1 cGy, 200 cGy and 150.2 cGy, 211.4 cGy and 160.5 cGy, 198.6 cGy and 155.5 cGy for Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, and Pt. 4. Conclusion: It was concludes through this analysis that the adequate number of bolus treatments is 50-60% of the treatment program. Further, clinical trial is needed to evaluate the benefit and toxicity associated with the use of bolus in PMR.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.434-440
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• 2009

Background: Surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) can be considered when conservative medical treatment is ineffective or contraindicated. Low weight and earlier gestational age neonates who are treated with conservative medical therapy generally showed a higher failure rate. The morbidity of surgical PDA closure in such extremely low birth weight (ELBW) neonates is also high. Here we present the early results of a new technique for approaching the PDA through a dorsal minithoracotomy. Material and Method: From March 2006 to November 2008, 24 premature neonates underwent surgical PDA closure. The procedures were performed in the newborn intensive care unit via a 2 cm long dorsal minithoracotomy with the baby in the prone position with the left hemithorax elevated 30$^{\circ}$. Bimanual cotton swab blunt dissection completed the extrapleural accesstothe PDA and then two clips were applied. Tube thoracostomy was avoided if there was no meaningful pleural laceration. Result: The infants mean gestational age was 26.5$\pm$2.1 weeks (range: 23 to 30 weeks) and the average age at operation was 11$\pm$11 days. The mean body weight at operation was 933$\pm$271 grams (range: 570 to 1,700 grams). Eight patients expired, but there was no procedure-related death. Postoperative echocardiography revealed two cases of residual shunt but none of these shunts were detected on the follow up echocardiogram that was performed on the post operative 5 and 59 days. Conclusion: We concluded that the technique described here is an effective procedure in view of the satisfactory operative exposure and the low rate of complications.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2003

Purpose: To evaluate the long term significance of the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen (Ag) as a tumor marker in uterine cervix carcinoma. Materials and Methods: The SCC antigen levels of pre-radiotherapy and serial post-radiotherapy serum were analyzed in 48 patients who received radiotherapy with histologically proven primary SCC of the uterine cervix. Results: Pre-radiotherapy SCC Ag level was high ($\geq$2 ng/ml) at 79.2$\%$. After the treatment, the SCC Ag level was significantly decreased. The SCC Ag level measured at about 3 months after radiotherapy was high at 23.0$\%$. In further follow up measurements, a rise of the SCC Ag to a high level was well associated with clinical relapse. The specificity of the elevated SCC Ag level in association with recurrent or persistent disease was 100$\%$, and the sensitivity was 85.7$\%$. In 3 of 4 lung metastasis cases, lung lesions were detected in chest PA before elevation of the SCC Ag level. The median lead time of the high SCC Ag level to clinical recurrence was 4 months. Conclusion: SCC Ag was a good tumor marker for monitoring treatment effect in patients with increased pre-treatment levels except in case of early lung metastasis. Elevation of the SCC Ag level after radiotherapy accurately predicted the treatment failure with lead time of 4 months. But, in early lung metastasis cases, the SCC level may be normal temporarily. Thus, chest PA should be checked to evaluate the presence of lung metastasis.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.95-111
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• 2004

This research sought to determine the status of the installation and operation of composting facilities of domestic public resource-making facilities and come up with corresponding improvement measures. The composting facilities were the most extensively installed of related facilities with over a 0.5 ton treated volume per day. The monthly and yearly carry-in volume of food waste were found to stand at 1,101.7 tons per day and 930.9 tons per day, thus falling short of the average planned volume of 1,270.9 tons. Many composting facilities, which were installed in areas for which factory registration were not approved, did not get approvals. Composting facilities underwent operation stoppage mainly due to faulty fermentation and crushing equipment. Mainly metals contained in food waste caused faults to the crushing equipment, thus requiring a facility designing against faults and corrosion. The initial water content was found to stand at 50-60%, thus complying with the requirement. However, since the composting food waste had an appropriate mixture of sawdust, food waste, and returned compost, it should meet the initial conditions. For fermentation facilities, the duration time for fermentation was 15 days, and post-fermentation tanks required 21 days of duration time, thus establishing the minimum criteria. However, some facilities did not meet the requirements, taking more time in decomposition, thus suggesting a need to determine the duration time according to facilities. In composting food waste, microorganism-based thermal oxidizer-operated fermentation tanks should be used to ensure an economic operation. On the contrary, 14 out of 25 survey targets heated fermentation tanks in any form. These thermal facilities contain the growth of bacteria, lowering chemical reaction in composting; thus composting facilities should be basically designed to use microorganism-based thermal oxidizers in drying water. An average daily volume of food waste and supplementary materials that was injected in producing compost was 22.8 tons. This volume produced 7.3 tons of compost per day, decreasing 68%. Properties of produced compost were analyzed by its color, absence or presence of remaining decomposition heat, and smell, to assess the quality. As a result, the composting process was not properly installed nor operated in about 50% of composting facilities. Compost should be produced to be soil-friendly.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.69-93
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• 2012

