• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.7-14
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• 2011

This paper is intended to suggest some reference materials for future elderly housing design, especially smart home, in Korea, by reviewing the elements and applications of smart home concept for older adults in USA. Research method includes collecting materials by attending the regular SmartHome$^{(R)}$ part meeting, the navigation of related homepages, and the analysis of collected materials. Current researches in Korea look initial stage and show some general principles without practical concept & technologies of elderly facilities. SeniorSmart$^{(R)}$ Center in USA started on August 2007 with the 3 parts of SmartHOME$^{(R)}$, SmartWHEELS$^{(R)}$ and SmartBRAIN$^{(R)}$. The Center has been doing various multidisciplinary research projects but slowing down the planned processes due to national economic recession. The major researches of SmartHome$^{(R)}$ part can be summarized as follows; CS-PFP( Continuous Scale Physical Function Performance) laboratory is being in operation to help older adults and families make the difficult decision regarding the ability and safety to live independently. Three levels of necessary laboratories from uninhabited space to senior living environment were accommodated for field research. As core technologies of SmartHome$^{(R)}$, predicting & warning system of fall risk on recognizing gait signature patterns to identify any deviation from the normal patterns of the older adults, home monitoring system which will send alerts to a specified relative and/or health care professional when vital signs of the older adults will not be within normal parameters, and Mobility & Research Clinic for evaluating, treating the older adults & multidisciplinary research are under development. SmartHome$^{(R)}$ has made collaborative research agreements for field laboratory with various retirement communities and also is continuing to work for experimental software engineering with the Fraunhofer Institute, Germany.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.933-941
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• 2003

It has been suggested that green juice supplementation may have some health promoting benefits. We evaluated the effects of green juice (Angelica keiskei) consumption on parameters of lipid profiles and plasma antioxidant status in healthy male smokers. Fifty-four smokers were supplemented with 300 ml of green juice for 6 weeks while maintaining their normal diet. Blood samples were collected on week 0 and week 6 in order to evaluate plasma lipid profiles (total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol) , plasma antioxidant vitamin levels (ascorbic acid, $\alpha$ -tocopherol, ${\gamma}$ -tocopherol, $\alpha$ -carotene, $\beta$ -carotene, cryptoxanthin and lycopene) , the degree of LDL oxidation and GOT, GPT levels for liver function. Plasma ascorbic acid level remained at the same level. However, $\alpha$ -tocopherol and ${\gamma}$ -tocopherol normalized by total cholesterol (p <0.05) and $\beta$ -carotene (p <0.001) level were all significantly increased after green juice supplementation. Plasma cholesterol was reduced for 12%, LDL-cholesterol was reduced for 9.3% after green juice consumption, while plasma triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol was not changed. Oxidized LDL assessed by conjugated diene (CD) , was decreased (p < 0.0001) after green juice consumption. These results further support a role for green juice supplementation in the improvement of lipid status, prevention of lipid peroxidation, and thereby reducing risk factors of numerous diseases associated with elevated oxidative stress in smokers.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.223-227
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• 2013

Objective : Although there is no consensus on the ideal treatment of the craniocervical instability, biomechanical stabilization and bone fusion can be induced through occipito-cervical fusion (OCF). The authors conducted this study to evaluate efficacy of OCF, as well as to explore methods in reducing complications. Methods : A total of 16 cases with craniocervical instability underwent OCF since the year 2002. The mean age of the patients was 51.5 years with a mean follow-up period of 34.9 months. The subjects were compared using lateral X-ray taken before the operation, after the operation, and during last follow-up. The Nurick score was used to assess neurological function pre and postoperatively. Results : All patients showed improvements in myelopathic symptoms after the operation. The mean preoperative Nurick score was 3.1. At the end of follow-up after surgery, the mean Nurick score was 2.0. After surgery, most patients' posterior occipito-cervical angle entered the normal range as the pre operation angle decresed from 121 to 114 degree. There were three cases with complications, such as, vertebral artery injury, occipital screw failure and wound infection. In two cases with cerebral palsy, occipital screw failures occurred. But, reoperation was performed in one case. Conclusion : OCF is an effective method in treating craniocervical instability. However, the complication rate can be quite high when performing OCF in patients with cerebral palsy, rheumatoid arthritis. Much precaution should be taken when performing this procedure on high risk patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.177-186
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• 2016

