• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.439-446
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• 2008

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of the left ventricular (LV) systolic function, the LV dimension and the LV mass with the QT dispersion in patients with stable angina, and we also wanted to compare this relationship between patients with and without significant coronary stenosis on coronary angiography. Material and Method: 174 patients complained of typical angina and they had no associated ST segment or cardiac enzyme abnormalities. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on the results of coronary angiography: the patients with angiographic coronary stenosis ${\geq}50%$ made up group I (n=101), and the patients with angiographic coronary stenosis <50% made up group II (n=73). An echocardiogram for assessing the LV ejection fraction (EF), the LV dimension and the LV mass and a 12.lead electrocardiogram for assessing the QT dispersion were performed before the coronary angiography. Result: The QT dispersion was significantly greater in group I than that in group II (39.8 ms vs. 33.3 ms; p<0.05). For all the patients, all the parameters of LV dimension and LV mass had statistically positive correlation to the QT dispersion, but the LV mass was the only independently significant parameter that was correlated with the increased QT dispersion (p<0.05). For group I, none of the echocardiographic parameters had significant correlation with the QT dispersion. However, the LV dimension and LV mass had significantly positive correlation with the QT dispersion, and the LV mass was also the only independently significant parameter that was correlated with increased QT dispersion in group II (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated a significantly positive correlation of the QT dispersion to the LV dimension and the LV mass in patients with stable angina. These findings are present only in patients without significant coronary stenosis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.691-701
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• 2004

Background: Tissue hypoxia is a characteristic of many human malignant neoplasms, and hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) plays a pivotal role in essential adaptive response to hypoxia, and activates a signal pathway for the expression of the hypoxia-regulated genes, resulting in increased oxygen delivery or facilitating metabolic adaptation to hypoxia. Increased level of HIF-1 a has been reported in many human malignancies, but in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the influence of HIF-1 a on tumor biology, including neovascularization, is not still defined. Material and Method: The influence of HIF-1 a expression on angiogenic factors, correlation between the tumor proliferation and HIF-1 a expression, interaction of HIF-1 a expression and p53, and correlation between HIF-1 a expression and clinicopathological prognostic parameters were investigated, using immunohistochemical stains for HIF-1 a, VEGF, CD34, p53, and Ki-67 on 77 cases of resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Result: HIF-1 a expression in cancer cells was found in 33 of 77 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cases. The 33 cases (42.9%) showed positive stain for HIF-1 a. High HIF-1 a expression was significantly associated with several pathological parameters, such as histologic grade (p=0.032), pathological TMN stage (p=0.002), the depth of tumor invasion (p=0.022), regional lymph node metastasis (p=0.002), distant metastasis (p=0.049), and lymphatic invasion (p=0.004). High HIF-1 a expression had significant VEGF immunoreactivity (p=0.008) and Ki-67 labeling index (p<0.001), but was not correlated with microvascular density within tumors (p=0.088). The high HIF-1 a expression was correlated with aberrant p53 accumulation with a marginal significance (p=0.056). The overall 5-year survival rate was 34.9%. The survival rate of patients with a high HIF-1 a expression was worse than that of patients with low-expression tumors (log-rank test, p=0.0001). High HIF-1 a expression was independent unfavorable factors although statistical significance is marginal in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: It is suggested that (1) high HIF-1 a expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is associated with tumor hypoxia, or with genetic alteration in early carcinogenesis and progressive stages, (2) high HIF-1 a expression may be associated with intratumoral neovascularization through HIF-VEGF pathway, and (3) high HIF-1 a expression is associated with poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and may playa role as biomarker for regional lymph node metastasis.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.742-753
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to investigate risk factors of pre-hypertension and hypertension in rural residents. Nine hundred and ninety four subjects aged 40-70 yrs in Chungnam-do participated in this study. The subjects (n = 824) were classified into three groups of hypertensive, pre-hypertensive, and normotensive according to the Joint National Committee (JNC)-7 criteria. The weight, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and serum total protein, albumin, BUN, and triglyceride (TG) were positively correlated with SBP and DBP. After adjusted by age, sex and BMI, the total protein, albumin and TG were significantly correlated with SBP and DBP (p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in eating habits according to the level of blood pressure. The serum albumin, creatinine, Glu-FBS, Glu-PP l20, and triglyceride were higher in both prehypertensive and hypertensive group than in the normotensive group. However, mean serum cholesterol was not different among three blood pressure groups. In this study, the common risk factors of pre-hypertension and hyper-tension were male, age of fifties, lower education level, ex-smoking, higher drinking frequency, higher BMI, body fat %, waist circumference, WHR, serum albumin and diabetes, even though the degree of risks in these variables were higher in the hypertensive group. The higher BUN was a risk factor of prehypertension, while the family history, prediabetes, serum total protein, Glu-PP l20 and higher alcohol drinking amount were the risk factors of hypertension. This result suggests that maintaining good health habit and normal range of blood parameters as well as controlling body weight have to be paid attention in order to prevent hypertention, and further reseasch on the relationship of blood pressure and BUN are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

