• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제42권4호
• /
• pp.149-155
• /
• 2015

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum progesterone (P4) levels on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and the pregnancy rate among women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (ICSI-ET) using a flexible antagonist protocol. Methods: This prospective study included 200 IVF and ICSI-ET cycles in which a flexible antagonist protocol was used. The patients were divided into five distinct groups according to their serum P4 levels at the time of hCG administration (0.80, 0.85, 0.90, 0.95, and 1.00 ng/mL). The clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) was calculated for each P4 interval. Statistically significant differences were observed at a serum P4 level of 0.9 ng/mL. These data suggest that a serum P4 concentration of 0.9 ng/mL may represent the optimal threshold level for defining premature luteinization (PL) based on the presence of a significant negative impact on the CPR. Results: The CPR for each round of ET was significantly lower in the PL group defined using this threshold (25.8% vs. 41.8%; p=0.019), and the number of oocytes retrieved was significantly higher than in the non-PL group ($17.3{\pm}7.2$ vs. $11.0{\pm}7.2$; p=0.001). Elevated serum P4 levels on the day of hCG administration were associated with a reduced CPR, despite the retrieval of many oocytes. Conclusion: Measuring serum P4 values at the time of hCG administration is necessary in order to determine the optimal strategy for embryo transfer.

• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제50권2호
• /
• pp.102-112
• /
• 2024

Background: Despite the rise in the number of domestic indoor climbing gyms, there is a lack of specific hygiene standards and research on the holds installed in them. Holds can act as vectors for microbial transmission through the hands, posing a risk of infectious diseases, especially with damaged skin. Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the contamination level and species of microorganisms on holds according to the management methods practiced in indoor climbing gyms and identify effective strategies for reducing microbial contamination. Methods: We investigated factors that may influence microbial contamination of holds, including hold management methods, user information, and hygiene management at three climbing gyms in Seoul. A total of 72 holds were sampled, 18 for each management method of brushing, high-pressure washing, and ethanol disinfection. Samples were cultured on LB and blood agar at 37℃ for 48 hours to calculate CFUs. PCR assay targeting 16S rRNA was carried out to identify microorganisms. Dunn-Bonferroni was employed to see the microbial reduction effect of the management method and the difference in microbial contamination by management method and climbing gym. Results: As a result of microbial identification, microorganisms such as Bacillus, Staphylococcus, and Micrococcus, which were derived from various environments such as skin and soil, were discovered on the surface of the climbing hold. Among the discovered microorganisms, some species had potential pathogenic properties that could cause food poisoning, gastrointestinal disease, bacteremia, and sepsis. All hold management methods were effective in reducing microorganisms (p<0.05), with ethanol disinfection being the most effective (p<0.001). Conclusions: Our results indicate that there are potential pathogens on holds that demand thorough management for microbial prevention. Proposed methods include regular brushing and ethanol disinfection in addition to high-pressure washing with long cycles, which are the existing forms of hold management. Further studies on shoe management are advised to curb soil-derived microorganisms.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• 제43권2호
• /
• pp.25.1-25.10
• /
• 2018

Objectives: To evaluate the mechanical properties and metallurgical characteristics of the M3 Rotary and M3 Pro Gold files (United Dental). Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty new M3 Rotary and M3 Pro Gold files (sizes 20/0.04 and 25/0.04) were used. Torque and angle of rotation at failure (n = 20) were measured according to ISO 3630-1. Cyclic fatigue resistance was tested by measuring the number of cycles to failure in an artificial stainless steel canal ($60^{\circ}$ angle of curvature and a 5-mm radius). The metallurgical characteristics were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and the Student-Newman-Keuls test. Results: Comparing the same size of the 2 different instruments, cyclic fatigue resistance was significantly higher in the M3 Pro Gold files than in the M3 Rotary files (p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the files in the maximum torque load, while a significantly higher angular rotation to fracture was observed for M3 Pro Gold (p < 0.05). In the DSC analysis, the M3 Pro Gold files showed one prominent peak on the heating curve and 2 prominent peaks on the cooling curve. In contrast, the M3 Rotary files showed 1 small peak on the heating curve and 1 small peak on the cooling curve. Conclusions: The M3 Pro Gold files showed greater flexibility and angular rotation than the M3 Rotary files, without decrement of their torque resistance. The superior flexibility of M3 Pro Gold files can be attributed to their martensite phase.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제15권17호
• /
• pp.7119-7123
• /
• 2014

