• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2006

Background: Chest wall deformities such as kyphoscoliosis, thoracoplasty, and fibrothorax cause ventilatory insufficiency that can lead to chronic respiratory failure, with recurrent fatal acute respiratory failure(ARF). This study evaluated the frequency and outcome of ARF, the physiologic status, and the long-term prognosis of these patients. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with chest wall disorders, who experienced the first requirement of ventilatory support from ARF were examined. The mortality and recurrence rate of ARF, the pulmonary functions with arterial blood gas analysis, the efficacy of home oxygen therapy, and the long-term survival rate were investigated. Results: 1) The mortality of the first ARF was 24.1%. ARF recurred more than once in 72.7% of the remaining 22 patients, and overall rate of successful weaning was 73.2%. 2) Twenty-two patients who recovered from the first ARF showed a restrictive ventilatory impairment with a mean FVC and TLC of 37.2% and 62.4 % of predicted value, respectively, and a mean $PaCO_{2}$ of 57mmHg. Among the parameters of pulmonaty functions. the FVC(p=0.01) and VC(p=0.02) showed a significant correlation with the $PaCO_{2}$ level. 3) There were no significant differences between the patients treated with conservative medical treatment only and those with additional home oxygen therapy due to significant hypoxemia in the patients with recurrent ARF and the mortality. 4) The 1, 3, 5-year survival rates were 75%, 66%, and 57%, respectively, in the 20 patients who had recovered from the first ARF, excluding the two patients managed by non-invasive nocturnal ventilatory support. Conclusion: These results suggest that active ventilatory support should be provided to patients with ARF and chest wall disorders. However, considering recurrent ARF and weak effect of home oxygen therapy, non-invasive domiciliary ventilation is recommended in those patients with these conditions to achieve a better long-term prognosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.406-416
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• 2007

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which consist of a substitution of a single nucleotide pair, are the most abundant form of genetic variations occurring with a frequency of approximately 1 per 1000 base pairs. SNPs by themselves do not cause disease but can predispose humans to disease, modify the extent or severity of the disease or influence the drug response and treatment efficacy. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), particularly those within the regulatory regions of the genes often influence the expression levels and can modify the disease. Studies examining the associations between SNP and the disease outcome have provided valuable insight into the disease etiology and potential therapeutic intervention. Traditionally, the genotyping of SNPs has been carried out using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP), which is a low throughput technique not amenable for use in large-scale SNP studies. Recently, TaqMan real-time PCR chemistry was adapted for use in allelic discrimination assays. This study validated the accuracy and utility of real-time PCR technology for SNPs genotyping Methods: The SNPs in promoter sequence (-37 and -524) of lung cancer suppressor gene, RRM1 (ribonucleotide reductase M1 subunit) with the genomic DNA samples of 89 subjects were genotyped using both real-time PCR and PCR-RFLP. Results: The discordance rates were 2.2% (2 mismatches) in -37 and 16.3% (15 mismatches) in -524. Auto-direct sequencing of all the mismatched samples(17 cases) were in accord with the genotypes read by real-time PCR. In addition, 138 genomic DNAs were genotyped using real-time PCR in a duplicate manner (two separated assays). Ninety-eight percent of the samples showed concordance between the two assays. Conclusion: Real-time PCR allelic discrimination assays are amenable to high-throughput genotyping and overcome many of the problematic features associated with PCR-RFLP.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.51-56
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• 2009

