• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.388-393
• /
• 2023

Background: Differentiating between bacterial and nonbacterial colitis remains a challenge. We aimed to evaluate the value of serum procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in differentiating between bacterial and nonbacterial colitis. Methods: Adult patients with three or more episodes of watery diarrhea and colitis symptoms within 14 days of a hospital visit were eligible for this study. The patients' stool pathogen polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing results, serum PCT levels, and serum CRP levels were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into bacterial and nonbacterial colitis groups according to their PCR. The laboratory data were compared between the two groups. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy. Results: In total, 636 patients were included; 186 in the bacterial colitis group and 450 in the nonbacterial colitis group. In the bacterial colitis group, Clostridium perfringens was the commonest pathogen (n=70), followed by Clostridium difficile toxin B (n=60). The AUC for PCT and CRP was 0.557 and 0.567, respectively, indicating poor discrimination. The sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing bacterial colitis were 54.8% and 52.6% for PCT, and 52.2% and 54.2% for CRP, respectively. Combining PCT and CRP measurements did not increase the discrimination performance (AUC, 0.522; 95% confidence interval, 0.474-0.571). Conclusion: Neither PCT nor CRP helped discriminate bacterial colitis from nonbacterial colitis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2009

EMMC(Entrapped Mixed Microbial Cell) process which is a kind of active cell immobilizing method was applied to treat fisheries processing wastewater biologically. Kinetic constants were calculated for organic and nitrogen removal and effect of effluent recycling on system performance was evaluated also. Yield coefficient, Y showed relatively low value compared with Y value obtained from conventional activated sludge process. It means that EMMC process can reduce amount of excess sludge significantly compared with conventional activated sludge process. Endogenous respiration coefficient $k_e$ of EMMC process also showed relatively low value compared with that of conventional activated sludge process. Yield coefficient Y, endogenous respiration coefficient $k_e$ and half saturation constant $k_s$ obtained from EMMC process in terms of nitrification were compared with reported value from literature based on suspended growth nitrification system. The value of Y obtained from this study has no difference compared with values obtained from literature review and $k_e$ of this study was low but $k_s$ of this study was high compared than values obtained from suspended growth nitrification system. To evaluate the effect of internal recycling on system performance, system was operated with internal recycling ratio of 1.5Q, 2.0Q, 2.5Q and 3.0Q. increase of internal recycling ratio effect more greatly on improvement of denitrification efficiency than that of nitrification efficiency. Accordingly, optimization of internal recycling ratio has to be based on improvement of anoxic reactor performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.35-48
• /
• 1988

Modern technological progress demands the use of materials at high temperature and high pressure. One of the most critical factors in considering such applications - perhaps the most critical one - is creep behavior. In this study the stress exponents n were determined during creep over the temperature range of $90^{\circ}C\;to\;500^{\circ}C$ (0.4 - 0.85 Tm) and stress range of 0.64 kgt/$mm^2$ in order to investigate the creep hehavior. The stress dependence of rapture time (n') were determined over the temperature range of $200^{\circ}C\;to\;240^{\circ}C$ and stress range of 8.13 kgt/$mm^2$ to 9.55 kgt/$mm^2$ in order to investigate to creep rupture property. And the stress transient dip tests were also carried out for the internal stress ${\sigma}i$ over the temperature range of $90^{\circ}C\;to\;500^{\circ}C$ and stress range of 0.64kgt/$mm^2$ to 17.2 kgt/$mm^2$. The creep tests for constant temperature and stress transient dip tests were conducted in air with Al 7075 alloy under constant tensile load. At around the temperature range $200^[\circ}C\;-\;230^{\circ}C$ and the stress level 8.13 - 9.55 (kgt/$mm^2$), the temperature range $280^{\circ}C\;-\;310^{\circ}C$ and the stress level 1.85 - 2.55 (kgt/$mm^2$), the temperature range $380^{\circ}C\;-\;410^{\circ}C$ and the stress 1.53 - 0.91 (kgt/$mm^2$), the stress exponent in had the value of 6.2 - 6.65 but at around the temperature range $90^{\circ}C\;-\;120^{\circ}C$ and the stress level 10 - 17.2(kgt/$mm^2$), the value of 1.3, and at around the temperature range $470^{\circ}C\;-\;500^{\circ}C$, the stress level 0.62 - 1.02 (kgt/$mm^2$) the value of 1-1. Besides these results, at around the temperature $200^{\circ}C\;-\;240^{\circ}C$ the stress dependence of rupture time (n') had the value of 6.3. Finally, it was found that the value n calculated by considering the applied stress dependence of the internal stress were in good agreement with those obtained for the creep test. Then, it was concluded that the change in n was mainly attributed to the difference of the applied stress dependence of the internal stress and the ratio of the internal stress to the applied stress, and the creep rupture life may be represented as.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.21 no.12
• /
• pp.1317-1325
• /
• 2020

