• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제38권5호
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• pp.609-615
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• 2011

Purpose: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is a relatively rare tumor that originates from the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. It is generally known that this tumor easily recurs but can be successfully treated with a wide excision. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate postoperative outcomes and risk factors for recurrence in patients with dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans who were treated at a single institution for 20 years. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 35 patients who had underwent surgery between June 1992, and September 2010. The patients were assessed in terms of predilection site and size of the tumor, the incidence according to sex, discrepancy between biopsy results and histopathological diagnosis of the surgical specimen, additional treatment after recurrence, recurrence rate and the time interval to recurrence. Results: In multivariate analysis, the depth and site of the tumor were significant risk factors for tumor recurrence. The recurrence rate was significantly higher in tumors occurring in the upper extremity than those occurring in other regions ($p$=0.0348). In addition, the recurrence rate was significantly higher in tumors with involvement of the fascia and the deeper structures ($p$=0.0324, odds ratio=6, relative risk=1.588). Since dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans has strong invasiveness, its tissue involvement is difficult to evaluate accurately. Conclusion: The results of this study shows that involvement of the fascia and the deeper structures and occurrence in the upper extremity were associated with tumor recurrence. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of these risk factors to achieve better treatment outcomes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.316-322
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• 2001

Objectives : To explore the possible effect of an interaction between summertime heat waves and ozone on cardiopulmonary mortality during the 1994 heat wave in Korea. Methods : The unusually hot summer of 1994 in Korea was defined as the heat wave in this study. We examined the associations of air pollutants with daily cardiopulmonary deaths between 1991-1995, considering the product term of the heat wave and each pollutant, weather and time trends. Results : During the heat wave, while temperatures were uniformly higher than those of other summers, the within-heat-wave difference in mortality paralleled that in the regional ozone levels. In terms of the influence of the heat wave, the results of ozone were different to those of total suspended particles (TSP) and sulfur dioxide $(SO_2)$. The ozone association (relative risk (RR) : 1.036; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.018-1.054) was observed only under heat wave conditions, while the TSP (RR : 1.006, 95% CI = 0.999-1.012) and the $SO_2$ (RR = 1.018, 95% CI : 1.011-1.024) associations were found under normal weather conditions (per interquartile increase of each pollutant; results of three pollutants model). The ozone association under heat wave was attributable to the statistical interaction between the heat wave and ozone. Conclusions : These results support the possibility of a biological synergy between the heat wave and ozone, one that is not evident between the heat wave and other major pollutants like particles or $SO_2$.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.81-86
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• 2006

Background: A number of studies have reported associations between the ambient air pollution concentrations and various health outcomes. Especially, ozone is well known for primary risk factor of asthma attacks. The results of a recent study indicate that the size of the effect on health outcomes due to air pollution varied according to several conditions, including age, gender, race and the socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the associations of ozone with the childhood asthma hospitalizations as stratified by the socioeconomic status (SES) at the community level in Seoul, Korea, 2002. Methods: SES at aggregated levels was measured on the basis of average regional health-insurance rate per citizen in the area. We applied the generalized additive model to analyze the effect of ozone on asthma after controlling for the potential confounding variables that were capable of influencing the results. Results: Our analysis showed that the number of children who were hospitalized for asthma increased as the SES of the residence area decreased. The estimated relative risks of hospitalization for asthma, as stratified by the SES of the community level, were 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.25) in districts with the highest SES levels, 1.24 (95% CI=1.08-1.43) within the moderate SES levels, and 1.32 (95% CI=1.11-1.58) in the districts with the lowest SES levels. Conclusions: Our analysis showed that exposure to air pollution did not equally affect the health status of individuals. This suggests that not only the biological-sensitivity markers, but also the SES of the subjects should be considered as potentially confounding factors.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.669-688
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• 1999

