• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.53-60
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• 2016

Purpose: To develop a technique for quantifying the $^{13}C$-metabolites by performing frequency-selective hyperpolarized $^{13}C$ magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in vitro which combines simple spectrally-selective excitation with spectrally interleaved acquisition. Methods: Numerical simulations were performed with varying noise level and $K_p$ values to compare the quantification accuracies of the proposed and the conventional methods. For in vitro experiments, a spectrally-selective excitation scheme was enabled by narrow-band radiofrequency (RF) excitation pulse implemented into a free-induction decay chemical shift imaging (FIDCSI) sequence. Experiments with LDH / NADH enzyme mixture were performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed acquisition method. Also, a modified two-site exchange model was formulated for metabolism kinetics quantification with the proposed method. Results: From the simulation results, significant increase of the lactate peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) was observed. Also, the quantified $K_p$ value from the dynamic curves were more accurate in the case of the proposed acquisition method compared to the conventional non-selective excitation scheme. In vitro experiment results were in good agreement with the simulation results, also displaying increased PSNR for lactate. Fitting results using the modified two-site exchange model also showed expected results in agreement with the simulations. Conclusion: A method for accurate quantification of hyperpolarized pyruvate and the downstream product focused on in vitro experiment was described. By using a narrow-band RF excitation pulse with alternating acquisition, different resonances were selectively excited with a different flip angle for increased PSNR while the hyperpolarized magnetization of the substrate can be minimally perturbed with a low flip angle. Baseline signals from neighboring resonances can be effectively suppressed to accurately quantify the metabolism kinetics.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제47권6호
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• pp.317-326
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• 2014

Objectives: Elevated serum uric acid (UA) has been known to be associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, no prospective studies have examined whether serum UA levels are actually associated with the development of MetS. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the longitudinal effects of baseline serum UA levels on the development of MetS. Methods: A MetS-free cohort of 14 906 healthy Korean men, who participated in a medical check-up program in 2005, was followed until 2010. MetS was defined according to the Joint Interim Statement of the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention. Cox proportional hazards models were performed. Results: During 52 466.1 person-years of follow-up, 2428 incident cases of MetS developed between 2006 and 2010. After adjusting for multiple covariates, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident MetS for the second, the third, and the fourth quartile to the first quartile of serum UA levels were 1.09 (0.92-1.29), 1.22 (1.04-1.44), and 1.48 (1.26-1.73), respectively (p for trend <0.001). These associations were also significant in the clinically relevant subgroup analyses. Conclusions: Elevated serum UA levels were independently associated with future development of MetS in Korean men during the 5-year follow-up period.

• 한국주거학회논문집
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.133-142
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to gather baseline data to be used for improving housing environments and developing welfare policies for low-income groups by identifying the similarities and differences in housing environmental conditions and in the usages of community welfare services between the dwellers of Da-Ka-Gu rental housing and those of permanent rental apartment. This multifaceted diagnosis currently being undertaken can be utilized through the lowincome housing planning and welfare policies as the basis for future policy formulation. Self-administered questionnaires and interviews were carried out by 212 dwellers in Da-Ka-Gu rental housing (104) and permanent rental apartments (108) in the city of Gwangju from July to October of 2010. The main findings are as follows: 1. The dwellers living in both Da-Ka-Gu rental housing and permanent rental apartments are satisfied with their housing environment. Specifically, a higher satisfaction with transportation and a lower satisfaction with neighbor's inter-relationships were evident. The dwellers of Da-Ka-Gu rental housing appear to be more satisfied with community spaces and housing management than those of the permanent rental apartments, whereas the latter appear to be less satisfied with the noise of the housing complex than the former. 2. Of the community welfare service programs, a higher usage is shown for meals service, free health screenings, home repair, and after-school learning programs among all residents in the two housing types. In particular, for the residents of Da-Ka-Gu rental housing, the children's education and parent education programs are more popular, whereas for those of the permanent rental apartments, the housekeeping services and health services utilization are highest.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.227-239
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• 2020

