• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.176-185
• /
• 2023

Facebow transfer is essential for accurately mounting a dental cast onto a semi-adjustable articulator. The precision of traditional analog facebow transfer is influenced by both the accuracy of the equipment used and the skill level of the operator. Considering that substantial positional deviations can adversely affect the quality of a fabricated dental prosthesis; it is critical to assess the positional accuracy of casts mounted using analog facebow transfer. This case report evaluates the linear and angular deviations of the occlusal plane for maxillary casts mounted through both analog facebow transfer and cone-beam computed tomography-based methods. The findings indicate that analog facebow transfer produced a linear deviation ranging from 3 to 16 mm and an angular deviation of the occlusal plane between 5 to 7 degrees. This case report confirms that, across two patients, analog facebow transfer can result in varying degrees of positional deviation, thereby potentially leading to inaccuracies in the fabrication of dental prostheses. These results suggest that, in clinical practice, the use of analog facebow transfer may yield significant deviations during the process of mounting maxillary casts.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.3361-3394
• /
• 1974

The purpose of this thesis is to disclose some characteristics of water consumption in relation to the quantities of dry matters through the growing period for two statured varieties of paddy rice which are a tall statured variety and a short one, including the water consumption during seedling period, and to find out the various coefficients of evapotranspiration that are applicable for the water use of an expected yield of the two varieties. PAL-TAL, a tall statured variety, and TONG-lL, a short statured variety were chosen for this investigation. Experiments were performed in two consecutive periods, a seedling period and a paddy field period, In the investigation of seedling period, rectangular galvanized iron evapotranspirometers (91cm${\times}$85cm${\times}$65cm) were set up in a way of two levels (PAL-TAL and TONG-lL varieties) with two replications. A standard fertilization method was applied to all plots. In the experiment of paddy field period, evapotanspiration and evaporation were measured separately. For PAL-TAL variety, the evapotranspiration measurements of 43 plots of rectangular galvanized iron evapotranspirometer (91cm${\times}$85cm${\times}$65cm) and the evaporation measurements of 25 plots of rectangular galvanized iron evaporimeter (91cm${\times}$85cm${\times}$15cm) have been taken for seven years (1966 through 1972), and for TONG-IL variety, the evapotranspiration measurements of 19 plots and the evaporation measurements of 12 plots have been collected for two years (1971 through 1972) with five different fertilization levels. The results obtained from this investigation are summarized as follows: 1. Seedling period 1) The pan evaporation and evapotranspiration during seedling period were proved to have a highly significant correlation to solar radiation, sun shine hours and relative humidity. But they had no significant correlation to average temperature, wind velocity and atmospheric pressure, and were appeared to be negatively correlative to average temperature and wind velocity, and positively correlative to the atmospheric pressure, in a certain period. There was the highest significant correlation between the evapotranspiration and the pan evaporation, beyond all other meteorological factors considered. 2) The evapotranpiration and its coefficient for PAL-TAL variety were 194.5mm and 0.94∼1.21(1.05 in average) respectively, while those for TONG-lL variety were 182.8mm and 0.90∼1.10(0.99 in average) respectively. This indicates that the evapotranspiration for TONG-IL variety was 6.2% less than that for PAL-TAL variety during a seedling period. 