• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 1999

Objectives: The aims of this study are 1) to determine if GAST is a better indicator in predicting ovarian response to COH compared with patient's age or basal FSH level and 2) to evaluate its role in detecting abnormal ovarian response. Design: Prospective study in 118 patients undergoing IVF-ET using GnRH-a short protocol during May-September 1995. Materials and Methods: After blood sampling for basal FSH and estradiol $(E_2)$ on cycle day two, 0.5ml (0.525mg) GnRH agonist ($Suprefact^{(r)}$, Hoechst) was injected subcutaneously. Serum $E_2$ was measured 24 hours later. Initial $E_2$ difference $({\Delta}E_2)$ was defined as the change in $E_2$ on day 3 over the baseline day 2 value. Sixteen patients with ovarian cyst or single ovary or incorrect blood collection time were excluded from the analysis. The patients were divided into three groups by ${\Delta}E_2$; group A (n=30):${\Delta}E_2$<40 pg/ml, group B (n=52): 40 pg/ml${\leq}{\Delta}E_2$<100 pg/ml, group C (n=20): ${\Delta}E_2{\leq}100$ pg/ml. COH was done by GnRH agonist/HMG/hCG and IVF-ET was followed. Ratio of $E_2$ on day of hCG injection over the number of ampules of gonadotropins used ($E_2hCGday$/Amp) was regarded as ovarian responsiveness. Poor ovarian response and overstimulation were defined as $E_2$ hCGday less than 600 pg/ml and greater than 5000 pg/ml, respectively. Results: Mean age $({\pm}SEM)$ in group A, B and C were $33.7{\pm}0.8^*,\;31.5{\pm}0.6\;and\;30.6{\pm}0.5^*$, respectively ($^*$: p<0.05). Mean basal FSH level of group $A(11.1{\pm}1.1mlU/ml)$ was significantly higher than those of $B(7.4{\pm}0.2mIU/ml)$ and C $(6.8{\pm}0.4mIU/ml)$ (p<0.001). Mean $E_2hCGday$ of group A was significantly lower than those of group B or C, i.e., $1402.1{\pm}187.7pg/ml,\;3153.2{\pm}240.0pg/ml,\;4078.8{\pm}306.4pg/ml$ respectively (p<0.0001). The number of ampules of gonadotropins used in group A was significantly greater than those in group B or C: $38.6{\pm}2.3,\;24.2{\pm}1.1\;and\;18.5{\pm}1.0$ (p<0.0001). The number of oocytes retrieved in group A was significantly smaller than those in group B or C: $6.4{\pm}1.1,\;15.5{\pm}1.1\;and\;18.6{\pm}1.6$, respectively (p<0.0001). By stepwise multiple regression, only ${\Delta}E_2$ showed a significant correlation (r=0.68, p<0.0001) with $E_2HCGday$/Amp, while age or basal FSH level were not significant. Likewise, only ${\Delta}E_2$ correlated significantly with the number of oocytes retrieved (r=0.57, p<0.001). All four patients whose COH was canceled due to poor ovarian response belonged to group A only (Fisher's exact test, p<0.01). Whereas none of 30 patients in group A (0%) had overstimulation, 14 patients among 72 patients (19.4%) in group B and C had overstimulation (Fisher's exact test, p<0.01). Conclusions: These data suggest that initial $E_2$ difference after GAST may be a better prognostic indicator of ovarian response to COH than age or basal FSH level. Since initial $E_2$ difference demonstrates significant association with abnormal ovarian response such as poor ovarian response necessitating cycle cancellation or overstimulation, GAST may be helpful in monitoring and consultation of patients during COH in IVF-ET cycle.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.208-218
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• 1999