Objective: The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate whether liver stiffness (LS) assessments, obtained by two-dimensional (2D)-shear wave elastography (SWE) with a propagation map, can evaluate liver fibrosis stage using histopathology as the reference standard. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled 123 patients who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy from two tertiary referral hospitals. All patients underwent 2D-SWE examination prior to biopsy, and LS values (kilopascal [kPa]) were obtained. On histopathologic examination, fibrosis stage (F0-F4) and necroinflammatory activity grade (A0-A4) were assessed. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to determine the significant factors affecting the LS value. The diagnostic performance of the LS value for staging fibrosis was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and the optimal cut-off value was determined by the Youden index. Results: Reliable measurements of LS values were obtained in 114 patients (92.7%, 114/123). LS values obtained from 2D-SWE with the propagation map positively correlated with the progression of liver fibrosis reported from histopathology (p < 0.001). According to the multivariate linear regression analysis, fibrosis stage was the only factor significantly associated with LS (p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve of LS from 2D-SWE with the propagation map was 0.773, 0.865, 0.946, and 0.950 for detecting F ≥ 1, F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3, and F = 4, respectively. The optimal cut-off LS values were 5.4, 7.8, 9.4, and 12.2 kPa for F ≥ 1, F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3, and F = 4, respectively. The corresponding sensitivity and specificity of the LS value for detecting cirrhosis were 90.9% and 88.4%, respectively. Conclusion: The LS value obtained from 2D-SWE with a propagation map provides excellent diagnostic performance in evaluating liver fibrosis stage, determined by histopathology.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.271-278
• /
• 2019

Purpose: To quantify the effect of the crystallization process on lithium disilicate ceramic crowns that are fabricated using a computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing(CAD/CAM) system, and to determine whether they are clinically acceptable by comparing values before and after the crystallization process. Methods: The maxillary first molar was selected as the abutment for the experiments. Ten working models were prepared. Marginal and internal gap of 4 groups of lithium disilicate crowns(n=10) fabricated with conventional method. Comparison was performed using the silicone replica technique and 3D superimposition analysis. The marginal and internal gaps of the restoration were measured before and after the crystallization process of this prosthesis. The average value of each part(the average of values measured before and after the crystallization) was statistically analyzed using paired t-test(α=0.05). Results: The results from the second phase of this research, which compared the average value of the gap between the marginal and internal fits of the lithium disilicate single crown before and after the crystallization process, indicated that the marginal gap was larger and the internal gap was smaller after the crystallization process, and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) in all the parts evaluated. Conclusion: While the shrinkage that occurs during crystallization does affect the marginal and internal fit of the prosthesis, it cannot be concluded to be a major effect because the resultant distortion was within the clinically acceptable range.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 2014

A gravimetric standard addition method combined with internal standard calibration has been successfully developed for the accurate analysis of total arsenic in a laver candidate reference material. A model equation for the gravimetric standard addition approach using an internal standard was derived to determine arsenic content in samples. Handlings of samples, As standard and internal standard were carried out gravimetrically to avoid larger uncertainty and variability involved in the volumetric preparation. Germanium was selected as the internal standard because of its close mass to the arsenic to minimize mass-dependent bias in mass spectrometer. The ion signal ratios of $^{75}As^+$ to $^{72}Ge^+$ (or $^{73}Ge^+$) were measured in high resolution mode ($R{\geq}10,000$) to separate potential isobaric interferences by high resolution ICP/MS. For method validation, the developed method was applied to the analysis of arsenic content in the NMIJ 7402-a codfish certified reference material (CRM) and the result was $37.07mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}0.45mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ which is in good agreement with the certified value, $36.7mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}1.8mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$. Finally, the certified value of the total arsenic in the candidate laver CRM was determined to be $47.15mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\pm}1.32mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ (k = 2.8 for 95% confidence level) which is an excellent result for arsenic measurement with only 2.8 % of relative expanded uncertainty.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.3-21
• /
• 1998

This study was to investigate the effects of Gibangganbang on the liver injury induced dimethylnitrosamine, CCl4, ethanol and partial hepatectomy. Hydroxyproline, hepatic fibrosis, hepatic inflammatory cell infiltration, fatty value, lipidoperoxide levels, glutathione levels, mitotic index, contents of protein in the serum and liver tissues were measured and observed. The results obtained were as follows. 1. The increasing level of hydroxyproline volume induced by dimethylnitrosamine in mice was decreased by the oral administration of Gibangganbang. 2. The degree of hitological fibrosis and hepatic inflammatory cell infiltration induced by $CCl_4$ was decreased by the oral administration of Gibangganbang. 3. The degree of fatty value and the increasing level of lipidoperoxide in liver tissues was decreased by the oral administration of Gibangganbang. 4. The level of glutathione in liver tissues was increasing by the oral administration of Gibangganbang. 5. The increasing level of microsomal lipidoperoxide in vitro assay was decreasing by the oral administration of Gibangganbang. 6. The increasing level of the mitotic index, weight of liver, contents of protein, RNA and DNA synthesis of the liver tissues after partial hepatectomy was activated by the oral administration of Gibangganbang. These results suggest that Gibangganbang not only inhibits liver cirrhotic change and ethanol-induced fatty change but also activates antioxidant enzymes and regeneration ability ocf liver.