Purpose: Peritoneal recurrence has been reported to be the most common form of recurrence of gastric cancer. Peritoneal recurrence can generally be suggested by several types of image studies and also if there is evidence of ascites or Bloomer's rectal shelf. It can be confirmed by explorative laparotomy, but diagnostic laparoscopy is a good alternative method and laparoscopic surgery has also been widely used. We reviewed and analyzed the ability of diagnostic laparoscopy to detect peritoneal recurrence or carcinomatosis, and especially for gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review the 45 gastric cancer patients who were operated via diagnostic laparoscopy between 2004. 2. and 2009. 3. We analyzed the perioperative clinical characteristics and the accuracy of the diagnostic methods. Results: The study groups included 14 patients who had confirmed gastric cancer, but they suspected to have carcinomatosis, and 31 patients who had previously underwent gastric resection, but they suspected to have recurrence. The mean operation time was $44.1\pm26.9$ minutes and the mean postoperative hospital stay was $2.7\pm2.8$ days. There was one case of operation-related complication and no postoperative mortality occurred. The sensitivities for detecting peritoneal recurrence or carcinomatosis were 92.1% for diagnostic laparoscopy, 29.7% for detecting ascites and rectal shelf on the physical examination, 86.5% for abdominal computed tomography, 69.2% for PET CT and 18.8% for CEA. Conclusion: Diagnostic laparoscopy does not require a long operation time or a long hospital stay, and it showed a low complication rate in our study. It has high sensitivity for detecting peritoneal recurrence of gastric cancer. It can be an alternative diagnostic confirmative method and it is useful for deciding on further treatment.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.160-169
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• 2009

Poly-$\gamma$-glutamic acid ($\gamma$-PGA) was mixed natural flora of Bacillus subtilis, contaminated from cooked soybeans. Also, it was performed to find out the antiallergic activity by using NC/Nga mice, in vitro. The $\gamma$-PGA (PGA-HM : PGA-high molecular weight), Molecular weight 300 kDa, was decomposed and made PGA-LM (PGA-low molecular weight) which has molecular weight below 30 kDa by sonication. Therefore, it was same result between PGA-HM and PGA-LM, and reported PGA-LM as basic result. We found that PGA-LM contains antiallergic efficacy that inhibit B cells and Th2 cells activation from isolated CD4+T cells in NC/Nga atopic dermatitis model mice, and not show a cytotoxicity in the hFCs. To investigate the effects of these PGA-LM in vitro, isolation of splenic B cell and CD4+ T cells in atopic dermatitis mice were used. To elucidate the role of PGA-LM in anti-CD40+ interleukin-4 (IL-4)-mediated B-cell activation, showed that the capacity of B cells to expression IL-$1\beta$, IL-6, and TNF-$\alpha$ mRNA down-regulated, and IL-10 mRNA up-regulation by PGA-LM treatment, but it had no effect on TGF-$\beta$ expression. In addition to CD4+IFN-$\gamma$+ and CD4+CD25+foxp3+, the functions of PGA-LM in the development of the CD4+CD25+foxp3+ and CD4+IFN-$\gamma$+cells, the phenotype and functions of PGA-LM induced CD4+CD25+foxp3+, and CD4+IFN-$\gamma$+cells in CD4+T cells. These results suggested that PGA-LM could change cytokine production and generate CD4+CD25+foxp3+ Tregs in NC/Nga mice, and may be effective for immunotherapy in patients with AD.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.86-91
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• 2006

There are 3 different hypotheses on how statins may affect bones, through promoting bone formation, inhibiting bone resorption or through anti-inflammatory effect. In the 3 cross-sectional studies above, one showed increase BMD at hip and spine, one showed increase BMD only at mid-forearm and one showed that the risk reduction in fractures is not explained by the changes in BMD however, all 3 studies showed a decrease in risk of fracture associated with statins. In the 2 prospective cohort studies, one showed the use of statins was not associated with BMD at any skeletal site or decreasing the risk of fracture, and the other showed statins except pravastatin decreased in risk of vertebrate fracture but not affecting lumbar spine BMD. All of case-control studies indicated reduction in fracture risk but did not provide any data regarding BMD. 2 of the randomized, controlled studies showed no significant reduction in fracture risk as well as statins' effects on BMD. Finally, one longitudinal study showed statin use reduced fracture risk and increased BMD. Among the conflicting results shown above, even when statin use was shown to increase BMD, it does not seem to account for the reduction in fracture risk. There may be different ways that statins affect bone other than those hypotheses proposed above. Many studies seem to agree that pravastatin does not have any effect on bone. Some studies suggested that the reason statins did not achieve clinically significant increases in BMD in some studies, is due to the low affinity of statins on bone; statins are designed to act in the liver therefore their effective concentration in extrahepatic tissue is low. The limitations to those studies discussed above. Many studies did not account for the change of lifestyle while subjects' were on statins. Increases in weight bearing exercise and changes in diet might affect BMD and thus reduce risk of fractures. Mental alertness and vision acuity might prevent falls from occurring; many statin-users in the studies were young so the risk of fractures from falls would be decreased. Almost all of the studies failed exclude patients with neurological problems. During study periods, many subjects may have been started on drugs for diseases that usually occur with aging which could cause drowsiness and lead to falls. The sample sizes used in some of the trials were small and the duration of treatment and follow up might not have been long enough to see clinically relevant results.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.34 no.4 s.105
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• pp.363-370
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• 2004