Various influence-related relationships in Social Network Services (SNS) among users, posts, and user-and-post, can be expressed using links. The current research evaluates the influence of specific users or posts by analyzing the link structure of relevant social network graphs to identify influential users. We applied the concept of mutual interactions proposed for ranking semantic web resources, rather than the voting notion of Page Rank or HITS, to blogosphere, one of the early SNS. Through many experiments with network models, where the performance and validity of each alternative approach can be analyzed, we showed the applicability and strengths of our approach. The weight tuning processes for the links of these network models enabled us to control the experiment errors form the link weight differences and compare the implementation easiness of alternatives. An additional example of how to enter the content scores of commercial or spam posts into the graph-based method is suggested on a small network model as well. This research, as a starting point of the study on identifying influential users in SNS, is distinctive from the previous researches in the following points. First, various influence-related properties that are deemed important but are disregarded, such as scraping, commenting, subscribing to RSS feeds, and trusting friends, can be considered simultaneously. Second, the framework reflects the general phenomenon where objects interacting with more influential objects increase their influence. Third, regarding the extent to which a bloggers causes other bloggers to act after him or her as the most important factor of influence, we treated sequential referencing relationships with a viewpoint from that of PageRank or HITS (Hypertext Induced Topic Selection).

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.25 no.3 s.50
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• pp.235-245
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• 1995

The purpose of this paper is to review two recently reported, long-term studies of several chemical methods to control gingivitis and decalcification in adolescent orthodontic patients. The first study(gingivitis study) was designed to determine whether conventional toothbrushing and twice daily use of a brush-on 0.4 per cent $SnF_2$ gel containing more than 90 per cent available $Sn^{2+}$ would be more effective for controlling plaque accumulation and gingivitis in the presence of orthodontic appliances than conventional toothbrushing alone. The second study(decalcification study) was designed to compare the effectiveness of controlling decalcification in orthodontic patients with either a II00 ppm F tooth paste used alone, this same toothpaste and a 0.05 percent NaF rinse or this toothpaste and a 0.4 percent $SnF_2$ gel. In the gingivitis study, sixty-five consecutively treated adolescents who were to receive full-mouth fixed orthodontic appliances were assigned to two groups according to age and sex criteria. In the decalcification study an additional 30 subjects(95 total) were similarly assigned to a third group. The first group(control, n=35) used only toothbrushing with a standard fluoride(1100 ppm F) toothpaste. The second group used toothbrushing with a similar dentifrice supplemented with a 0.4 percent $SnF_2$ gel($SnF_2$ gel group, n=30) used twice daily for the entire 18-month study period. The third group(in the decalcification study only) used a similar toothpaste and 0.05 percent NaF rinse(NgF rinse group, n=30). Clinical assessments of plaque accumulation using the Plaque Index, gingival inflammation using the Gingival Index, and coronal staining were completed single-blinded before appliances were placed and 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months after appliances were placed. Decalcification was assessed single blind on all labial surfaces of all erupted teeth before appliances were placed and 3 months after appliances were removed. The results of the gingivitis study indicated that the $SnF_2$ gel gorup had significantly lower scores for the Plaque Index(p<0.01) and Gingival Index(p<0.001) at all examinations during orthodontic treatment than did the control group. In the $SnF_2$ gel group, one subject developed mild coronal staining and two subjects developed moderate staining. In the decalcification study, when pre-treatment levels of decalcification were subtracted from post-treatment values, significantly lower decalcification scores(p<0.05) were found for both whole mouth and first molars in the NaF rinse and gel groups as compared with the control gorup(toothpaste alone). Although the gel group consistently had less decalcification than the rinse group, this difference only approached statistical significance.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 1993