Despite proven effectiveness and accuracy in laboratories, the existing damage assessment based on guided ultrasonic waves (GUWs) or acoustic emission (AE) confronts challenges when extended to real-world structural health monitoring (SHM) for railway tracks. Central to the concerns are the extremely complex signal appearance due to highly dispersive and multimodal wave features, restriction on transducer installations, and severe contaminations of ambient noise. It remains a critical yet unsolved problem along with recent attempts to implement SHM in bourgeoning high-speed railway (HSR). By leveraging authors' continued endeavours, an SHM framework, based on actively generated diffuse ultrasonic waves (DUWs) and a benchmark-free condition contrast algorithm, has been developed and deployed via an all-in-one SHM system. Miniaturized lead zirconate titanate (PZT) wafers are utilized to generate and acquire DUWs in long-range railway tracks. Fatigue cracks in the tracks show unique contact behaviours under different conditions of external loads and further disturb DUW propagation. By contrast DUW propagation traits, fatigue cracks in railway tracks can be characterised quantitatively and the holistic health status of the tracks can be evaluated in a real-time manner. Compared with GUW- or AE-based methods, the DUW-driven inspection philosophy exhibits immunity to ambient noise and measurement uncertainty, less dependence on baseline signals, use of significantly reduced number of transducers, and high robustness in atrocious engineering conditions. Conformance tests are performed on HSR tracks, in which the evolution of fatigue damage is monitored continuously and quantitatively, demonstrating effectiveness, adaptability, reliability and robustness of DUW-driven SHM towards HSR applications.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권14호
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• pp.5687-5690
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• 2015

Background: Factors predictive of survival have been identified in Western patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mCCRCC) treated with sunitinib. Less is known, however, about factors predictive of survival in Japanese patients. This study evaluated factors prognostic of survival in Japanese patients with mCCRCC treated with first-line sunitinib. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 46 consecutive Japanese mCCRCC patients treated with sunitinib as first line therapy. Clinical and biochemical markers associated with progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed, with prognostic factors selected by uniand multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: Univariate analysis showed that factors significantly associated with poor PFS included Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center poor risk scores, International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium poor risk and high (>0.5 mg/dl) serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations (p<0.001 each). Multivariate analysis showed that high serum CRP was independently associated with poorer PFS (p=0.040). Six month disease control rate (complete response, partial response and stable disease) in response to sunitinib was significantly higher in patients with normal (${\leq}0.5mg/dl$) than elevated baseline CRP (p<0.001). Conclusions: CRP is a significant independent predictor of PFS for Japanese patients with mCCRCC treated with first-line sunitinib. Pretreatment CRP concentration may be a useful biomarker predicting response to sunitinib treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.1059-1063
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• 2012

Objective: Angiogenesis represents a key element in the pathogenesis of malignancy. There are no robust data on prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapy. The present study was conducted to establish a prognostic model for patients using an oxaliplatin-based or irinotecan-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab in metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: Baseline characteristics and outcomes on 170 patients treated with FOLFIRI or XELOX plus anti-VEGF therapy-naive metastatic colorectal cancer were collected from three Turkey cancer centers. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify independent prognostic factors for OS. Results: The median OS for the whole cohort was 19 months (95% CI, 14.3 to 23.6 months). Three of the seven adverse prognostic factors according to the Anatolian Society of Medical Oncology (ASMO) were independent predictors of short survival: serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) greater than the upper limit of normal (ULN; p<0.001); neutrophils greater than the ULN (p<0.0014); and progression free survival (PFS) less than 6 months (p =0.001). Conclusion: Serum LDH and neutrophil levels were the main prognostic factors in predicting survival, followed by PFS. This model validates incorporation of components of the ASMO model into patient care and clinical trials that use VEGF-targeting agents.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.3255-3261
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• 2013

Background: The efficacy of erlotinib is controversial in patients with unknown EGFR mutational status. The aim of this study was to identify the clinicopathological factors that are predictive of erlotinob treatment outcomes for NSCLC patients with unknown EGFR mutational status. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 109 patients with advanced NSCLC who had previously failed at least one line of chemotherapy and received subsequent treatment with erlotinib (150 mg/day orally) was performed. A Cox proportional hazard model for univariate and multivariate analyses was used to identify the baseline clinical parameters correlating with treatment outcome, expressed in terms of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals. Results: The median treatment duration was 15 weeks (range, 4-184). The disease control rate was 55%, including disease stability for ${\geq}3$ months for 40% of the patients. Median progression-free survival and median overall survival (OS) were 4.2 and 8.5 months, respectively. The Cox model indicated that an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) ${\geq}2$ (HR 3.82; p<0.001), presence of intra-abdominal metastasis (HR 3.42; p=0.002), 2 or more prior chemotherapy regimens (HR 2.29; p=0.021), and weight loss >5% (HR 2.05; p=0.034) were independent adverse prognostic factors for OS in NSCLC patients treated with erlotinib. Conclusions: This study suggests that NSCLC patients should be enrolled in erlotinib treatment after a first round of unsuccessful chemotherapy to improve treatment success, during which they should be monitored for intra-abdominal metastasis and weight loss.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.499-505
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• 1990