The Yeongju granitoid batholith is a plutonic complex of huge area (1180km2) intruding the metamorphic rocks of the Yeongnam massif. The batholith, which is divided into fivelithofacies, consists of three separate plutons. The oldest Buseok pluton comprises four lithofacies: hornblende biotite tonalite, porphyrotoc biotite granodiorite, equigranular biotite grandiorite and biotite granite. The middle Chunyang pluton has been called as Chunyang granite that ranges in compostion from granodiorite to granite. The youngest Jangsu pluton is intrusions that has lithofacies of two mica granite. The contact between Buseok pluton and the rest two plutons shows obvious intrusive relations, but relation between the Chunyang and the Jangsu pluton is far away, so gives no indication of relative ages. Changes in nextures and micristructures, as well as in the mineral contents, take place between rock types og the plutons. only the Buseok pluton shows faliations of two type: magmatic foliation and regional mylonal foliation. K-Ar age deteminations fall into 171.7$\pm$3.2~162.3$\pm$3.1 Ma in the Buseok pluton, 153.9$\pm$2.9 Ma in the Chunyang pluton and 145.3$\pm$2.7 Ma in the jangsu Pluton. The batholith presents three separate intrusive phases which range in composition from tonalite to granite to granite. Each intrusive phase apperars to have been intruded in a pulse from an underlying, differentiating magma. The petrochemical data showthat three plutons are within the diagnostic range for continental arc orogenic tectonic setting, whereas Jangsu pluton approaches postorogenic setting. The data suggest that three plutons are calc-aclkalline series, and that temporal compositional variations change progerssively from tonalite through grandiorite to granite between the intrusive phases. so we consider that the magmas for all the phases were probably derived from a differentiation by fractional crystallization of a parental magma. The tonalite magma of the Buseok phase was tapped was tapped from a chamber deep in the crust, and then would have to rise at a rapid rate to its final level of emplacement. The tonalite magma in the chamber was gradually enolved through granodiorite magma into granite magma by fractional crystallization. The magmas of the younger phases were respectively tapped with temporal interval from a evolved magma of the chamber that rose into a shallower lever in the crust, and rose to their present level of emplacement.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.17-23
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• 1998

Dose response relationships for one of biological end-points (gene mutation) in somatic cells of Tradescantia 4430 clones were studied using neutrons coming out of a californium-252 isotopic source. And the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of neutrons in relation to X-rays in the induction of TSH pink mutations was assessed. Inflorescences were irradiated with X-ray from X-ray generator and neutrons from $^{252}Cf$ source. Irradiated cuttings were incubated with aeration in neutrient solution under the controlled condition. For more than 4 weeks after irradiation cell mutations were scored. Pink mutation frequencies were calculated from the pooled data for the peak interval (days 6 to 13 post-irradiation). Somatic cell mutations in TSH showed linear dose response relationships in the range of neutron doses available for the experiment. The RBE values estimated for neutrons in relation to X-rays were in the range 3.1 to 6.8, which were much lower than normally recognized value.

• Journal of Menopausal Medicine
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.183-187
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• 2018

Objectives: The present mini review aimed to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the beneficial and adverse effects of raloxifene in menopausal women. Methods: This study is a review of relevant publications about the effects of raloxifene on sleep disorder, depression, venous thromboembolism, the plasma concentration of lipoprotein, breast cancer, and cognitive function among menopausal women. Results: Raloxifene showed no significant effect on depression and sleep disorder. Verbal memory improved with administration of 60 mg/day of raloxifene while a mild cognitive impairment risk reduction by 33% was observed with administration of 120 mg/day of raloxifene. Raloxifene was associated with a 50% decrease in the need for prolapse surgery. The result of a meta-analysis showed a significant decline in the plasma concentration of lipoprotein in the raloxifene group compared to placebo (standardized mean difference, -0.43; 10 trials). A network meta-analysis showed that raloxifene significantly decreased the risk of breast cancer (relative risk, 0.572; 95% confidence interval, 0.327-0.881; P = 0.01). In terms of adverse effects of raloxifene, the odds ratio (OR) was observed to be 1.54 (P = 0.006), indicating 54% increase in the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) while the OR for pulmonary embolism (PE) was 1.05, suggesting a 91% increase in the risk of PE alone (P = 0.03). Conclusions: Raloxifene had no significant effect on depression and sleep disorder but decreased the concentration of lipoprotein. Raloxifene administration was associated with an increased risk of DVT and PE and a decreased risk of breast cancer and pelvic organ prolapse in postmenopausal women.

• Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.398-406
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• 2018