3) The evapotranspiration ratio (the ratio of the evapotranspiration to the weight of dry matters) during the seedling period was 599 in average for PAL-TAL variety and 643 for TONG-IL variety. Therefore the ratio for TONG-IL was larger by 44 than that for PAL-TAL variety. 4) The K-values of Blaney and Criddle formula for PAL-TAL variety were 0.78∼1.06 (0.92 in average) and for TONG-lL variety 0.75∼0.97 (0.86 in average). 5) The evapotranspiration coefficient and the K-value of B1aney and Criddle formular for both PAL-TAL and TONG-lL varieties showed a tendency to be increasing, but the evapotranspiration ratio decreasing, with the increase in the weight of dry matters. 2. Paddy field period 1) Correlation between the pan evaporation and the meteorological factors and that between the evapotranspiration and the meteorological factors during paddy field period were almost same as that in case of the seedling period (Ref. to table IV-4 and table IV-5). 2) The plant height, in the same level of the weight of dry matters, for PAL-TAL variety was much larger than that for TONG-IL variety, and also the number of tillers per hill for PAL-TAL variety showed a trend to be larger than that for TONG-IL variety from about 40 days after transplanting. 3) Although there was a tendency that peak of leaf-area-index for TONG-IL variety was a little retarded than that for PAL-TAL variety, it appeared about 60∼80 days after transplanting. The peaks of the evapotranspiration coefficient and the weight of dry matters at each growth stage were overlapped at about the same time and especially in the later stage of growth, the leaf-area-index, the evapotranspiration coefficient and the weight of dry matters for TONG-IL variety showed a tendency to be larger then those for PAL-TAL variety. 4) The evaporation coefficient at each growth stage for TONG-IL and PAL-TALvarieties was decreased and increased with the increase and decrease in the leaf-area-index, and the evaporation coefficient of TONG-IL variety had a little larger value than that of PAL-TAL variety. 5) Meteorological factors (especially pan evaporation) had a considerable influence to the evapotranspiration, the evaporation and the transpiration. Under the same meteorological conditions, the evapotranspiration (ET) showed a increasing logarithmic function of the weight of dry matters (x), while the evaporation (EV) a decreasing logarithmic function of the weight of dry matters; 800kg/10a x 2000kg/10a, ET=al+bl logl0x (bl>0) EV=a2+b2 log10x (a2>0 b2<0) At the base of the weight of total dry matters, the evapotranspiration and the evaporation for TONG-IL variety were larger as much as 0.3∼2.5% and 7.5∼8.3% respectively than those of PAL-TAL variety, while the transpiration for PAL-TAL variety was larger as much as 1.9∼2.4% than that for TONG-IL variety on the contrary. At the base of the weight of rough rices the evapotranspiration and the transpiration for TONG-IL variety were less as much as 3.5% and 8.l∼16.9% respectively than those for PAL-TAL variety and the evaporation for TONG-IL was much larger by 11.6∼14.8% than that for PAL-TAL variety. 6) The evapotranspiration coefficient, the evaporation coefficient and the transpiration coefficient and the transpiration coefficient were affected by the weight of dry matters much more than by the meteorological conditions. The evapotranspiratioa coefficient (ETC) and the evaporation coefficient (EVC) can be related to the weight of dry matters (x) by the following equations: 800kg/10a x 2000kg/10a, ETC=a3+b3 logl0x (b3>0) EVC=a4+b4 log10x (a4>0, b4>0) At the base of the weights of dry matters, 800kg/10a∼2000kg/10a, the evapotranspiration coefficients for TONG-IL variety were 0.968∼1.474 and those for PAL-TAL variety, 0.939∼1.470, the evaporation coefficients for TONG-IL variety were 0.504∼0.331 and those for PAL-TAL variety, 0.469∼0.308, and the transpiration coefficients for TONG-IL variety were 0.464∼1.143 and those for PAL-TAL variety, 0.470∼1.162. 