When an event is occurred in a nuclear power plant (NPP), the NPP operator reports it referred by the regulation on reporting and public announcement of accidents and incidents. Some of the events do not need to be reported because they are not included in the reporting criteria of the regulation. However, it is necessary that they should be managed effectively because the accident can be occurred by the recurrence of a lot of them as precursors. Among the events not included in the reporting criteria of the regulation, near miss is the event that is not occurred but can generate a significant consequence. This can provide the cause of the event which does not result an accident. So, it is able to offer insightful knowledges to prevent higher level events about the function and process of NPP. The objective of this study is to analyze the issues of near miss events, prepare the defence against the risk, and improve the management process of NPP. To achieve it, this study performed to analyze the management structure and status of near miss events as well as the accident reporting system of the domestic and foreign regulation bodies. In case of Korea, the status was analyzed by quantitative data, licensee event reports and procedures. Based on these, we could find the causes that near miss events were not managed effectively. Then, systematic alternatives that reflected the perspective of man, technology and organization were drawn.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.3660-3669
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• 2011

Demands for systemized management of workers' safety systemically in construction sites have been increased. Industrial accidents at work places are often happened by risk factors of construction sites, and also it brings a lot of loss as the correct direction for workers about locations to work is not delivered properly. In this paper, a safety supervision system for construction sites is designed and implemented to figure out the location of workers accurately and to provide the information about the status of works and workers in real-time by personal device which is based on RFID. The system designed in this paper achieved high performance in its function and efficiency through a performance test, compared with existing analogous systems.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.98-105
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• 2009

Objective: Increased aortic and carotid arterial augmentation index (AI) is associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease. The most widely used approach for determining central arterial AI is by calculating the aortic pressure waveform from radial arterial waveforms using a transfer function. But how the change of waveform by applied pressure and the pattern of the change rely on subject's characteristics has not been recognized. In this study, we use a new method for measuring radial waveform and observe the change of waveform and the deviation of radial AI in the same position by applied pressure. Method: Forty-six non-patient volunteers (31 men and 15 women, age range 21-58 years) were enrolled for this study. Informed consent in a form approved by the institutional review board was obtained in all subjects. Blood pressure was measured on the left upper arm using an oscillometric method, radial pressure waves were recorded with the use of an improved automated tonometry device. DMP-3000(DAEYOMEDI Co., Ltd. Ansan, Korea) has robotics mechanism to scan and trace automatically. For each subject, we performed the procedure 5 times for each applied pressure level. We could thus obtain 5 different radial pulse waveforms for the same person's same position at different applied pressures. All these processes were repeated twice for test reproducibility. Result: Aortic AI, peripheral AI and radial AI were higher in women than in men (P<0.01), radial AI strongly correlated with aortic AI, and radial AI was consistently approximately 39% higher than aortic AI. Relationship between representative radial AI of DMP-3000 and peripheral AI of SphygmoCor had strongly correlation. And there were three patterns in change of pulse waveform. Conclusion: In this study, it is revealed the new device was sufficient to measure how radial AI and radial waveform from the same person at the same time change under applied pressure and it had inverse-proportion to applied pressure.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.60-70
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• 2017

Glaucoma is characterized by a slow and progressive degeneration of the optic nerve, including retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons in the optic nerve head (ONH), leading to visual impairment. Despite its high prevalence, the biological basis of glaucoma pathogenesis still is not yet fully understood, and the factors contributing to its progression are currently not well characterized. Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the only modifiable risk factor, and reduction of IOP is the standard treatment for glaucoma. However, lowering IOP itself is not always effective for preserving visual function in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. The second messenger cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) regulates numerous biological processes in the central nervous system including the retina and the optic nerve. Although recent studies revealed that cAMP generated by adenylyl cyclases (ACs) is important in regulating aqueous humor dynamics in ocular tissues, such as the ciliary body and trabecular meshwork, as well as cell death and growth in the retina and optic nerve, the functional role and significance of cAMP in glaucoma remain to be elucidated. In this review, we will discuss the functional role of cAMP in aqueous humor dynamics and IOP regulation, and review the current medications, which are related to the cAMP signaling pathway, for glaucoma treatment. Also, we will further focus on cAMP signaling in RGC growth and regeneration by soluble AC as well as ONH astrocytes by transmembrane ACs to understand its potential role in the pathogenesis of glaucoma neurodegeneration.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2017