Background: Hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin < 3.5 g/dL) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, costs associated with hypoalbuminemia remain unknown. This study investigated the effect of serum albumin on direct treatment costs, length of stay (LOS), and readmissions for primary and revision THA and TKA patients. Methods: All adult patients at a single institution undergoing primary or revision THA or TKA between January 2014 and December 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were stratified by preoperative serum albumin level. The primary outcome was total direct costs at index hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included LOS and readmission within 30 days. Multivariable regressions were utilized to adjust for demographics and comorbidities. Results: Of 3,785 patients, 114 (3.0%) had hypoalbuminemia. After adjustment, hypoalbuminemia was associated with a 16.2% increase in costs (${\beta}=0.162$; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.112 to 0.213; p < 0.001), representing an average cost increase of $3,383 (95% CI, $2,281 to $4,485) relative to costs for serum albumin > 4.5 g/dL. The increased total costs were significantly higher in revision ($4,322, p = 0.034) than in primary ($3,446, p < 0.001) procedures. In adjusted regression, each 1.0 g/dL increase in serum albumin yielded a 6.6% reduction in costs (${\beta}=-0.066$; 95% CI, -0.090 to -0.042]; p < 0.001), for average savings of $1,282 (95% CI, $759 to $1,806) per unit albumin. Adjusted regressions demonstrated that a 1-point increase in serum albumin reduced readmissions by 53% (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.73; p = 0.001) and LOS by 0.6 days (${\beta}=-0.60$; 95% CI, -0.76 to -0.44; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Hypoalbuminemia is associated with increased total direct costs, LOS, and readmissions following primary and revision THA and TKA. Future efforts to predict and address total costs should take into consideration the patient's preoperative serum albumin levels.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• 제61권6호
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• pp.73-79
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• 2019

Continuous and tremendous data (canopy temperature and meteorological variables) are necessary to determine Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI). This study investigated the optimal monitoring time and interval of canopy temperature and meteorological variables (air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind speed) to determine CWSIs. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE) was used to quantitatively describe the accuracy of sampling method depending upon various time intervals (t=5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes) and CWSIs per every minute were used as a reference. The NSE coefficient of wind speed was 0.516 at the sampling time of 60 minutes, while the ones of other meteorological variables and canopy temperature were greater than 0.8. The pattern of daily CWSIs increased from 8:00 am, reached the maximum value at 12:00 pm, then decreased after 2:00 pm. The statistical analysis showed that the data collection at 11:40 am produced the closest CWSI value to the daily average of CWSI, which indicates that just one time of measurement could be representative throughout the day. Overall, the findings of this study contributes to the economical and convenient method of quantifying CWSIs and irrigation management.

• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.391-398
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of telomere length with breast cancer risk. We simultaneously explored the association between telomerase reverse transcriptase gene polymorphisms and telomere length. Methods: We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure relative telomere length (RTL) in genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood from 183 breast cancer cases and 191 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Results: Our results show that breast cancer patients had significantly shorter RTLs than control subjects (p<0.05). When the RTLs were categorized into tertiles, we found that the lowest RTL was significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk compared with the highest RTL (odds ratio [OR], 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40-3.90; p=0.001). Subgroup analyses indicated that risk of breast cancer was also significantly increased in the lowest RTL compared with the highest RTL in age >40 years (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.31-4.43;p=0.005), body mass index ${\leq}24kg/m^2$ (OR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.55-5.10; p=0.001), and postmenopausal women (OR, 3.94; 95% CI, 1.63-9.51; p=0.002), respectively. In addition, individuals with the AA genotype of rs2853677 have longer telomeres than those of breast cancer patients with the AG genotype (p=0.011). Conclusion: Our results suggest that shorter RTL was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. An association was found between the AA genotype of rs2853677 and longer RTLs in the case group. Functional studies are warranted to validate this association and further investigate our findings.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제52권2호
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• pp.82-91
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• 2019

Objectives: Many studies have explored the relationship between short-term weather and its health effects (including pneumonia) based on mortality, although both morbidity and mortality pose a substantial burden. In this study, the authors aimed to describe the influence of meteorological factors on the number of emergency room (ER) visits due to pneumonia in Seoul, Korea. Methods: Daily records of ER visits for pneumonia over a 6-year period (2009-2014) were collected from the National Emergency Department Information System. Corresponding meteorological data were obtained from the National Climate Data Service System. A generalized additive model was used to analyze the effects. The percent change in the relative risk of certain meteorological variables, including pneumonia temperature (defined as the change in average temperature from one day to the next), were estimated for specific age groups. Results: A total of 217 776 ER visits for pneumonia were identified. The additional risk associated with a $1^{\circ}C$ increase in pneumonia temperature above the threshold of $6^{\circ}C$ was 1.89 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37 to 2.61). Average temperature and diurnal temperature range, representing within-day temperature variance, showed protective effects of 0.07 (95% CI, 0.92 to 0.93) and 0.04 (95% CI, 0.94 to 0.98), respectively. However, in the elderly (65+ years), the effect of pneumonia temperature was inconclusive, and the directionality of the effects of average temperature and diurnal temperature range differed. Conclusions: The term 'pneumonia temperature' is valid. Pneumonia temperature was associated with an increased risk of ER visits for pneumonia, while warm average temperatures and large diurnal temperature ranges showed protective effects.