7) The evapotranspiration ratio, the evaporation ratio (the ratio of the evaporation to the weight of dry matters) and the transpiration ratio were highly affected by the meteorological conditions. And under the same meteorological condition, both the evapotranspiration ratio (ETR) and the evaporation ratio (EVR) showed to be a decreasing logarithmic function of the weight of dry matters (x) as follows: 800kg/10a x 2000kg/10a, ETR=a5+b5 logl0x (a5>0, b5<0) EVR=a6+b6 log10x (a6>0 b6<0) In comparison between TONG-IL and PAL-TAL varieties, at the base of the pan evaporation of 343mm and the weight of dry matters of 800∼2000kg/10a, the evapotranspiration ratios for TONG-IL variety were 413∼247, while those for PAL-TAL variety, 404∼250, the evaporation ratios for TONG-IL variety were 197∼38 while those for PAL-TAL variety, 182∼34, and the transpiration ratios for TONG-IL variety were 216∼209 while those for PAL-TAL variety, 222∼216 (Ref. to table IV-23, table IV-25 and table IV-26) 8) The accumulative values of evapotranspiration intensity and transpiration intensity for both PAL-TAL and TONG-IL varieties were almost constant in every climatic year without the affection of the weight of dry matters. Furthermore the evapotranspiration intensity appeared to have more stable at each growth stage. The peaks of the evapotranspiration intensity and transpiration intensity, for both TONG-IL and PAL-TAL varieties, appeared about 60∼70 days after transplanting, and the peak value of the former was 128.8${\pm}$0.7, for TONG-IL variety while that for PAL-TAL variety, 122.8${\pm}$0.3, and the peak value of the latter was 152.2${\pm}$1.0 for TONG-IL variety while that for PAL-TAL variety, 152.7${\pm}$1.9 (Ref.to table IV-27 and table IV-28) 9) The K-value in Blaney & Criddle formula was changed considerably by the meteorological condition (pan evaporation) and related to be a increasing logarithmic function of the weight of dry matters (x) for both PAL-TAL and TONG-L varieties as follows; 800kg/10a x 2000kg/10a, K=a7+b7 logl0x (b7>0) The K-value for TONG-IL variety was a little larger than that for PAL-TAL variety. 10) The peak values of the evapotranspiration coefficient and k-value at each growth stage for both TONG-IL and PAL-TAL varieties showed up about 60∼70 days after transplanting. The peak values of the former at the base of the weights of total dry matters, 800∼2000kg/10a, were 1.14∼1.82 for TONG-IL variety and 1.12∼1.80, for PAL-TAL variety, and at the base of the weights of rough rices, 400∼1000 kg/10a, were 1.11∼1.79 for TONG-IL variety and 1.17∼1.85 for PAL-TAL variety. The peak values of the latter, at the base of the weights of total dry matters, 800∼2000kg/10a, were 0.83∼1.39 for TONG-IL variety and 0.86∼1.36 for PAL-TAL variety and at the base of the weights of rough rices, 400∼1000kg/10a, 0.85∼1.38 for TONG-IL variety and 0.87∼1.40 for PAL-TAL variety (Ref. to table IV-18 and table IV-32) 11) The reasonable and practicable methods that are applicable for calculating the evapotranspiration of paddy rice in our country are to be followed the following priority a) Using the evapotranspiration coefficients based on an expected yield (Ref. to table IV-13 and table IV-18 or Fig. IV-13). b) Making use of the combination method of seasonal evapotranspiration coefficient and evapotranspiration intensity (Ref. to table IV-13 and table IV-27) c) Adopting the combination method of evapotranspiration ratio and evapotranspiration intensity, under the conditions of paddy field having a higher level of expected yield (Ref. to table IV-23 and table IV-27). d) Applying the k-values calculated by Blaney-Criddle formula. only within the limits of the drought year having the pan evaporation of about 450mm during paddy field period as the design year (Ref. to table IV-32 or Fig. IV-22).