• THE JOURNAL OF KOREAN ORIENTAL ONCOLOGY
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.117-129
• /
• 2001

Objectives: We compared the therapeutic response, the treatment-related toxicity, and the improvement of subjective symptoms between the chemotherapy alone group and the western-oriental combined treatment group and evaluated the role of oriental medicine for the improvement of chemotherapy-related toxicity in the advanced gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: We evaluated 36 gastric cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma patients(chemotherapy alone group 25 patients, combined treatment group 11 patients) who had been treated in Wonju Christian Hospital and Hana Hospital of Oriental Medicine between June 1999 and October 2000. Enrolled patients' general medical records, results of laboratory and imaging studies, treatment-related toxicities, and subjective symptoms were recorded regularly according to the planned protocol. Therapeutic responses were estimated according to the WHO response criteria and the changes of tumor marker value such as CEA, CA 72-4 and AFP. Results: 1. There was no significant difference of therapeutic response by the WHO response criteria between the two groups(p=.459). 2. There was a significant decrease of tumor marker value in the combined treatment group compared to the chemotherapy alone group(p=.023). 3. There was less comprehensive treatment-related toxicity in the combined treatment group compared to the chemotherapy alone group(p=.037), but there was not a significant difference of comprehensive improvement of subjective symptoms between the two groups(p=.091). Conclusions: Based on the above results, we could expect the possibility of improvements in therapeutic response and treatment-related toxicity with the western-oriental combined anticancer treatment.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.209-215
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical acceptability of the marginal and internal gap of Co-Cr metal copings fabricated with stereolithography (SLA). Methods: Titanium master dies were milled after scanning of the prepared tooth (n=30). For group I, Co-Cr metal copings were made from conventional lost-wax technique(LWT, n=10). For group II, the master dies were scanned and designed with CAD system. Then, metal copings were milled with Co-Cr(SUB, n=10). For group III(ADD, n=10), the scanning and design procedures were same as group II and burn-out resins were fabricated with SLA device. The marginal and internal discrepancies were measured under an optical microscope(100x) on ten reference points and were statistically analyzed with one-way ANOVA(${\alpha}=.05$). Results: The mean total discrepancies were $53.76{\pm}12.42{\mu}m$ in the LWT group and $69.82{\pm}15.48{\mu}m$ in the ADD group. The SUB group showed the largest total mean value $110.33{\pm}13.77{\mu}m$. There was statistically significant difference between the SUB and the other groups(P<0.05). Conclusion : Co-Cr metal copings fabricated with SLA technology showed clinically acceptable value on marginal and internal gap and there was no statistically significant difference between conventional lost-wax technique and SLA.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.13 no.1_2
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 1979

Radionuclide cardiac angiography has distinct advantages in safety, patient comfort, cost and ease of performance. This method offers diagnostic accuracy equivalent to that of cardiac catheterization. By this method the qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of the cardiac shunts are available. Also for it is repeatable with ease and more physiologic, it has application in following pre- and post-operative shunt patients. We performed the radionuclide cardiac angiographies in 147 cases of heart diseases and 26 cases of normal group. 1. The detection of left-to-right shunt was possible in 22 of 24 patients, and 2 patients were not diagnosed due to small shunt amount. (Qp/Qs<1.3) In 21 patients of right-to-left shunt, all were diagnosed by radionuclide cardiac angiography. 2. With the pulmonary time-activity curve, $C_2/C_1$ ratio was calculated. In normal control group, a range of $C_2/C_1$ ratios of $21{\sim}38%$ was established with a mean value of $28.6{\pm}4.6%$. In patients with left-to-right shunts determined by catheterization data, the range of $C_2/C_1$ ratio was $33{\sim}90%$, with a mean value of $67.8{\pm}12.2%$. 3. In 8 cases of left-to-right shunt, $Q_p/Q_s$ ratios determined by radionuclide cardiac angiography were compaired with those of cardiac catheterization. The correlation coefficient was 0.907. (P<0.001) 4. Postoperative radionuclide cardiac angiographies were done in 21 cases. 3 of 13 patients with left-to-right shunts were found to have residual shunts. 8 patients with right-to-left shunts were confirmed to have no residual shunt.