Background: Lung cancer-associated hypercalcemia is one of the most disabling and life-threatening paraneoplastic disorders. Humoral hypercalcemia is responsible for most lung cancer-associated hypercalcemia. Patients with hypercalcemia are usually in the advanced stage with obvious bulky tumor and carry a poor prognosis. Materials and Methods: Total 29 patients satisfied the following criteria: histologically proven primary lung cancer, corrected calcium level ${\geq}$ 10.5 mg/dL, and symptoms which could possibly be attributed to hypercalcemia. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the various clinical aspects of hypercalcemia, in relation to cancer stage, histologic cell type, mass size, bone metastasis, performance status, and other possible characteristics. Results: Total 29 lung cancer patients with hypercalcemia were studied, and most of them had squamous cell carcinoma in their histologic finding. The incidence of hypercalcemia was significantly higher between 50 and 69 years of age, and in the advancement of cancer stage. Although serum calcium level showed positive correlation with mass size, performance status, and bone metastasis, it was not significant statistically. Altered consciousness was significantly more frequent in the patients with higher serum calcium level. There were no differences in effectiveness among therapeutic regimens. Hypercalcemia was more frequently in the later stage of disease than during the initial diagnosis of lung cancer. Most of the patients died within 1 month after development of hypercalcemia. Conclusion: We concluded that hypercalcemia in lung cancer is related to extremely poor prognosis, and may be one of the causes of death and should be treated aggressively to prevent sudden deterioration or death.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7633-7640
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• 2015

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide and it is responsible for most cases of cervical uterine cancer. Although HPV infections of the cervix do not always progress to cancer, 90% of cervical cancer cases have been found to be associated with high risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection. HPV DNA testing is widely used, along with Papanicolaou (Pap) testing, to screen for cervical abnormalities. However, there are no data on the prevalence of genotype-specific HPV infections assessed by measuring HPV E6/E7 mRNA in women representative of the Chinese population across a broad age range. Materials and Methods: In the present study, we compared the results with the CervicGen HPV RT-qDx assay, which detects 16 HR-HPV genotypes (Alpha-9: HPV 16, 31, 33, 35, 52, and 58; Alpha-7: HPV 18, 39, 45, 51, 59, and 68; and Alpha-5, 6: HPV 53, 56, 66, and 69), and the REBA HPV-ID assay, which detects 32 HPV genotypes based on the reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) for the detection of oncogenic HPV infection according to cytological diagnosis. We also investigated the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection with a total of 324 liquid-based cytology samples collected in western Shandong province, East China. Results: The overall HPV prevalences determined by HPV DNA and HPV E6/E7 mRNA assays in this study were 79.9% (259/324) and 55.6% (180/324), respectively. Although the positivity of HPV E6/E7 mRNA expression was significantly lower than HPV DNA positivity, the HPV E6/E7 mRNA assay showed greater specificity than the HPV DNA assay (88.6% vs. 48.1%) in normal cytology samples. The prevalence of Alpha-9 (HPV 16, 31, 33, 35, 52, and 58) HPV infection among these women accounted for up to 80.3% and 76.1% of the high-grade lesions detected in the HPV mRNA and DNA tests, respectively. The HR-HPV genotype distribution, based on HPV DNA and E6/E7 mRNA expression by age group in patients with cytologically confirmed lesions, was highest in women aged 40 to 49 years (35.9% for cytologically confirmed cases, Pearson correlation r value=0.993, p<0.001) for high-grade lesions. Among the oncogenic HR-HPV genotypes for all age groups, there was little difference in the distribution of HPV genotypes between the HPV DNA (HPV -16, 53, 18, 58, and 33) and HPV E6/E7 mRNA (HPV -16, 53, 33, 58, and 18) assays. HPV 16 was the most common HPV genotype among women with high-grade lesions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the HPV E6/E7 mRNA assay can be a sensitive and specific tool for the screening and investigation of cervical cancer. Furthermore, it may provide useful information regarding the necessity for early cervical cancer screenings and the development of additional effective HPV vaccines, such as one for HPV 53 and 58. Additionally, gaining knowledge of HPV distribution may also inform us about ecological changes in HPV after the vaccination.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

