• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.119-133
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• 1997

In spite of much progress in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) program, the pregnancy rate remains at 20-30%, and the endometrial implantation rate per embryo transferred at 10-15%. As a result, about 90% of embryos may fail to implant to the endometrium, and many attempts such as optimization of follicular development, improvement of in vitro culture system including coculture, and micromanipulation of zona pellucida have been made to improve embryonic implantation after IVF-ET. Recently, several procedures of assisted hatching (AH) using micromanipulation have been introduced, and pregnancies and births have been obtained after AH. To develop and establish AH as an effective procedure to improve embryonic implantation, AH with partial zona dissection (PZD) was performed in 116 cycles of 89 infertile couples who had previous repeated failures of standard IVF-ET more than two times (Group I: 71 cycles in 54 patients), or who had implantation failure of embryos with good quality (Group II: 15 cycles in 13), or who had undergone AH without specific indication (Group III: 30 cycles in 22) from January, 1995 to Februry, 1996, and the outcomes of AH were analyzed according to pregnancy rate. The number of oocytes retrieved after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) was $9.9{\pm}7.1$ in Group I, $11.5{\pm}4.5$ in Group II, and $7.9{\pm}6.4$ in Group III. The number of embryos transferred after AH was $4.7{\pm}1.8$ in Group I, $5.3{\pm}1.3$ in Group II, and $3.5{\pm}2.4$ in Group III. The mean cumulative embryo score (CES) was $56.8{\pm}30.0$ in Group I, $76.1{\pm}35.9$ in Group II, and $38.5{\pm}29.9$ in Group III. The overall clinical pregnancy rate per cycle and per patient was 12.7% (9/71) and 16.7% (9/54) in Group I, 33.3% (5/15) and 38.5% (5/13) in Group II, and 6.7% (2/30) and 9.1% (2/22) in Group III, respectively. There were significant differences in the numbers of oocytes retrieved and embryos transferred, CES, and the clinical pregnancy rate per cycle among three groups. There was a significant inverse correlation between basal serum FSH level and CES, and no pregnancy occurred in patients with CES less than 20. In conclusion, AH of human embryos with PZD prior to ET has improved the implantation and pregnancy rates in IVF-ET patients with the past history of repeated failures, especially in spite of transfer of embryos with good quality, and AH will provide a range of novel techniques which may contribute much to effective management of infertile couples.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7825-7829
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• 2015

Background: Egypt has the highest prevalence of HCV infection in the world (~14.7%). Around 10-15% of HCV-infected persons will advance to cirrhosis within the first 20 years. The incidence of HCC is expected to grow in the next two decades, largely due to HCV related cirrhosis, and detection of HCC at an early stage is critical for a favorable clinical outcome. No simple reliable non-invasive marker has been available till now. B2M, a non-glycosylated polypeptide composed of 99 amino acids, is one of the components of HLA class I molecules on the surfaces of all nucleated cells. It has been reported that the level of serum B2M is elevated in patients with chronic hepatitis C and HCV-related HCC when compared to HCV-negative patients or healthy donors. Determining the clinical utility of serum B2M as a marker for disease progression in Egyptian patients with HCV related chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma was the aim of the present study. Materials and Methods: In this analytical cross sectional study 92 participants were included in 4 equal groups: Group (1) non cirrhotic chronic HCV; Group (2) HCV related liver cirrhosis; Group (3) HCC on top of HCV,; and Group (4) healthy controls. History taking, clinical examination, routine labs and abdominal ultrasound were conducted for all patients, PCR and Metavir scores for group (1) patients, and triphasic CT abdomen and AFP for Group (3) patients. B2M levels were measured in serum with a fully-automated IMX system. Results: The mean serum B2M level of Group (1) was $4.25{\pm}1.48{\mu}g/ml$., Group (2) was $7.48{\pm}3.04$, Group (3) was $6.62{\pm}2.49$ and Group (4) was $1.62{\pm}0.63$. Serum B2M levels were significantly higher in diseased than control group (p<0.01) being significantly higher in cirrhosis ($7.48{\pm}3.04$) and HCC groups ($6.62{\pm}2.49$) than the HCV group ($4.25{\pm}1.48$) (p<0.01). There was a significant correlation between B2M Level and ALK, total and direct bilirubin and INR (p<0.05), and a significant inverse correlation between B2M level and albumin, total proteins, HB andWBCS values (p<0.05). There was no significant correlation between B2M level and viral load or Metavir score, largest tumour size or AFP (p>0.05). The best B2M cut-off for HCV diagnosis was 2.6 with a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 92%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 97% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100%. The best B2M cut-off for HCC diagnosis was 4.55 which yielded sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive values of 74%, 62%, 39.5, 87.8% respectively (p-value <0.01) while best cut-off for cirrhosis was 4.9, with sensitivity 74 % and specificity 74%.The sensitivity for HCC diagnosis increased upon B2M and AFP combined estimation to 91%, specificity to 79%, NPV to 95% and accuracy to 83%. Conclusions: Serum B2M level is elevated in HCV related chronic liver diseases and may be used as a marker for HCV disease progression towards cirrhosis and carcinoma.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.108-119
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• 1996