Patients with fixed orthodontic appliances frequently have increased levels of plaque accumulation leading to the possibility of gingivitis or enamel decalcification. Although many methods may be helpful in reducing dental plaque formation, the optimal mechanical removal of plaque is the most important factor during orthodontic treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an electric toothbrush (with a specially designed orthodontic brush head) compared to a manual toothbrush in controlling plaque and gingivitis for patients with fixed orthodontic appliances. Oral hygiene status was measured in thirty-four patients using a plaque index, a gingival index and a bleeding index, before and four weeks after the attachment of fixed orthodontic appliances. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: electric and manual toothbrush groups. Oral hygiene instruction was given according to the type of toothbrush used. The Braun Oral-B D9511 with Braun Oral-B Ortho OD 15-1 brush head was used as the electric toothbrush while the Butler G.U.M. 124 was given as the manual toothbrush. After four md eight weeks, oral hygiene status was measured again. Through a comparison between the electric and the manual toothbrush groups, the following results were obtained. 1. All oral hygiene indices showed an increasing tendency after four weeks of fixed orthodontic appliance. 2. All indices presented a decreasing tendency four and eight weeks after oral hygiene instruction. 3. In case of the gingival index and bleeding index, the decreasing tendency did not show a statistically significant difference between the electric and the manual toothbrush groups. 4. The decreasing tendency of plaque index presented a statistically significant difference between the two groups, showing that the electric toothbrush was more effective in terms of oral hygiene. These findings suggest that an electric toothbrush is useful to orthodontic patients with fixed appliances.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.836-843
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• 1997

Background : The prevalence of Gastro-esophageal reflux(GER) in patients with asthma is estimated to be 50~60% and treatment of GER has been shown to improve asthma symptoms in Western. But GER has been known to be less common in Eastern and GER prevalence rates in asthmatics are not available in Korea. Method : We compared the prevalence rate of GER in 42 patients with asthma to that in 20 healthy normal controls and examed the efficacy of new prokinetic drug, cisapride(40mg/day, 8weeks) in patients with GER and asthma. For acid GER to be considered pathological, 24 hour esophageal pH monitoring should reveal values exceeding upper limit of 95 percentile for at least one of 6 parameter of DeMesseter's table. Result : The results showed GER was more common in patients with asthma(11/42, 26.2%) than normal controls(3/20, 15%) and asthmatics group showed a significant longer supine time pH<4(%) and total time pH<4(%), and more reflux episodes as compared with normal control group. After 4 asthmatics with GER were treated with cisapride, their asthma symtom scores, FEV1 and composite scores of pH monitoring were improved. Conclusion : GER is more common in asthmatics than in normal controls in Korea and prepulsid reduces asthma symptoms in patients with GER and asthma.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.11
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• pp.1658-1664
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• 2014