The hypocenter distribution of microseismic events generated by hydraulic fracturing for shale gas development provides essential information for understanding characteristics of fracture network. In this study, we evaluate how inaccurate velocity models influence the inversion results of two widely used location programs, hypoellipse and hypoDD, which are developed based on an iterative linear inversion. We assume that 98 stations are densely located inside the circle with a radius of 4 km and 5 artificial hypocenter sets (S0 ~ S4) are located from the center of the network to the south with 1 km interval. Each hypocenter set contains 25 events placed on the plane. To quantify accuracies of the inversion results, we defined 6 parameters: difference between average hypocenters of assumed and inverted locations, $d_1$; ratio of assumed and inverted areas estimated by hypocenters, r; difference between dip of the reference plane and the best fitting plane for determined hypocenters, ${\theta}$; difference between strike of the reference plane and the best fitting plane for determined hypocenters, ${\phi}$; root-mean-square distance between hypocenters and the best fitting plane, $d_2$; root-mean-square error in horizontal direction on the best fitting plane, $d_3$. Synthetic travel times are calculated for the reference model having 1D layered structure and the inaccurate velocity model for the inversion is constructed by using normal distribution with standard deviations of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 km/s, respectively, with respect to the reference model. The parameters $d_1$, r, ${\theta}$, and $d_2$ show positive correlation with the level of velocity perturbations, but the others are not sensitive to the perturbations except S4, which is located at the outer boundary of the network. In cases of S0, S1, S2, and S3, hypoellipse and hypoDD provide similar results for $d_1$. However, for other parameters, hypoDD shows much better results and errors of locations can be reduced by about several meters regardless of the level of perturbations. In light of the purpose to understand the characteristics of hydraulic fracturing, $1{\sigma}$ error of velocity structure should be under 0.2 km/s in hypoellipse and 0.3 km/s in hypoDD.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2012

Purpose : Since standard solution is the one that knows its exact concentration, the curve of the dissolution has been determined according to the amount of the solution, compared to the amount of the unknown sample. Therefore, the antigen that makes up standard materials should be made in a pure form. The configuration of the standard substance solution in the kit we use is a freeze-dried material, or made and comes as a liquid. Lyophilized reference material is used after dissolving in usually D.W. (Distilled Water), and if the antigen to use is too sensitive, reagents should be freeze-dried. Furthermore, when freeze-dried reference has to be frozen again after being dissolved, it should be kept under $-20^{\circ}C$ until the expiration date according to the reports. Since it is not expressed in the experiment if it is safe or stable to reuse the solution which was dissolved a few times, thus, this time it is tested and evaluated that the changes of the standard solution by freezing and melting several times, and its results and the effectiveness of it were compared to the solution which was kept in a fridge. Materials and Methods : Among Vitro diagnostic kits on the market made by radioimmunoassay, parathyroid hormone (PTH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), luteinizing hormone (LH) are made of freeze-dried standard solution and all composed of the same Lot.NO. These hormones melted in D.W. and were separated into three groups. In the first group, melting and freezing were repeated, and in the second group, The solution only for one time use was put into a test tube after melting and freeze it. The third group was kept in the refrigerator. This experiment has been conducted from January to February in 2012. January to 2012. PH test was employed because ph is prone to changing depending on the change of protein. Each group of the standard solution, cpm (counter per minute), and the patient relative concentration values were compared by date, and Through the correlation coefficient and Paired t-test, the significant level of each group was analyzed. Results : ACTH, PTH, LH pH values were too subtle denaturation rather than numerical changes in the protein. In addition, when the standard solution of ACTH, PTH, LH was refrigerated, after 3 days and 7 days, there was a significant difference observed between the solution being kept in a refrigerator and a freezer within a significance level. Conclusion : Standard solution should be kept in a freezer, and being kept in a fridge, it is recommended to use the solution as soon as possible.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 1994