Background: The role of second-line therapy in metastatic pancreatic cancer is not clear. In this study, we aimed to explore the second-line efficiency of capecitabine and oxaliplatin (XELOX) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who have received gemcitabine-based first-line therapy. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 47 patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer previously treated with gemcitabine-based first-line regimens. Treatment consisted of oxaliplatin $130mg/m^2$ and capecitabine $1000mg/m^2$ twice daily with a 3 week interval, until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. Results: Median number of cycles was 4 (range, 2-10). The overall disease control rate was 38.3%. The median overall survival and progression-free survival from the start of second-line therapy were 23 weeks (95%CI: 16.6-29.5 weeks) and 12 weeks (95%CI: 9.8-14.4 weeks), respectively. The most common grade 3-4 toxicities were nausea, vomiting and hematologic side effects. Conclusions: Our result suggests that the combination of capecitabine and oxaliplatin was tolerated with manageable toxicity and showed encouraging activity as second-line treatment of advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with ECOG performance status 0-2.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제43권2호
• /
• pp.126-132
• /
• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify useful clinical factors for the identification of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who would benefit from in vitro maturation (IVM) treatment without exhibiting compromised pregnancy outcomes. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed of 186 consecutive patients with PCOS who underwent human chorionic gonadotropin-primed IVM treatment between March 2010 and March 2014. Only the first IVM cycle of each patient was included in this study. A retrospective case-control study was subsequently conducted to compare pregnancy outcomes between IVM and conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. Results: Through logistic regression analyses, we arrived at the novel finding that serum $anti-M{\ddot{u}}llerian$ hormone (AMH) levels and the number of fertilized oocytes in IVM were independent predictive factors for live birth with unstandardized coefficients of 0.078 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.005-1.164; p=0.037) and 0.113 (95% CI, 1.038-1.208; p=0.003), respectively. Furthermore, these two parameters were able to discriminate patients who experienced live births from non-pregnant IVM patients using cut-off levels of 8.5 ng/mL and five fertilized oocytes, respectively. A subsequent retrospective case-control study of patients with PCOS who had serum AMH levels ${\geq}8.5ng/mL$ showed that IVM had pregnancy outcomes comparable to conventional IVF, and that no cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome were observed. Conclusion: Serum AMH levels are a useful factor for predicting pregnancy outcomes in PCOS patients before the beginning of an IVM cycle. IVM may be an alternative to conventional IVF for PCOS patients if the patients are properly selected according to predictive factors such as serum AMH levels.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• 제7권1호
• /
• pp.9-14
• /
• 2003

Recent studies indicated that cancer cells become resistant to ionizing radiation (IR) and chemotherapy drugs by enhanced DNA repair of the lesions. Therefore, it is expected to increase the killing of cancer cells and reduce drug resistance by inhibiting DNA repair pathways that tumor cells rely on to escape chemotherapy. There are a number of key human DNA repair pathways which depend on multimeric polypeptide activities. For example, Ku heterodimer regulatory DNA binding subunits (Ku70/Ku80) on binding to double strand DNA breaks (DSBs) are able to interact with 470-kDa DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), and are essential for DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. It has been known that DNA-PK is an important factor for DNA repair and also is a sensor-transmitting damage signal to downstream targets, leading to cell cycles arrest. Our ultimate goal is to develop a treatment of breast tumors by targeting proteins involved in damage-signaling pathway and/or DNA repair. This would greatly facilitate tumor cell cytotoxic activity and programmed cell death through DNA damaging drug treatment. Therefore, we designed a domain of Ku80 mutants that binds to Ku70 but not DNA end binding activity and used the peptide in co-therapy strategy to see whether the targeted inhibition of DNA-PK activity sensitized breast cancer cells to irradiation or chemotherapy drug. We observed that the synthesized peptide (HNI-38) prevented DNA-PKcs from binding to Ku70/Ku80, thus resulting in inactivation of DNA-PK activity. Consequently, the peptide treated cells exhibited poor to no DNA repair, and became highly sensitive to IR or chemotherapy drugs, and the growth of breast cancer cells was inhibited. Additionally, the results obtained in the present study also support the physiological role of resistance of cancer cells to IR or chemotherapy.

• 전자공학회논문지CI
• /
• 제48권5호
• /
• pp.74-82
• /
• 2011

SSD는 낸드 플래시 메모리의 배열로 구성되어 있기 때문에 하드 디스크와는 달리 블록 당 쓰기 가능 횟수가 정해져 있고, 덮어쓰기가 불가능 하다는 특성을 가지고 있다. 이와 같이 기존의 하드 디스크와는 다른 특징을 갖는 SSD를 효과적으로 관리하기 위해 FTL을 이용한다. FTL은 맵핑 방식에 따라 페이지, 블록, 로그 블록 맵핑 방식으로 구분하는데, 그 중 로그 블록 맵핑 방식 기법 중 BAST와 FAST는 합병 연산 시 페이지 복사와 삭제 연산이 많이 발생하여 SSD의 성능이 떨어지는 문제를 갖고 있다. 본 논문에서는 이를 해결하기 위하여 SSD 내부에 PRAM을 접근빈도 체크영역 및 로그 블록과 Hot 데이터를 저장하는 영역으로 할당하여 접근빈도에 따라 데이터를 할당하는 기법 및 교체기법을 제안한다. 제안된 방법은 접근빈도에 따라 Cold 데이터는 플래시 메모리에 할당하며 덮어쓰기가 가능한 PRAM에 로그 블록과 접근 빈도가 높은 데이터를 할당함으로써, 합병 연산 및 삭제 연산을 줄여 SSD의 성능과 수명을 향상시킬 수 있다. 또한 용량의 한계가 있는 PRAM의 활용률을 높이기 위해 데이터 교체 방법을 사용한다. 실험결과 삭제연산의 경우 제안한 방법이 BAST에 비해 약 46%정도 FAST에 비해 약 38%정도 횟수가 감소되었고, 쓰기 성능의 경우 각각 기존 BAST, FAST에 비해 34%, 19%의 성능이 향상되었고, 읽기 성능 역시 각각 5%, 3%의 성능 향상을 보였다.