Several parameters of hydraulic architecture relating to hydraulic conductance in xylem vessels were investigated in the current-year shoots of six species of deciduous oak trees. The above parameters were also investigated in the sprouts of Quercus mongolica and Q. variabilis, as well as in the seedlings of Q. mongolica and Q. acutissima. The values of specific conductivity, leaf specific conductivity and Hagen-Poiseuille's relative hydraulic conductivity relating to vessel diameter of Q. dentata were the highest in all of the species studied. The above values of most of the species studied were higher in May-June than in September-October because of increasing the vessel embolism by cavitation and so on through the growing season. The estimated values of relative hydraulic conductivity of vessel by Hagen-Poiseuille's empirical equation and the real values of hydraulic conductivity presented positive relationships in most of the species studied. Huber value and leaf specific conductity using leaf area or leaf weight generally exhibited similar patterns each other even if having some exceptions. The hydraulic conductances of sprouting shoots were much better than those of normal growing shoots in Q. rnongolica and Q. variabilis. The specific conductivity and leaf specific conductivity were rapidly decreased by the vessel embolism through cavitating just after cutting the shoots in Q. mongolica and Q. acutissima seedlings. Diurnal changes of the conductivities in the seedlings of Q. mongolica and Q. acutissima presented the possibility of their self-controlling of conductance by active moisture absorption under mild water stress. Specific conductivity and leaf specific conductivity, and so on of Q. acutissima seedlings subjected to periodical moisture stress or not have decreased through the growing season, but the influences of moisture stress to the conductance were not proved definitely because of influencing similarly and simultaneously to the development of xylem and leaf having inverse relation in the influences. The values of conductivities were higher generally in middle or upper parts of stems than root collar in the seedlings.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-21
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• 1989

