• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.149-159
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• 2016

With the success of the genome-wide association studies (GWASs), many candidate loci for complex human diseases have been reported in the GWAS catalog. Recently, many disease prediction models based on penalized regression or statistical learning methods were proposed using candidate causal variants from significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms of GWASs. However, there have been only a few systematic studies comparing existing methods. In this study, we first constructed risk prediction models, such as stepwise linear regression (SLR), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and Elastic-Net (EN), using a GWAS chip and GWAS catalog. We then compared the prediction accuracy by calculating the mean square error (MSE) value on data from the Korea Association Resource (KARE) with body mass index. Our results show that SLR provides a smaller MSE value than the other methods, while the numbers of selected variables in each model were similar.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2023

In 2021, a new chapter on the general management of glomerulonephritis (GN) was added to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO). It emphasizes the importance of early general management of GN for improving long-term kidney outcomes and prognosis. The chapter introduces the management of glomerular diseases in 18 subchapters. Here, kidney biopsy for the diagnosis and evaluation of kidney function and the management of complications, such as hypertension, infection, and thrombosis, are presented. Moreover, the adverse effects of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive therapy, which are commonly used drugs for glomerular disease, are mentioned, and a guideline for drug selection is presented. Each subtheme focused on items reflecting the interpretation of the "practice points" of the expert working group are introduced. In this review of the general treatment for GN in the KDIGO guidelines, excluding pregnancy and reproductive health, we focused on and compared various references pertaining to pediatric GN management.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.142-150
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• 2006

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is often difficult to diagnose and challenging to treat. Untreated, it is characterized by a progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance leading to right ventricular failure and death. The past decade has seen remarkable improvements in therapy, driven largely by the conduct of randomized controlled trials. Still, the selection of most appropriate therapy is complex, and requires familiarity with the disease process, evidence from treatment trials, complicated drug delivery systems, dosing regimens, side effects, and complications. We tried to provide evidence-based treatment recommendations for physicians involved in the care of these complex patients. Due to the complexity of the diagnostic evaluation required, and the treatment options available, it is strongly recommended that consideration be given to referral of patients with PAH to a specialized center.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2010

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has several advantages over conventional open surgery. Less pain, less morbidity, early recovery and better cosmetic outcomes are well-known benefits of MIS. However, indications of MIS are highly dependent on the experience of surgeon and the disease status, In the benign diseases with less surgical complexity, MIS can be performed relatively and safely. However. in advanced malignant diseases which require more complex surgical manipulation, the of patients and the principles of oncologic surgery should be considered before the selection of surgical methods, MIS would be performed more and more with aid or technologic advancement. However, long-term result with equivalent oncologic outcomes to open surgery is necessary to be one of standard surgical treatments in thoracic surgery.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.5
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• pp.181-187
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• 2013

The emergence of new therapeutic agents for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) implies that histologic subtyping and molecular predictive testing are now essential for therapeutic decisions. Histologic subtype predicts the efficacy and toxicity of some treatment agents, as do genetic alterations, which can be important predictive factors in treatment selection. Molecular markers, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement, are the best predictors of response to specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment agents. As the majority of patients with NSCLC present with unresectable disease, it is therefore crucial to optimize the use of tissue samples for diagnostic and predictive examinations, particularly for small biopsy and cytology specimens. Therefore, each institution needs to develop a diagnostic approach requiring close communication between the pulmonologist, radiologist, pathologist, and oncologist in order to preserve sufficient biopsy materials for molecular analysis as well as to ensure rapid diagnosis. Currently, personalized medicine in NSCLC is based on the histologic subtype and molecular status. This review summarizes strategies for tissue acquisition, histologic subtyping and molecular analysis for predictive testing in NSCLC.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.463-467
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• 2023

Soybean is one of the world's most widely cultivated food crops, and soybean seeds are supplied from national seed resources in Korea. However, the transmission of seed-borne diseases through infected soybean seeds is problematic. Among these diseases, soybean seed decay is caused by Diaporthe spp. Infecting the pods, and the infected seeds show rotting symptoms. Most diseased seeds are removed during the selection process; however, it is difficult to distinguish infected seeds that do not display symptoms. Hence, a sequencebased method was devised to screen Diaporthe-infected seeds. Based on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribe spacer (ITS) region of the pathogen, a primer was designed to distinguish the infection from other soybean seed pathogens. As a result of the comparison between healthy and Diaporthe-diseased seeds by using the primers, Diaporthe was detected only in the diseased seeds. Therefore, it is possible to distribute healthy soybean seeds by detecting Diaporthe-diseased seeds at the genetic level using the Diaporthe-specific primers.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.195-201
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• 2015