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.39-46
• /
• 1971

Since ${\beta}-aminoethylphosphonic$ acid was discovered in the living organism, the biosynthesis and biological function of aminophosphonic acids have been extensively studied. The purpose of this project consists in the two parts: 1)the preparation of DL-1-amino-2-phenylethylphosphonic acid (Phenylalanine aminophosphonic acid) and DL-1-amino-3-methylbutyl-phosphonic acid (Isoleucine aminophosphonic acid) by the method of Chamber and Isbell. 2) the study of metabolism and biological functions of those synthetic materials by the animal experiment (white rats) The importance of this project proved to be the first experience fed by animals for the elucidation of biochemical and metabolic functions in the animal body. The following organic synthesis of DL-1-amino-3-methylbutylphosphonic acid and DL-1-amino-2-phenylethylphosphonic acid are studied. 1)Synthesis of DL-1-amino-3-methylbutylphosphonic acid a) Synthesis of Iso-butylbromide b) Synthesis of Ethyl iso-butylmalonate c) Synthesis of Iso-caproic acid d) Synthesis of $Ethyl-{\alpha}-bromo$ iso-caproate e) Synthesis of $Triethyl-{\alpha}-phosphono$ iso-caproate f) Synthesis of DL-1-amino-3-methylbutylphosphonic acid 2)Synthesis of DL-1-amino-2-phenylethylphosphonic acid a) Synthesis of Diethyl phosphite b) Synthesis of Ethylchloro acetate c) Synthesis of Triethyl phospho acetate d) Synthesis of Triethyl benzyl phospho acetate e) Synthesis of DL-1-amino-2-phenylethylphosphonic acid The synthetic compounds; DL-1-amino-3-methylbutylphosphonic acid and DL-1-amino-2-phenyl ethylphosphonic acid which are essential amino acid (isoleucine, phenylalanine)analogue are supplemented to the animal diet at the level of 0.2% and 0.4% for isoleucine analogue and 0.35% and 0.7% for phenylalanine analogue. The plain isoleucine and phenylalanine at the same level in the diet are fercilitated as comparable groups in this study. Two sets of experience including 100 male rats were carried out for seven weeks each total 14 weeks. During this period, urine samples, and each big organs were collected for the analysis of total nitrogen, phosphorus, and glycogen contents in the individual samples by Micro Kjeldahl Fisk & Subbarow and Nelson Somogye, method. 1) The result of the project a) The yield of DL-1-amino-3-methylbutylphosphonic acid and DL-1-amino-2-phenylethylphosphonic acid showed low tendency at the level of 12.5% and 20% Melting point of those two compounds were very high and the ${\alpha}-amino$ group in the synthetic compounds showed positive reaction with ninhydrin in the violet color. b) Ail the experimental groups included in this study revealed statistically no significant difference in the organ weight, total body nitrogen retention and urinary phosphorus excretion This means isoleucine aminophosphonic acid and Phenylalanine aminophosphonic acid were utilized in the body as much as the plain amino acids, isoleucine and phenylalanine did. c) The glycogen contents in the liver of the phenylalaine aminophosphonic acid gruop showed higher statistically significant(p<0.05) in the comparision with the group of the Phenylalanine and the Standard-2. It was noteworthy that the higher glycogen content in the liver might indicate the significance in the incorporation of phenylalanine aminophosphonic acid into the intermediate of tricarboxylic acid cycle as activated state.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.45 no.9
• /
• pp.1344-1350
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of edible coating on hygroscopicity and quality characteristics of a freeze-dried Actinidia arguta snack. Freeze-dried A. arguta snacks were coated with various edible coating materials such as albumin, dextrin, and whole soy flour. There were no significant effects of coating on major quality properties such as moisture content, water activity, yield, water soluble index, water absorption index, and rehydration properties of all samples. Compared with non-coated samples, edible coated samples effectively inhibited hygroscopicity as a function of hygroscopic time. The samples coated with dextrin showed lower hygroscopicity than the other coated samples. In addition, the effects of edible coating treatment on hardness, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity measured by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity were investigated. Edible coated samples had higher hardness, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity than the non-coated samples as a function of hygroscopic time. Among edible coating materials, dextrin was the most effective coating material. Dextrin as an edible coating material for freeze-dried A. arguta snack may help to prevent hygroscopicity and extend market quality and shelf-life during storage.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.123-130