Purpose: The goal of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the clinical findings and ultrasonographic findings of plantar fasciitis. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine symptomatic heels of 36 patients with plantar fasciitis and 21 asymptomatic heels were included. Twenty-three patients had unilateral lesions and 13 had bilateral lesions. Of these, 16 were men and 20 were women. The average age of the patients was 48.6 years. The plantar fascia thickness was measured at its insertion of the calcaneus. Qualitative parameters such as decreased echogenity, biconvexity, partial rupture and calcification of plantar fascia, and subcalcaneal spur on plain radiographs were also noted. Comparisons of ultrasonographic parameters between symptomatic heels and asymptomatic heels as well as between unilateral and bilateral groups were done. Results: There was no differences in the age, sex, body mass index, and duration of symptom between the unilateral and bilateral group. There were a statistically significant difference between the thickness of plantar fascia of unilateral group (mean 5.2 mm, SD1.5 mm) and that of bilateral group (mean 4.4 mm, SD 1.4 mm) (p=0.045). The hypoechogenity of plantar fascia and subcalcaneal spur did not differ between two groups. No fascial rupture or fascial calcification were identified. There was a statistically significant difference between the thickness of plantar fascia of symptomatic heels (mean 4.8 mm, SD1.5 mm) and that of asymptomatic heels (mean 3.1 mm, SD 0.5 mm) (p=0.000). The thickness of plantar fasia was negatively correlated with duration of symptoms (p=0.046). Conclusion: The thickness of plantar fascia in plantar fasciitis seems to be negatively correlated with the duration of symptoms, and the thickness of symptomatic heels and unilateral group was significantly thicker than that of asymptomatic heels and bilateral group, respectively.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.909-921
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• 2000