• 한국식품과학회지
• /
• 제21권1호
• /
• pp.109-119
• /
• 1989

김장김치 제조방법에 따라 김치를 담금 후 $10^{\circ}C$에서 저장하였다. 김치의 방사선 살균을 위한 최적 숙성기는 적정 산도가 0.3% 내외 일 때 였고, 포장은 PE/Nylon 접합봉지 사용구 보다 PVC원통형 용기에 상부를 유리판으로 눌러놓은 상태의 것이 품질 면에서 우수하였다. 미생물 생육시험에서 전 젖산균은 방사선조사 직후 비조사구는 $10^8\;cells/ml$이었으나 1-3 kGy조사로서 2-4 log cycles감소되었고 전 저장기간을 통해 생육이 억제되었다. 효모 및 곰팡이도 2-3 kGy 조사구는 저장 30일 후에도 저장 초보다 낮았다. 이화학적 특성 시험에서 특히 산도는 비조사구가 저장 15일 에 0.7-0.8% 정도였으나, 2-3kGy 조사구는 저장 30일에도 0.5-0.6%로 낮았다. 김치조직 변화도 저장기간의 경과와 함께 2kGy 조사구가 가장 우수하였다. 관능검사에 의한 종합적 품질평가에서는 비조사구는 저장 15일 이후부터 식용 부적합 하였으나, 2-3 kGy 조사구는 저장 30일 이후에도 양호한 품질을 보여 비조사구에 비해 2배 이상의 저장성을 연장할 수 있었다.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• 제32권4호
• /
• pp.365-376
• /
• 2007

본 연구의 목적은 3종의 전체산부식 상아질 접착 시스템에서 적절한 산부식 시간과 접착제의 침투 능력에 대해 규명하고자 하였다. 우식이 없는 54개의 제3대구치의 상아질 표면을 5, 15, 25초 동안 산부식하고 산부식형 접착제 3종 (Scotchbond multipurpose, Single Bond, One Step) 을 도포한 후 복합레진을 충전하였다. 각 시편은 0회 (대조군) 또는 2000회 열순환 ($5^{\circ}C\;-\;55^{\circ}C$) (실험군) 후 미세인장강도를 측정하고 파단면을 관찰하여 다음과 같은 결론을 얻었다. 1. 실험군은 대조군에 비하여 결합강도가 감소하였으며, 특히 25초 산부식한 SM 및 SB군에서는 통계학적 유의차를 나타내었다. 2. 열순환 처리한 SM군과 SB군의 경우, 25초 간 산부식한 군이 5초 간 산부식한 군과 15초 간 산부식한 군에 비해 유의성 있게 낮은 결합강도를 나타냈다 (p < 0.05). 3. OS군의 경우, 산부식 시간 및 열순환 여부에 따른 유의성 있는 차이가 나타나지 않았다 (p > 0.05). 상아질 접착의 내구성은 접착제의 용매와 산부식 시간에 의해 영향을 받으며 특히, ethanol-based adhesive를 사용할 때 과도한 산부식은 유의해야 한다.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제24권2호
• /
• pp.167-177
• /
• 1997

Oocyte donation program developed to reach the pregnancy in those patients suffering from premature ovarian failure or surgery induced menopause, particularly in their reproductive age. With technical advances and popularity of ART (assisted reproductive technology), the indication of oocyte donation program extended to low responders, and even to naturally menopaused patients that has led them quite successfully to getting in pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate which one is involved in the decline of fertility between the oocyte and uterine factor. One hundred five cycles of oocyte donation program were performed in 84 patients from Jan., 1993 to Dec., 1996. Oocytes were donated from healthy, young, fertile anonymous donors or relatives or infertile patients with supernumerary oocytes. The study population was divided into 3 groups according to the age of recipients. Group 1 was less than 35 years old, Group 2 was between 35 to 39 years old, and Group 3 was more than 39 years old. The results were as follows: The mean age of oocyte donor was $31.5{\pm}3.3$ (range; 25-36). The mean concentration of basal serum FSH and peak serum estradiol were not different among groups. The mean number of oocytes retrieved from donors, embryos transferred to recipients, and fertilization rate were not different among groups. The clinical pregnancy rate was 37.3% in Group 1, 31.6% in Group 2, and 31.6% in Group 3, respectively. The spontaneous abortion rate was 16.0% in Group 1, 16.7% in Group 2, and 16.7 in Group 3, respectively. The multiple pregnancy rate was 20.0% in Group 1, 16.7% in Group 2, 16,7% in Group 3, respectively, The implantation rate was 11.3% in Group 1, 10.3% in Group 2 and 10.0% in Group 3, respectively. All of the pregnancy outcomes were not different statistically among groups. In conclusion, endometrial receptivity does not seem to be impaired as age increases with transfer of good quality embryos and adequate endometrial preparation.