• /
• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the physicochemical quality characteristics of pork patty added with four different amount (T0:0%, T1:0.3%, T2:0.7%, T3:1.0%) of tangerine (Citrus unshiu) peel. There was no significant difference in chemical composition, cooking yield, water holding capacity, moisture retention, fat retention, hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness, VBN content, L-value. In taste, texture, juiciness and palatability, the addition of 0.3%~1.0% tangerine peel in pork patty showed no significant difference on sensory properties compared to the pork patty without tangerine peel. Total polyphenol content was highest in T3, and DPPH radical scavenging activity was highest in T2 and T3 (p<0.001). The TBARS contents decreased as tangerine peel become added (p<0.001). The pH was highest in T0, and was lowest in T3 (p<0.001). The external a-value of T2 and T3 were significantly higher than that of T0 (p<0.01). The external and internal b-value of T2 and T3 were higher than those of T0 (p<0.01). Flavor of T2 and T3 were higher than those of T0 and T1 (p<0.01). In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that an addition of tangerine peel could be utilized as an ingredient in pork patty in promotion of function of tangerine by-products.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.18-26
• /
• 2013

Shear-wave velocity ($v_s$) structures beneath two seismic stations, JJU and JJB on the flanks of the volcano Halla on Jeju island, Korea, were estimated by receiver-function inversion and H-${\kappa}$ stacking applied to 150 teleseismic events ($M_W{\geq}5.5$) recorded since 2007. $P_S$ waves converted at the Moho discontinuity does not appear clearly for northwesterly back-azimuths ($207{\sim}409^{\circ}$, average $308^{\circ}$) at station JJU and southeasterly back-azimuths ($119{\sim}207^{\circ}C$, average $163^{\circ}$) at station JJB. This may be due to a gradual velocity increase at Moho or heterogeneity within the crust. The $v_s$ models derived by inversion of receiver functions indicate a distinct low velocity layer ($v_s{\leq}3.5km/s$; LVL) within the crust and a gradual increase in $v_s$ in the depth interval of 30 to 40 km. Within the radius of 18 km beneath station JJB, the LVL occurs at depths of 14 ~ 26 km and the 'Moho' ($v_s{\geq}4.3km/s$) is at 34 km depth. Ten kilometers to the west, within the radius of 16 km beneath station JJU, both the LVL and the Moho are significantly shallower, at depths of 14 to 24 km and 30 km, respectively. H-${\kappa}$ analyses for stations JJU and JJB yield estimated crustal thickness of 29 and 33 km and $v_p/v_s$ ratios of 1.64 and 1.75, respectively. The lesser $v_p/v_s$ ratio was derived for rocks nearest to th peak of the volcano.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.99-112
• /
• 2010

Ensemble learning is a method for improving the performance of classification and prediction algorithms. It is a method for finding a highly accurateclassifier on the training set by constructing and combining an ensemble of weak classifiers, each of which needs only to be moderately accurate on the training set. Ensemble learning has received considerable attention from machine learning and artificial intelligence fields because of its remarkable performance improvement and flexible integration with the traditional learning algorithms such as decision tree (DT), neural networks (NN), and SVM, etc. In those researches, all of DT ensemble studies have demonstrated impressive improvements in the generalization behavior of DT, while NN and SVM ensemble studies have not shown remarkable performance as shown in DT ensembles. Recently, several works have reported that the performance of ensemble can be degraded where multiple classifiers of an ensemble are highly correlated with, and thereby result in multicollinearity problem, which leads to performance degradation of the ensemble. They have also proposed the differentiated learning strategies to cope with performance degradation problem. Hansen and Salamon (1990) insisted that it is necessary and sufficient for the performance enhancement of an ensemble that the ensemble should contain diverse classifiers. Breiman (1996) explored that ensemble learning can increase the performance of unstable learning algorithms, but does not show remarkable performance improvement on stable learning algorithms. Unstable learning algorithms such as decision tree learners are sensitive to the change of the training data, and thus small changes in the training data can yield large changes in the generated classifiers. Therefore, ensemble with unstable learning algorithms can guarantee some diversity among