The seasonal availability and abundance of the free-living stages of sheep nematodes is a key factor in the occurrence and severity of parasitic infection, and studies of larvae ecology could result in more rational control measures. In the present study seasonal pasture contamination and availability of nematodes for grazing sheep was examined as a baseline work for nematode control program at Namwon Branch, National Animal Breeding Institute during the period April 1988 through March 1989. Standard meteorological measurements were available from Unbong Sub-station, Honam Crops Experiment Station located about 200m from the experimental site. A total of 5 kinds of nematode larvae was detected: Haemonchus contortus was most prevalent (38.0%) with a decreasing order of Ostertagia spp (35.1%), Trichostrongylus spp (19.8%), nematodirus spp (6.6%), and Oesophagostomum spp (0.5%). A succession of species was recorded, in particular Ostertagia spp in May; Haemonchus contortus in June and July; Trichostrongylus spp in July and August; Nematodirus spp in August and September. These results can be incorporated into the nematode control program. To make a more rational control program, however, repeated herbage larval counts should be undertaken soil larval counts and fecal larval counts in the future.

• 대한지역사회영양학회지
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.315-323
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• 2011

There are a few studies that reported the association of sleep duration with calorie intake and energy expenditure. Using cross-sectional data from a population-based prospective study, we evaluated the association of sleep duration with indicators of obesity including body mass index and waist circumference, calorie intake and its proportion of macronutrients, and physical activity. The study subjects were 4,226 male and female adults, who were aged 40 to 69 years and were free of diagnosed cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia at baseline. Robust regression analysis was used to analyze associations. The study found that sleep duration is inversely associated with waist circumference, calorie intake, and percent of calories from fat intake and is positively associated with percent of calories from carbohydrate intake and physical activity. The inverse association between sleep duration and waist circumference was stronger among men than among women. The inverse association between sleep duration and calorie intake was stronger among women than among men and such association was also stronger among obese persons than those with a normal body mass index. The positive association between sleep duration and physical activity was strongly demonstrated regardless of sex or obesity. Physical activity is positively associated with sleep duration independent of potential confounding factors including age, sex, income, occupation, marital status, education, smoking status, waist circumference, calorie and macronutrient intake, and alcohol intake.

• 한국식생활문화학회지
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.785-792
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• 2019

This study examined the changes in the protein and mineral composition of Gryllus bimaculatus fermented with Bacillus substilis and the mycelia of Basidiomycetes. Normal Gryllus bimaculatus (S) and experimental group data obtained after an inoculation of Bacillus substilis (SC) (KACC 19623), Pleurotus eryngii (SP) and Cordyceps millitaris (SC) were compared. The crude protein content of the Gryllus bimaculatus (control) was 75.48%, but it decreased to 64.55, 54.32, and 63.53% after fermentation with SB, SP and SC, respectively (p<0.05). An analysis of the organic elements showed that the contents of the carbon and nitrogen sources were also reduced after fermentation, and the most significant decrease was observed after fermentation with SP. In SDS-PAGE, a 120 kDa and a 48 kDa protein of Gryllus bimaculatus were found. On the other hand, protein bands faded after fermentation with SP and SC, respectively. Moreover, no visible band was observed after fermentation with SB. According to amino acid analysis, the total free amino acid content increased 3.84 and 1.74 times after fermentation with SB and SP, respectively, compared to the corresponding baseline data. In contrast, it decreased by 0.52 times after fermentation with SC. Among the essential amino acids found in crickets fermented with SB, the valine and isoleucine content was 3.57 and 2.64 times higher, respectively, than the recommended daily amount of essential amino acids.