Background : Defects in apoptotic signaling pathways play important role in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis and resistance to treatment. Several proteins which may promote tumorigenesis by inhibiting apoptosis were identified. The survivin protein is the member of inhibitor of apoptosis protein(IAPs) family which inhibits apoptosis. Unlike other IAPs, it is expressed in during the fetal period but not in adult differentiated tissues. Many reports have stated that survivin is selectively expressed in many cancer cell lines and cancer tissues. We performed immunohistochemical analysis for survivin expression in non-mall cell lung cancer to get evaluate its clinical implication. Methods : Twenty nine surgically resected lung cancers were examined. Immunohistochemical staining were performed by immuno-peroxidase technique using avidin-biotinylated horseradish pemxidase complex in the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue $4{\mu}m$ section. Anti-survivin polyclonal antibody was used for primary antibody and anti-p53 monoclonal antibody was also used to analyze the correlation between survivin and p53 expression. The survivin expression scores were determined by as the sum of the stained area and intensity. Results : Immunohistochemical analysis showed cancer specific expression of survivin in 20 of 29 cases (69.0%). Western blot analysis also showed the selective survivin expression in tumor tissue. There was no correlation between survivin expression and clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. We analyzed the ∞π'elation between survivin expression and p53 expression, but found none. Conclusion: We confirmed the tumor specific expression of survival in non-small cell lung canær. But this expression was not correlated with clinical parameters as well as histology, tumor stage, recurrence, and survival rate. Also it was not statistically correlated with the expression of p53.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.243-252
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to clarify the impacts of acquisition parameters on artifacts in four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) images, such as the partial volume effect (PVE), partial projection effect (PPE), and mis-matching of initial motion phases between adjacent beds (MMimph) in cine mode scanning. A thoracic phantom and two cylindrical phantoms (2 cm diameter and heights of 0.5 cm for No.1 and 10 cm for No.2) were scanned using 4D CT. For the thoracic phantom, acquisition was started automatically in the first scan with 5 sec and 8 sec of gantry rotation, thereby allowing a different phase at the initial projection of each bed. In the second scan, the initial projection at each bed was manually synchronized with the inhalation phase to minimize the MMimph. The third scan was intentionally un-synchronized with the inhalation phase. In the cylindrical phantom scan, one bed (2 cm) and three beds (6 cm) were used for 2 and 6 sec motion periods. Measured target volume to true volume ratios (MsTrueV) were computed. The relationships among MMimph, MsTrueV, and velocity were investigated. In the thoracic phantom, shorter gantry rotation provided more precise volume and was highly correlated with velocity when MMimph was minimal. MMimph reduced the correlation. For moving cylinder No. 1, MsTrueV was correlated with velocity, but the larger MMimph for 2 sec of motion removed the correlation. The volume of No. 2 was similar to the static volume due to the small PVE, PPE, and MMimph. Smaller target velocity and faster gantry rotation resulted in a more accurate volume description. The MMimph was the main parameter weakening the correlation between MsTrueV and velocity. Without reducing the MMimph, controlling target velocity and gantry rotation will not guarantee accurate image presentation given current 4D CT technology.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.3 s.99
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• pp.152-159
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• 2002

The seasonal variations of nitrifying bacterial population sampled from 3 sites in Moon-Chon reservoir were analyzed by in situ hybridization with fluorescently labeled rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes from August 2000 until July 2001. In addition, physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, chi-a and DOC were measured to determine correlations between those factors and the size of nitrifying bacterial populations. Total bacterial numbers varied in the range of $0.8{\sim}1.5{\times}10^6\;cells/ml$ independent of sites and had the maximal values in March at all 3 stations. The ratio of eubacteria to total bacteria ranged from 44.9% to 79.5%, and the ratio of each nitrifying bacteria to eubacterial numbers reached only $1.0{\sim}7.4%$. The variations of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria ranged from $1.1{\times}10^4$ to $3.0{\times}10^4\;cells/ml$ without noticeable peak values whereas those of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria varied in $1.3{\sim}5.7{\times}10^4\;cells/ml$ with the increasing tendency in winter regardless of the sites. Moreover it was observed that the numbers of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria were higher than those of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Total bacterial numbers correlated with water temperature (r = 0.355, p<0.05) and DOC (r = 0.58G, p<0.01) positively whereas nitrite-oxidizing bacteria correlated with temperature (r = -0.416, p<0.05) and pH (r = -0.568, p = 0.001) negatively. In addition, DOC represented good correlations with eubacterial numbers (r = 0.448, p<0.01). These results indicate that temperature, DOC and pH might be one of the main factors affecting variations of bacterial populations in the aquatic ecosystem. It was also suggested that FISH method is a useful tool for detection of slow growing nitrifying bacteria.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.297-306
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• 2023