the classifiers. To the contrary, stable learning algorithms such as NN and SVM generate similar classifiers in spite of small changes of the training data, and thus the correlation among the resulting classifiers is very high. This high correlation results in multicollinearity problem, which leads to performance degradation of the ensemble. Kim,s work (2009) showedthe performance comparison in bankruptcy prediction on Korea firms using tradition prediction algorithms such as NN, DT, and SVM. It reports that stable learning algorithms such as NN and SVM have higher predictability than the unstable DT. Meanwhile, with respect to their ensemble learning, DT ensemble shows the more improved performance than NN and SVM ensemble. Further analysis with variance inflation factor (VIF) analysis empirically proves that performance degradation of ensemble is due to multicollinearity problem. It also proposes that optimization of ensemble is needed to cope with such a problem. This paper proposes a hybrid system for coverage optimization of NN ensemble (CO-NN) in order to improve the performance of NN ensemble. Coverage optimization is a technique of choosing a sub-ensemble from an original ensemble to guarantee the diversity of classifiers in coverage optimization process. CO-NN uses GA which has been widely used for various optimization problems to deal with the coverage optimization problem. The GA chromosomes for the coverage optimization are encoded into binary strings, each bit of which indicates individual classifier. The fitness function is defined as maximization of error reduction and a constraint of variance inflation factor (VIF), which is one of the generally used methods to measure multicollinearity, is added to insure the diversity of classifiers by removing high correlation among the classifiers. We use Microsoft Excel and the GAs software package called Evolver. Experiments on company failure prediction have shown that CO-NN is effectively applied in the stable performance enhancement of NNensembles through the choice of classifiers by considering the correlations of the ensemble. The classifiers which have the potential multicollinearity problem are removed by the coverage optimization process of CO-NN and thereby CO-NN has shown higher performance than a single NN classifier and NN ensemble at 1% significance level, and DT ensemble at 5% significance level. However, there remain further research issues. First, decision optimization process to find optimal combination function should be considered in further research. Secondly, various learning strategies to deal with data noise should be introduced in more advanced further researches in the future.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.51-79
• /
• 1990

Research on technical efficiency, an important dimension of market performance, had received little attention until recently by most industrial organization empiricists, the reason being that traditional microeconomic theory simply assumed away any form of inefficiency in production. Recently, however, an increasing number of research efforts have been conducted to answer questions such as: To what extent do technical ineffciencies exist in the production activities of firms and plants? What are the factors accounting for the level of inefficiency found and those explaining the interindustry difference in technical inefficiency? Are there any significant international differences in the levels of technical efficiency and, if so, how can we reconcile these results with the observed pattern of international trade, etc? As the first in a series of studies on the technical efficiency of Korea's manufacturing industries, this paper attempts to answer some of these questions. Since the estimation of technical efficiency requires the use of plant-level data for each of the five-digit KSIC industries available from the Census of Manufactures, one may consture the findings of this paper as empirical evidence of technical efficiency in Korea's manufacturing industries at the most disaggregated level. We start by clarifying the relationship among the various concepts of efficiency-allocative effciency, factor-price efficiency, technical efficiency, Leibenstein's X-efficiency, and scale efficiency. It then becomes clear that unless certain ceteris paribus assumptions are satisfied, our estimates of technical inefficiency are in fact related to factor price inefficiency as well. The empirical model employed is, what is called, a stochastic frontier production function which divides the stochastic term into two different components-one with a symmetric distribution for pure white noise and the other for technical inefficiency with an asymmetric distribution. A translog production function is assumed for the functional