Diffusional sampling devices offer many advantages for measuring concentration levels of industrial contaminants than the conventional pump and charcoal tubes because they are lightweight, require no power, pump or tubing. This study designed to evaluate and compare the sampling performance of passive sampler to charcoal tube from mixed organic solvent workplace with 181 organic solvent using workers working in different concentration of organic solvents. All study workers kept both devices in their breathing zone simultaneuosly in the workplaces, and the sampling analytical results were compared with those of charcoal tube. The results obtained are as follows: 1. The concentrations of toluene and xylene measured by passive sampler were slightly higher than those of charcoal tube, but there were no significant statistical differences between two methods. 2. The concentrations of MEK and cyclo-hexanone measured by passive sampler in low exposure workplace (below 0.20 of MEK TLV levels and 0.1 of cyclo-hexanone TLV levels) were about 2 times higher than that of charcoal tube sampling. While, absorption efficiency of passive sampler was reduced according to increasing concentration measurements of MEK and cyclo-hexanone in air. 3. The ratios of concentrations of toluene, xylene, MEK and cyc1o-hexanone measured by passive sampler over those measured by charcoal tube were 1.11, 1.07, 1.63 and 3.65 respectively. 4. The percentages of concentration of passive samplers within 0.75 and 1.25 of charcoal tube value as a reference value of 1.0 were 57% in toluene, 74% in xylene, 34% in MEK and 32% in cyclo-hexanone respectively. 5. The correlation coefficients of toluene, xylene, MEK and cyclo-hexanone between passive sampler and charcoal tube sampler were 0.963, 0.957, 0.943 and 0.562 with statistical significance.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2000

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine how much acid exposure would occur in the proximal esophagus, both in normal and in patients with abnormal distal esophageal acid exposure. Methods: Fourty-six patients with suspected GER were classified into two groups, 24 patients with pathological distal reflux (group I); 22 patients with normal distal reflux (group II). The ambulatory dual-probe esophageal pH monitoring was performed for 18-24hr. The abnormal reflux was defined when the percent of time that pH was below 4.0 exceeded the 95th percentile of normal value. Results: The siginficant differences between distal and proximal esophageal pH recordings in group I persisted for all parameters except for the longest episode, but didn't persist in group II. At the distal esophageal site, the median percent time with pH<4.0 in group I was 19.3 and significantly higher than at proximal site. Half of patients with pathological distal reflux also had proximal acid reflux. Correlation coefficients between the distal and proximal esophageal sites in group I of the number of reflux episodes and time of the longest episode were 0.451 and 0.646 respectively. Conclusion: The 50 percent of patients with pathological distal acid reflux also had abnormal acid exposure in the proximal esophageal site. Therefore, we recommand simultaneous pH recordings from dual probe esophageal sites in children with gastroesophageal reflux.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.116-121
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• 2008

Purpose: Cricopharyngeal incoordination is a rare cause of swallowing difficulties in newborns and infants; it is characterized by delayed pharyngeal contractions related to cricopharyngeal relaxation. Dysphagia and repeated aspiration are common findings despite normal sucking. We conducted this study to assess the clinical features of cricopharyngeal incoordination in newborns and infants. Methods: An analysis of the clinical data from 17 patients with cricopharyngeal incoordination who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Pusan National University Hospital, between 2000 and 2006 was conducted retrospectively. The diagnosis of cricopharyngeal incoordination was established by the clinical characteristics and the videofluoroscopic swallowing studies. Results: The male to female ratio was 1:1.1 (males 8, females 9) the age range 1 to 60 days. The body weight of 11 patients (64.7%) was less than the $10^{th}$ percentile at diagnosis. Six patients (35.3%) were born prematurely. The associated anomalies or diseases were chromosomal anomaly (2 cases), congenital heart disease (3 cases), and laryngomalacia, hypoxic brain damage or neonatal seizures (1 case each). The chief complaints of patients were recurrent aspiration pneumonia (10 cases), feeding difficulty (9 cases), dyspnea (4 cases), and chocking (4 cases). The severity of aspiration on the videoesophagogram or esophagogram was mild in 12 cases. The correlation between the severity of aspiration and the duration of tube feeding after the diagnosis was significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Cricopharyngeal incoordination should be considered in the differential diagnosis of newborns and infants, without known risk factors associated with swallowing dysfunction, when they present with unexplained respiratory problems. Although the prognosis of cricopharyngeal incoordination is good, early diagnosis and tube feeding are recommended to prevent the complications associated with this disorder.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.93-100
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• 1999