Antibodies are powerful defense tools against pathogens but may cause autoimmune diseases when erroneously directed toward self-antigens. Thus, antibody producing cells are carefully selected, refined, and expanded in a highly regulated microenvironment (germinal center) in the peripheral lymphoid organs. A subset of T cells termed T follicular helper cells (Tfh) play a central role in instructing B cells to form a repertoire of antibody producing cells that provide life-long supply of high affinity, pathogenspecific antibodies. Therefore, understanding how Tfh cells arise and how they facilitate B cell selection and differentiation during germinal center reaction is critical to improve vaccines and better treat autoimmune diseases. In this review, I will summarise recent findings on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Tfh generation and function with an emphasis on T cell costimulation.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2015

Vaccines are the most effective and cost-efficient method for preventing diseases caused by infectious pathogens. Despite the great success of vaccines, development of safe and strong vaccines is still required for emerging new pathogens, re-emerging old pathogens, and in order to improve the inadequate protection conferred by existing vaccines. One of the most important strategies for the development of effective new vaccines is the selection and usage of a suitable adjuvant. Immunologic adjuvants are essential for enhancing vaccine potency by improvement of the humoral and/or cell-mediated immune response to vaccine antigens. Thus, formulation of vaccines with appropriate adjuvants is an attractive approach towards eliciting protective and long-lasting immunity in humans. However, only a limited number of adjuvants is licensed for human vaccines due to concerns about safety and toxicity. We summarize current knowledge about the potential benefits of adjuvants, the characteristics of adjuvants and the mechanisms of adjuvants in human vaccines. Adjuvants have diverse modes of action and should be selected for use on the basis of the type of immune response that is desired for a particular vaccine. Better understanding of current adjuvants will help exploring new adjuvant formulations and facilitate rational design of vaccines against infectious diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.1-13
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze the medical care utilization behavior of patients to whom treatment (surgery) is recommended after they are diagnosed with abnormal findings on health screening and factors affecting the selection of the medical institute for treatment. The data was collected from 291 patients who need treatment or surgery, according to the abnormal findings on the additional examination such as cardiac CT, brain MRI, Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy since four diseases are suspected among of 2,752 people who receive health screening. The results are as follows. First, the most common disease of patients who have abnormal findings by the diagnosis through the results of first testing is colon disease based on through the additional examination. The most common disease of patients who will get treatment (surgery) based on final diagnosis by a doctor who determines the result of health screening on the basis of diagnosis from the first testing is cardiovascular disease. Second, in terms of diseases, patients with cardiovascular disease select the medical institute where they get the health screenings as a place for treatment. Patients with cerebrovascular disease select another medical institute for treatment. Finally, the affective factors of selectivity treatment facility on health screening satisfaction were human, facility, health screening and revisit factors.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.230-242
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• 2013

Objectives : DongUiBoGam is a representative medical literature in Korea. This research intends to structurally grasp how DongUiBoGam understands the human body and review the methods of acupuncture and moxibustion in the NaeGyeong chapter of it using text mining. Methods : The structure of DongUiBoGam was analyzed with specific parts of the book that described contents, major premises of understanding the human body, and processes of treatment. We analyzed characteristics of each acupoints in a relationship with causes of diseases & symptoms in the NaeGyeong chapter using a Term Frequency - Inverse Document Frequency(TFIDF). Results : Three different categories of pattern identification(PI) were formed after structural analysis of DongUiBoGam. Every causes of diseases & symptoms were transformed according to the three categories of PI. After analyzing the relationship between acupoints and causes of diseases & symptoms, 114 acupoints were visualized with TFIDF values of three PI categories. Conclusions : The selection of acupoints in NaeGyeong chapter of DongUiBoGam were linked to causes of diseases & symptoms based on the three PI categories. Through visualization of bipartite relationships between acupoints and causes of diseases & symptoms, we could easily understand characteristics of each acupoint.