Background: The Microbicidal and cytotoxic activities of neutrophils are to a large extent dependent on a burst of oxidative metabolism which generates superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and other reactive products of oxygen. The respiratory burst of PMN is initiated by intracellular calcium mobilization that follows immune or particular stimulation and is very sensitive to modulation by c-AMP or adenosine. Despite its antagonism against adenosine, earlier study has demonstrated potent theophylline inhibition of the PMN respiratory burst at variable ranges of blood concentrations of theophylline in the healthy normal volunteers and in the septic animals pretreated or early post-treated with aminophylline (AMPH) or pentoxifylline. However it is unclear whether theophylline inhibits the superoxide generation or not in the established human sepsis caused by acute pneumonia, as taking into consideration of the fact that full activation of neutrophils have occurred within minutes after the septic insult in the animal experiments. Methods: We measured the $O_2$ generation of peripheral arterial neutrophils obtained from 11 human septic subjects caused by acute pneumonia before and 1 hour after completion of continuous AMPH infusion. Patients were identified and studied within 48 hour of admission. All subjects were administered an intravenous loading and maintenance dose of AMPH. The generation of $O_2$ was measured at a discrete time point (60 min) by the reduction of ferricytochrome c.PMA (10 ${\mu}g/ml$) was used as a stimulating agent. PMNs were isolated at a concentration of $2{\times}10^6$ cells/ml. The arterial oxygen tension, blood pressure and heart rates were also checked to evaluate the systemic effects of AMPH in the acute pneumonia. Results: The mean serum concentration of AMPH at 60 minutes was $8.8{\pm}0.6{\mu}g/ml$. Sixty minutes after AMPH infusion the generatition of $O_2$ was decreased from $0.076{\pm}0.034$ to $0.013{\pm}0.004$(OD) (p<0.05) and from $0.177{\pm}0.044$ to $0.095{\pm}0.042$(OD) (p<0.01) in the resting and stimulated PMNs respectively. $PaO_2$ was not changed after AMPH infusion. Conclusion: AMPH may compromise host defense by significant inhibition of neutrophil release of superoxide anion and it had no effect on improving $PaO_2$ in the acute pneumonia.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.115-137
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• 2010

Information technology (IT) outsourcing, the use of a third-party vendor to provide IT services, started in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Korea, and has increased rapidly since 2000. Recently, firms have increased their efforts to capture greater value from IT outsourcing. To date, there have been a large number of studies on IT outsourcing. Most prior studies on IT outsourcing have focused on outsourcing practices and decisions, and little attention has been paid to objectively measuring the value of IT outsourcing. In addition, studies that examined the performance of IT outsourcing have mainly relied on anecdotal evidence or practitioners' perceptions. Our study examines the contribution of IT outsourcing to economic growth in Korean industries over the 1990 to 2007 period, using a production function framework and a panel data set for 54 industries constructed from input-output tables, fixed-capital formation tables, and employment tables. Based on the framework and estimation procedures that Han, Kauffman and Nault (2010) used to examine the economic impact of IT outsourcing in U.S. industries, we evaluate the impact of IT outsourcing on output and productivity in Korean industries. Because IT outsourcing started to grow at a significantly more rapid pace in 2000, we compare the impact of IT outsourcing in pre- and post-2000 periods. Our industry-level panel data cover a large proportion of Korean economy-54 out of 58 Korean industries. This allows us greater opportunity to assess the impacts of IT outsourcing on objective performance measures, such as output and productivity. Using IT outsourcing and IT capital as our primary independent variables, we employ an extended Cobb-Douglas production function in which both variables are treated as factor inputs. We also derive and estimate a labor productivity equation to assess the impact of our IT variables on labor productivity. We use data from seven years (1990, 1993, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007) for which both input-output tables and fixed-capital formation tables are available. Combining the input-output tables and fixed-capital formation tables resulted in 54 industries. IT outsourcing is measured as the value of computer-related services purchased by each industry in a given year. All the variables have been converted to 2000 Korean Won using GDP deflators. To calculate labor hours, we use the average work hours for each sector provided by the OECD. To effectively control for heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation present in our dataset, we use the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) procedures. Because the AR1 process may be industry-specific (i.e., panel-specific), we consider both common AR1 and panel-specific AR1 (PSAR1) processes in our estimations. We also include year dummies to control for year-specific effects common across industries, and sector dummies (as defined in the GDP deflator) to control for time-invariant sector-specific effects. Based on the full sample of 378 observations, we find that a 1% increase in IT outsourcing is associated with a 0.012~0.014% increase in gross output and a 1% increase in IT capital is associated with a 0.024~0.027% increase in gross output. To compare the contribution of IT outsourcing relative to that of IT capital, we examined gross marginal product (GMP). The average GMP of IT outsourcing was 6.423, which is substantially greater than that of IT capital at 2.093. This indicates that on average if an industry invests KRW 1 millon, it can increase its output by KRW 6.4 million. In terms of the contribution to labor productivity, we find that a 1% increase in IT outsourcing is associated with a 0.009~0.01% increase in labor productivity while a 1% increase in IT capital is associated with a 0.024~0.025% increase in labor productivity. Overall, our results indicate that IT outsourcing has made positive and economically meaningful contributions to output and productivity in Korean industries over the 1990 to 2007 period. The average GMP of IT outsourcing we report about Korean industries is 1.44 times greater than that in U.S. industries reported in Han et al. (2010). Further, we find that the contribution of IT outsourcing has been significantly greater in the 2000~2007 period during which the growth of IT outsourcing accelerated. Our study provides implication for policymakers and managers. First, our results suggest that Korean industries can capture further benefits by increasing investments in IT outsourcing. Second, our analyses and results provide a basis for managers to assess the impact of investments in IT outsourcing and IT capital in an objective and quantitative manner. Building on our study, future research should examine the impact of IT outsourcing at a more detailed industry level and the firm level.