Saemangeum Lake is the largest artificial lake in Korea. The continuous deterioration of lake water quality necessitates the introduction of novel water quality management strategies. Therefore, this study aims to identify the spatiotemporal water quality characteristics of Saemangeum Lake using data from the National Water Quality Measurement Network and provide basic information for water quality management. In the water quality parameters of Saemangeum Lake, water temperature and total phosphorous content were correlated, and salt, total nitrogen content, pH, and chemical oxygen demand were significantly correlated. Other parameters showed a low correlation. The spatial principal component analysis of Saemangeum Lake showed the characteristics of its four zones. The mid-to-downstream section of the river affected by freshwater inflow showed a high nutrient salt concentration, and the deep-water section of the drainage gate and the lake affected by seawater showed a high salt concentration. Two types of water qualities were observed in the intermediate water area where river water and outer sea water were mixed: waters with relatively low salt and high chemical oxygen demand, and waters with relatively low salt and high pH concentration. In the principal component analysis by time, the water quality was divided into four groups based on the observation month. Group I occurred during May and June in late spring and early summer, Group II was in early spring (March-April) and late autumn (November-December), Group III was in winter (January-February), and Group IV was in summer (July-October) during high temperatures. The water quality characteristics of Saemangeum Lake were found to be affected by the inflow of the upper Mangyeong and Dongjin rivers, and the seawater through the Garuk and Shinshi gates installed in the Saemangeum Embankment. In order to achieve the target water quality of Saemangeum Lake, it is necessary to establish water quality management measures for Saemangeum Lake along with pollution source management measures in the upper basin.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2017

Objectives: A supine sleep position increases sleep apneas compared to non-supine positions in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). However, supine position time (SPT) is not highly associated with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in OSAS. We evaluated the correlation among sleep-related variables and SPT in OSAS. Methods: A total of 365 men with OSAS were enrolled in this study. We analyzed how SPT was correlated with demographic data, sleep structure-related variables, OSAS-related variables and heart rate variability (HRV). Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the factors that affected SPT. Results: SPT had the most significant correlation with total sleep time (TST ; r = 0.443, p < 0.001), followed by sleep efficiency (SE ; r = 0.300, p < 0.001). Snoring time (r = 0.238, p < 0.001), time at < 90% SpO2 (r = 0.188, p < 0.001), apnea-hypopnea index (AHI ; r = 0.180, p = 0.001) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI ; r = 0.149, p = 0.004) were significantly correlated with SPT. Multiple regression analysis revealed that TST (t = 7.781, p < 0.001), snoring time (t = 3.794, p < 0.001), AHI (t = 3.768, p < 0.001) and NN50 count (t = 1.993, p = 0.047) were associated with SPT. Conclusion: SPT was more highly associated with sleep structure-related parameters than OSAS-related variables. SPT was correlated with TST, SE, AHI, snoring time and NN50 count. This suggests that SPT is likely to be determined by sleep structure, HRV and the severity of OSAS.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.433-445
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• 2019

This study was designed to develop simple tools to easily and efficiently predict the occurrence of algal bloom in agricultural lakes. Physicochemical water quality parameters were examined to reflect the phytoplankton productivity in 182 samples collected from 15 agricultural lakes from April to October 2018. Total phytoplankton abundance was significantly correlated with chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) (r=0.666) and Secchi depth (SD) (r= -0.351). The abundances of cyanobacteria and harmful cyanobacteria were also correlated with Chl-a (r=0.664, r=0.353) and SD (r= -0.340, r= -0.338), respectively, but not with total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The Chl-a concentration was correlated with SD (r= -0.434), showing a higher similarity than phytoplankton abundance. Therefore, Chl-a and SD were selected as diagnostic factors for algal bloom prediction, instead of analyzing the standing crop of harmful cyanobacteria used in algae alarm systems. Specifically, accurate diagnoses were made using realtime SD measurements. The algal bloom diagnostic tool is an inverse cone-shaped container with an algal bloom diagnosis chart that modified SD and turbidity measurement methods. Lake water was collected to observe the number of rings visible in the container or the number indicated in each ring, depending on the degree of algal bloom,and to determine the final stage of algal blooming by comparison to the colorimetric level on the diagnosis chart. For an accurate diagnosis, we presented 4-step diagnostic criteria based on the concentration of Chl-a and the number of rings and a fan-shaped algal bloom diagnosis chart with Hexa code names. This tool eliminated the variables and errors of previous methods and the results were easily interpreted. This study is expected to facilitate the diagnosis of algal bloom in agricultural lakes and the establishment of an efficient algal bloom management plan.