relationship between inputs and output, and was estimated by the corrected ordinary least squares method. The second and third sample moments of the regression residuals are then used to yield estimates of four different types of measures for technical (in) efficiency. The entire range of manufacturing industries can be divided into two groups, depending on whether or not the distribution of estimated regression residuals allows a successful estimation of technical efficiency. The regression equation employing value added as the dependent variable gives a greater number of "successful" industries than the one using gross output. The correlation among estimates of the different measures of efficiency appears to be high, while the estimates of efficiency based on different regression equations seem almost uncorrelated. Thus, in the subsequent analysis of the determinants of interindustry variations in technical efficiency, the choice of the regression equation in the previous stage will affect the outcome significantly.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.63 no.3
• /
• pp.261-267
• /
• 2007

Background: The causes of the pleural effusion are remained unclear in a the substantial number of patients with exudative effusions determined by an examination of the fluid obtained via thoracentesis. Among the various tools for diagnosing exudative pleural effusions, thoracoscopy has a high diagnostic yield for cancer and tuberculosis. Medical thoracoscopy can also be carried out under local anesthesia with mild sedation. The aim of this study was to determine diagnostic accuracy and safety of medical thoracoscopy. Methods: Twenty-five patients with exudative pleural effusions of an unknown cause underwent medical thoracoscopy between October 2005 and September 2006 in Konyang University Hospital. The clinical data such as age, gender, preoperative pulmonary function, amounts of pleural effusion on lateral decubitus radiography were collected. The vital signs were recorded, and arterial blood gas analyses were performed five times during medical thoracoscopy in order to evaluate the cardiopulmonary status and acid-base changes. Results: The mean age of the patients was 56.8 years (range 22-79). The mean depth of the effusion on lateral decubitus radiography (LDR) was 27.49 mm. The medical thoracoscopic pleural biopsy was diagnostic in 24 patients (96.0%), with a diagnosis of tuberculosis pleurisy in 9 patients (36%), malignant effusions in 8 patients (32%), and parapneumonic effusions in 7 patients (28%). Medical thoracoscopy failed to confirm the cause of the pleural effusion in one patient, who was diagnosed with tuberculosis by a pericardial biopsy. There were no significant changes in blood pressure, heart rate, acid-base and no major complications in all cases during medical thoracoscopy (p>0.05). Conclusions: Medical thoracoscopy is a safe method for patients with unknown pleural effusions with a relatively high diagnostic accuracy.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.141-147
• /
• 2018

This study aimed to analyze the contents of rutin, procyanidin B3, quercetin, and kaempferol, known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic effects, among the polyphenol types contained in grape pruning stem extracts (GPSE). It utilized grape stems discarded after harvest to measure the effects of GPSE on skin moisture, inhibition of skin cell proliferation, and anti-inflammatory activity on the damaged skin of HR-1 mice induced with ultraviolet B (UVB), and to verify the applicability of GPSE as a material for functional food and functional cosmetics. The polyphenol was extracted from grape pruning stems with 80% EtOH, and then the extract was used while storing at $-20^{\circ}C$, after filtering, concentrating, and freeze-drying it. The content of an active ingredient of GPSE was analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). From 53 kg of the grape pruning stem specimen, 2.34 kg of the EtOH fraction extracts were extracted to achieve a 4.42% yield ratio. Analysis of the active ingredients showed 0.28 mg/g of procyanidin B3, 12.81 mg/g of rutin, 0.51 mg/g of quercetin, and 8.24 mg/g of kaempferol. After UVB irradiation on the dermis, to confirm the degree of inhibition of collagen synthesis, we examined the protein expression of MMP-9 using immunohistochemical staining. The results of this study confirm the existence of active polyphenol types, such as rutin, kaempferol, quercetin, and procyanidin B3, in GPSE. Moreover, the study found that GPSE has anti-collagenase effects and it decreases the effects of UV damage on skin barrier function. GPSE is a functional ingredient with a potential for skin protection effects, and it has high utilization potential as an ingredient for functional cosmetics.