Sprout vegetables containing various types of polyphenols and flavonoids, are known to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cholesterol-lowering, and anti-obesity activities. However, there have been few reports on the anti-diabetic efficacy of sprout vegetables. Here, we investigated the anti-diabetic effects of sprout extract obtained from buckwheat, beet, rape, broccoli, kohlrabi, red young radish, and dachai, in high fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type II diabetes mellitus mice. The mice were fed a HFD (60% calories as fat) for 8 weeks prior to intraperitoneal injection with STZ (75 mg/kg). The diabetic mice were divided into four groups: standard diet (STD, 10% calories fat), HFD, HFD with sprout extract (SPE) and HFD with metformin (MET). After 4 weeks, body weight gain was much lower in both SPE and MET groups than in HFD group. In contrast, there was no difference experiment groups regarding food intake ratio. The level of fasting blood glucose was significantly lower in the SPE and MET groups compared to the HFD group. Oral glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance in the SPE and MET groups were significantly ameliorated in comparison to the HFD group. The concentrations of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol in the SPE and MET groups were remarkably reduced in comparison to the HFD group, and HDL cholesterol concentration was higher in the SPE and MET groups than in the HFD group. Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase levels were between SPE and HFD groups. The serum insulin and leptin concentrations were significantly reduced in both the SPE and MET groups compared to the HFD group. Therefore, these results indicate that sprout extract could improve insulin resistance and attenuate blood glucose level in HFD/STZ-induced type II diabetes mellitus mice. We conclude that this study may provide positive insights into sprout extract as a functional food ingredient for treatment of type II diabetes mellitus.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.397-402
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• 2013

The pharmacological efficacy of Protaetia (P.) brevitarsis larvae has been described in the Dongui Bogam. It is believed that the larvae are particularly useful for hepatic disorders. However, natural aversion has made it difficult to consume these larvae as food. Thus, we sought to make an eatable form of the larvae by establishing optimal conditions for larvae preparation. Larvae were selectively bred, sterilized, and a powder of larvae generated by freeze-drying. Afterward, the CellTiter $96^{(R)}$ AQueous Non-Radioactive Cell Proliferation Assay (MTS) with the RAW 264.7 cell line was used to validate the safety of the powder as a food ingredient. We determined that oak sawdust sterilized by water vapor for 5 minutes could be used for larvae feed, and a feeding for 3~5 days followed by a fasting for 3 days were optimal conditions for larvae preparation. In addition, sterilization of larvae at $115^{\circ}C$ and $0.9kgf/cm^3$ (to avoid contamination of pathogenic bacteria and fungi) was successfully applied in the production of edible powder from P. brevitarsis. The optimized processes established in our experiments can be used in the industrial production of P. brevitarsis as a food ingredient.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.797-808
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• 2016

The experiment of grape leafroller (Herpetogramma luctuosalis) was carried out at Okcheon area from 2007 to 2009 and 2015. The grape leafroller had been occurred at a campbell early' organic vineyard in Okcheon. It's larva was rolling the leaf of grape and ate the leaf. So the leaf of grape decreased. In organic vineyards, adult grape leafroller' generation rate per year showed the first peak in mid-June, the second peak in early -August and the third in mid-September. The larva showed the first peak in early July and the second peak in late August-early September. The grape leaf roller had three generations per year. And it took $60.9{\pm}1.09days$ from egg to adult in growth chamber (VS-91G09M-1300) which the relative humidity conditions was $60{\pm}10%$, temperature $25{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ and photoperiod 16L:8D (The egg : $12{\pm}0days$, larvae : $22.2{\pm}0.22days$, pupa : $10.6{\pm}0.75days$ and adult : $16.1{\pm}0.45days$). It was conducted to find out the effect of microbial pesticide treatments to control H. luctuosalis. The 4 microbial pesticides (Bacillus thurigiensis) were treated twice on the grape leaves in June 11 and 21 at an organic vineyard in Okcheon. On 10 days after last treatment, the control value of all microbial pesticides were more than 95%. When the dates of spraying to the grape leaves were on May 22, June 12 and July 2 each, the effects of microbial pesticide were 73.9%, 93.5% and 43.6% respectively. As a result, it was effective that Bt was sprayed to grape leaves on mid and late June for controling the H. luctuosalis in organic vineyard. And microbial pesticide Bt was thought to be useful to control the grape leafroller in organic vineyard.