For the analysis of mortality differentials by socioeconomic factors based on death registration data, we have considered four variables : place of residence, educational attainment, marital status and occupation. The age range adopted were 5 to 64 years of age for place of residence, and 25 to 64 years of age for the other factors. The mortality differentials by socioeconomic variables were clear and in the expected direction: mortality levels among urban residents, better educated groups, and non- agricultural workers were lower than among the other sub- groups. The average mortality level in rural areas is much higher than in urban areas : the rural mortality levels were at least double the urban levels at ages below 40 years, but became smaller after age 40, and no clear differentials by urban I rural residence increased until 1974~76 for the both sexes, but since the then differentials have declined slowley for both sexes. This changing pattern of mortality differentials by place of residence can be explained by historical socioeconomic development : the development generally started in urban areas, and rural areas followed : in the course of socioeconomic development the differences between the death rates in the two areas became smaller and finally the mortality levels in the two areas became nearly the same, as is found in the developed countries nowadays. The inverse relationships between mortality and educational level became stronger between the periods 1970~72 and 1984~86, but showed the same atterns of mortality differentials in both period : larger differences among the younger age groups, and for males, than among the older age groups, and for females. The increasing mortality differentials in the fourteen-year period between 1970~72 and 1984~86 were caused by inadequate living standards of the non- educated, whose proportion in the total population, however, dropped sharply during that period. Also, the much lower proportions of low - educated groups or of persons with no formal education among males than females helped to establish the clearly pronounced differentials. The mortality differentials by marital status in Korea showed the usual pattern : the mortality rates of the married in each age and sex group were clearly lower than those of others during the fourteen-year period between 1970~72 and 1984~86. In Korean society which remotes universal marriage, the never married recorded especially high death rates, presumably mainly because of ill - health, but also possibly because of the stigma attached to celibacy. However, the mortality differentials by marital status changed with the changes in the proportionate distribution by marital status during the period : the differences between the death rates of the married and never married groups became smaller, the proportion of the never married group increased : in contrast, the differences between mortalities of the married and widowed / divorced / separated groups widened, with the decrease in the proportion of the later group ; this tendency was perticularly marked for females. Occupational groups also showed clear mortality differences : among four occupational groups mortality of males was highest among agricultural workers and lowest among 'professional, admi-nistrative and clerical workers, However, when the death rates were standardized by educational level, the death rates by occupation in age group 45~64 years were nearly the same (excet for the mixed group consisting of unemployed, students, military servicemen and unknown). Therefore, the clear mortality dfferentials by occupation in Korea resulted mainly from the differences in educational level between different occupation groups. Since socioeconomic characteristics are related to each other, the net effect of each variable was examined. Each of the three variables - ducational level, marital status and urban / rural residence affected significantly Korean adult mortality when the effects of the other variables were controlled. Among the three variables educational level was the most important factor for the determination of the adult mortality level. When male's occupation was added to the above three variables, the effects of occupation on adult mortality were notably smaller after control for the effects of the other three variables while the net effects of these three variables were nearly the same irrespectively whether occupation was included or not. Thus, the differences in educational level (mainly), place of residence and marital status bring out the clear differences in observed mortality levels by occupation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.1 s.176
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• pp.63-74
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• 2006

In order to identify the Pb pollution and its sources in continental shelf and slope areas, Pb concentration and Pb isotope ratios ($^{207}Pb/^{206}Pb\;and\;^{208}Pb/^{206}Pb$) were determined far 6 box corer sediments collected from the southern East/japan Sea. Pb concentration, and $^{207}Pb/^{206}Pb\;and\;^{208}Pb/^{206}Pb$ ratios were constant at around $25\pm5 ppm$ and 0.842 and 2.092 from 1700 to 1930 year, respectively and increased steadily up to $40\pm5 ppm$ and 0.867 and 2.123 at the beginning of 1990s', respectively. The increase of concentration and isotope ratios in the labile fraction (leached by 2M HC1+0.5M $HNO_3$) explains their increase in bulk sediments, while Pb concentration and isotope ratios in the residual fraction were nearly constant during 300yrs. Temporal variation of Pb isotope ratios was explained by simple two end-members mixing of geo-genic and anthropogenic sources because isotope ratios and the inverse of Pb concentration showed the good linear relationships. Using Pb isotope ratios, we can constrain two Pb sources in the study area. The one is atmospheric particulates, compared with mean values of isotope ratios in atmospheric particulates collected at Jeju and Oki ;stands, based on the history of Pb emmission in Korea and China, and judged by oceanographic processes capable of homogenizing many sources. The other is local sources related to iron mills, refineries of Pb ore and of petroleum located at the coast of the study area. Isotope ratios of anthropogenic Pb can be estimated using two end-members mixing equation and were $0.879\pm0.005\;and\;2.144\pm0.008$ before 1950s' while they increased up to $0.900\pm0.008\;and\;2.162\pm0.011$ after 1980s', respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.159-169
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• 2008