Purpose : For evaluation of acute Mycoplasma pneumoniae(M. pneumoniae) pneumonia in children, we have studied the Mycoplasma indirect particle agglutination test, cold hemagglutinin test, ESR, CRP, and total white blood cell counts and it's differential count retrospectively. Methods : The total numbers of patients whom compatible with diagnostic criteria of acute M. pneumoniae peumonia were 56 cases from Jan. to Dec. 1997. The diagnostic criteria were 1) onset of fever(${\geq}38.0^{\circ}C$) and coughing were within 7 days, 2) rhonchi and/or role was audible on chest, 3) pneumonic infiltration on chest X-ray, and 4) M. pneumoniae indirect particle agglutination test titer was higher than 1:640, or initial titer was less than 1:640 but increased more than 4 folds after week. We classified the enrolled patients according to initial antibody titer, such as soup A(${\leq}1:640$) and group B(${\geq}1:320$). We compared group A and B by demographic findings, clinical symptoms and signs, and laboratory findings. Results : 1) The male and female sex ratio was 1:1.4, and average onset age was $5.8{\pm}2.96$ years. 2) The average body temperature on admission was $38.5{\pm}0.1^{\circ}C$ and productive coughing was noticed in 52 cases(93%). 3) The average total white cell counts were $10,470{\pm}877.0/mm^3$ in group B patients, which was significantly higher compared to $7,761{\pm}508.5/mm^3$ in group A(p<0.014). 4) The average value of ESR and CRP were within normal range in both group. 5) The most common site of pneumonic infiltration was right lower lobe of lung in both groups. 6) There were no correlation between antibody titer and cold hemagglutinine titer in patients and cold hemagglutination titer were less than 1:64 in 25 cases(45%). Conclusion : The clinical manifestations of pneumonia, findings of chest x-ray, and indirect particle agglutination test were useful on diagnosis of M. pneumoniae pnumonia onset within 7 days, but cold hemagglutinin test was a little diagnostic meaning.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.345-352
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• 2001

Purpose : To evaluate the treatment results and prognostic factors after radiotherapy in stage IIB uterine cervix cancer. Materials and methods : We retrospectively analyzed the records of 90 patients with stage IIB uterine cervix cancer who received radiotherapy between 9/94 and 12/99. Age was ranged from 28 to 79 years (median 57). Tumor size was $\geq4\;cm$ in 64 patients. Preteatment SCC level was measured in 75 patients. Twenty nine patients received conventional radiotherapy (QD) and the others received modified hyper-fractionated radiotherapy (BID). Only 7 patients in BID had tumor size <4 cm. All patients received high dose rate brachytherapy $(4\;Gy\times7\;or\;5\;Gy\times6)$. No Patient received concurrent chemotherapy during radiotherapy. Follow up period was ranging from 9 to 76 months (median 38). Results : The 5-year overall and disease free survival rates were $73.4\%\;and\;71.6\%$, respectively. Local recurrences occurred in $10\%$ of patients, and distant metastasis in $18.9\%$. There was a significant correlation between OS/DFS and tumor size $(<4cm;\;OS\;95.2\%,\;DFS\;91.4\%,\;\geq4cm;\;OS\;63.4\%,\;DFS\;63.4\%)$. Pretreatment SCC level was one of prognostic factors only in univariate analysis. Conclusion : With modified hyperfractionated radiotherapy, there was very low local recurrence rate $(6.6\%)$ and high 5-year overall and disease free survival rate $(75.4\%\;and\;70.5\%)$, which is comparable to results after concurrent chemoradiotherapy in bulky, locally advanced stage IIB uterine cervix cancer.