Patients with inflammatory bone disease or cancer exhibit an increased risk of fractures and delayed bone healing. The S100A4 protein is a member of the calcium-binding S100 protein family, which is abundantly expressed in inflammatory diseases and cancers. We investigated the effects of extracellular S100A4 on osteoblasts, which are cells responsible for bone formation. Treating primary calvarial osteoblasts with recombinant S100A4 resulted in matrix mineralization reductions. The expression of osteoblast marker genes including osteocalcin and osterix was also suppressed. Interestingly, S100A4 stimulated the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-${\kappa}B$) signaling pathway in osteoblasts. More importantly, the ex vivo organ culture of mouse calvariae with recombinant S100A4 decreased the expression levels of osteocalcin, supporting the results of our in vitro experiments. This suggests that extracellular S100A4 is important for the regulation of bone formation by activating the NF-${\kappa}B$ signaling pathway in osteoblasts.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.232-239
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• 1992

Acute renal failure is a well known serious complication following open heart surgery and is associated with a significant increase in morbidity and mortality rate. From 1984 to 1990, 33 patients who had acute renal failure following cardiopulmonary bypass received renal replacement therapy. PD[Peritonial dialysis] was employed in 11 patients and CAVH[continous arteriovenous hemofiltration] was employed in 22 patients. Their age ranged from 3 months to 64 years[mean 25.5$\pm$7.8 years]. The disease entities included congenital cardiac anomaly in 18, valvular heart disease in 15 and aorta disease in 2 cases. Low cardiac output was thought as a primary cause of ARF except two redo valve cases who showed severe Aemolysis k depressed renal function preoperatively. Mean serum BUN and creatinine level at the onset renal replacement therapy were 65$\pm$8 mg/dl and 3.5$\pm$0.4 mg/dl respectively, declining only after reaching peak level 7&10 days following the onset of therapy. Overall hospital mortality was 72.7%[24/33]; 81%[9/11] in PD group and 68.2% [15/22] in CAVH group respectively. The primary cause of death was low cardiac output & hemodynamic depression in all the cases. The fatal complications included multiorgan failure in 7, disseminated intravascular coagulation and sepsis in 6, neurologic damage in 4 and mediastinitis in 3 cases. No measurable differences were observed between CAVH and PD group upon consequence of acute renal failure and disease per se. The age at operation, BUN/Cr level at the onset of bypass and highest BUN/Cr level and the consequence of low output status were regarded as important risk factors, determining outcome of ARF and success of renal replacement therapy. Thus, we concluded that althoght the prognosis is largely determined by severity of low cardiac output status and other organ complication, early institution of renal replacement therapy with other intensive supportive measures could improve salvage rate in established ARF patients following CPB.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2001

Background: Oral mucositis is a common complication of anticancer chemotherapy. The sequelae of this consist of an increased risk of infection, moderate to severe pain, compromised oral function, and bleeding. This study was performed to evaluated the effects of the He-Ne laser and the Ga-Al-As laser on oral mucositis caused by anticancer chemotherapy in pediatric patients. Methods: There were 3 cases of osteosarcoma and 6 cases of leukemia. All patients received He-Ne laser (632.8 nm wavelength, power 60 mW) application on 400-600 Hz scanning for 5-20 minutes and Ga-Al-As laser (904 nm wavelength, power 40 mW) application by fiberoptic hand piece placed in immediate proximity to the tissue without direct contact with it for 30 seconds per point for 5 days per week. During the application patients wore wavelength-specific dark glasses and were instructed to keep their eyes closed. Results: The mean number of treatments with oral intake was $4.89{\pm}0.64$. The mean number of total treatments was $9.44{\pm}2.59$. There were no significant side effects during and after the laser treatments. Conclusions: He-Ne laser and Ga-Al-As (IR) laser treatment were well tolerated and reduced the severity and duration of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in pediatric oncologic patients.