This study was aimed to classify the intertidal macrozoobenthic community status after 2 years of Sea Prince oil spill, and oil spill effects along oil spreading track from heavily impacted to unaffected reference site. Field sampling was initiated in late February and continued through November 1998 seasonally, after 2.5 years of oil spill. 7 rocky sampling sites were selected among coastal regions coated and/or affected by the Sea Prince spilled oil. Identified species was 158 species, 65 family, 24 order, 9 class, 5 phylum. Mollusca was the dominant faunal group comprising 100 species (63.3%), and followed by 38 species of Crustacea (24.1%), 12 species of Echinodermata (7.6%), 5 species of Porifera (3.2%), and 3 species of Cnidaria (1.9%). On Dugpo of Sori Island, the fewest species was collected from 28 species to 35 species seasonally among sampling stations. But far away Dugpo toward Gamak Bay, the number of species increased, collecting the maximum on Sohwoenggan Island. At the wreck site of Sori Island, especially the species number of attached animals such as poriferans and anthozoans was very low compared to another site. The density and biomass on the higher tidal zone increased toward the low affected sites, but biomass on middle tidal zone decreased. The invertebrate biomass of study area was dependent on the sessile animals. The major dominant species were small-sized barnacles, Chthmallus challengeri, periwinkles, Littorina brevicula, mussels, Septifer virgatus, and so on. The biomass of C. challengeri and L. brevicula on the higher tidal zone was highest in the wreck site of Sori Island and decreased further and further. However, mussels on the middle tidal zone showed the inverse trends because of the larger individual size of mussel inhabited in Sori Island than those of another sites. As a result of community analysis, the effect of oil spill was not found distinctly. Several ecological indices and cluster analysis did not show the meaningful variation with oil track despite of the conspicuous differences among tidal heights. These indicate that the macrozoobenthic community level of oil spreaded zone recovered in some degree after the Sea Prince oil spill accident, but population or individual levels of dominant sessile animals took more recovery times.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.14 no.4 s.41
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• pp.461-468
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• 2004

In order to characterize hydraulic property dependant on join roughness in rock mass, this study computed permeability coefficients on each range of joint roughness coefficient (JRC) suggested by Barton(1976). For a quantitative analysis of roughness components spectral analysis using the fast fourier transform was performed to select effective frequencies on each PC range. The results of spectral analyses show that low ranges of the JRC are mainly composed of low frequency domain, while high ranges of the JRC have dominant components at high frequency domain. The inverse Fourier transform made it possible to generate joint models of each JRC range using the effective frequencies of roughness spectrum. The homogenization analysis was applied to calculate permeability coefficient at homogeneous microscale, and then, computes a homogenized permeability coefficient (C-permeability coefficient) at macro scale. Therefore, it is possible to analyze accurate characteristics of permeability reflected with local effect of facture geometry. According to the calculation results, permeability coefficients were distributed between $10^{-3}m/sec\;and\;10^{-4}/sec$. In cases of sheared joint models permeability coefficients were plotted between $10^{-4}m/sec\;and\;10^{-5}/sec$, showing irregular distribution of permeability coefficients on each IRC range. The differences of permeability coefficients for the same aperture models or for the sheared joint models indicate that changes of roughness pattern influence on permeability coefficients. Therefore, the effect of joint roughness should be considered to characterize hydraulic properties in rock joints.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.277-282
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• 2010

The study is to verify non-uniform dose distribution in Field-In-Field (FIF) technique using two-dimensional ionization chamber (MatriXX, Wellhofer Dosimetrie, Germany) for breast tangential irradiation. The MatriXX and an inverse planning system (Eclipse, ver 6.5, Varian, Palo Alto, USA) were used. Hybrid plans were made from the original twenty patients plans. To verify the non-uniform dose distribution in FIF technique, each portal prescribed doses (90 cGy) was delivered to the MatriXX. The measured doses on the MatriXX were compared to the planned doses. The quantitative analyses were done with a commercial analyzing tool (OmniPro IMRT, ver. 1.4, Wellhofer Dosimetrie, Germany). The delivered doses at the normalization points were different to average 1.6% between the calculated and the measured. In analysis of line profiles, there were some differences of 1.3-5.5% (Avg: 2.4%), 0.9-3.9% (Avg: 2.5%) in longitudinal and transverse planes respectively. For the gamma index (criteria: 3 mm, 3%) analyses, there were shown that 90.23-99.69% (avg: 95.11%, std: 2.81) for acceptable range ($\gamma$-index $\geq$ 1) through the twenty patients cases. In conclusion, through our study, we have confirmed the availability of the FIF technique by comparing the calculated with the measured using MatriXX. In the future, various clinical applications of the FIF techniques would be good trials for better treatment results.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.3-17
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• 2002

Data analysis of groundwater monitoring wells and geostatistical methods are used to identify the local characteristics of sea water intrusion and the range of sea water intrusion at the southeastern coastal area of Busan, Korea. Rainfall and groundwater level of two monitoring wells show a linear correlation because of the direct groundwater recharge by the precipitation. However, rainfall and electric conductivity have the inverse relationship because of the increase of groundwater. Electric conductivity rapidly increased at 24m depth and exceeded 20,000$\mu\textrm{s}$/cm near 26m depth in the monitoring wells. The variations of groundwater level and electric conductivity show that the interface between sea water and fresh water tends to move upward when groundwater level goes down. In the cross correlation analysis, groundwater level versus rainfall represents the largest cross correlation coefficient in 0 time lag but the cross correlation coefficient of electric conductivity versus rainfall is the largest when the time lag is 9 days. This suggests that the fluctuations of groundwater level respond to rainfall in a short time, but the interface between sea water and fresh water respond very slow to rainfall. Horizontal extents of sea water intrusion are estimated to 14 m from the east of Line 1, and 25 m from the southeast end of Line 2 in the inversion of dipole-dipole profiling data of two survey lines. The data of VES by the Schulumberger array in May and July show lognormal distributions. In the kriged apparent resistivity and earth resistivity distributions, the resistivities of July are increased comparing to those of May. This reflects that the concentration of sea water in aquifer is reduced due to the increased groundwater recharge from the rainfall in June and July. In analyzing the vertical and horizontal apparent resistivities and earth resistivity distributions, the geostatistical methods are very useful to identify the variations of earth resistivity distributions at the coastal area.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2004

Factors of universal soil loss equation, USLE, and its revised version, RUSLE for Korean soils were reevaluated to estimate the national scale of soil loss based on digital soil maps. Rainfall erosivity factor, R, of 158 locations of cities and counties were spacially interpolated by the inverse distance weight method. Soil erodibility factor, K, of 1321 soil phases of 390 soil series were calculated using the data of soil survey and agri-environmental quality monitoring. Topographic factor, LS, was estimated using soil map of 1:25,000 scale with soil phase and land use type. Cover management factor, C, of major crops and support practice factor, P, were summarized by analyzing the data of lysimeter and field experiments for 27 years (1975-2001) in the National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology. R factor varied between 2322 and 6408 MJ mm $ha^{-1}$ $yr^{-1}$ $hr^{-1}$ and the average value was 4276 MJ mm $ha^{-1}$ $yr^{-1}$ $hr^{-1}$. The average K value was evaluated as 0.027 MT hr $MJ^{-1}$ $mm^{-1}$. The highest K factor was found in paddy rice fields, 0.034 MT hr $MJ^{-1}$ $mm^{-1}$, and K factors in upland fields, grassland, and forest were 0.026, 0.019, and 0.020 MT hr $MJ^{-1}$ $mm^{-1}$, respectively. C factors of upland crops ranged from 0.06 to 0.45 and that of grassland was 0.003. P factor varied between 0.01 and 0.85.