• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.62 no.5
• /
• pp.398-405
• /
• 2007

Background: There is little data on the 3 year prognosis and quality of life of patients on long-term (>72 hour) mechanical ventilation in a medical intensive care unit (MICU). Methods: Patients with long-term mechanical ventilation from May 2003 through July 2003 in MICU of Asan Medical Center, Seoul were enrolled in this studay. The survival rates were observed prospectively at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months, and the quality of life of survivor was measured at 12 months by using Short Form 36 (SF-36). Results: The survival rate at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months was 54.8% (40/73), 39.7% (29/73), 30.1% (22/73), 20.5% (15/73), 18.3% (13/71) and 16.9% (12/71), respectively. There was a similar survival rate regardless of the diseases that required mechanical ventilation. A neoplasm or chronic liver disease had a worse survival rate than chronic lung or kidney disease (p<0.05). Each SF-36 domain except for the Role-emotional was inferior to the general population. Conclusions: The survival rate of patients with mechanical ventilation more than 72 hours is decreases continuously until 12 months but is relatively constant from 12 to 36 months. In these patients quality of life is also decrased.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.587-614
• /
• 2014

In recent years the interest in online monitoring of lightweight structures with ultrasonic guided waves is steadily growing. Especially the aircraft industry is a driving force in the development of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. In order to optimally design SHM systems powerful and efficient numerical simulation tools to predict the behaviour of ultrasonic elastic waves in thin-walled structures are required. It has been shown that in real industrial applications, such as airplane wings or fuselages, conventional linear and quadratic pure displacement finite elements commonly used to model ultrasonic elastic waves quickly reach their limits. The required mesh density, to obtain good quality solutions, results in enormous computational costs when solving the wave propagation problem in the time domain. To resolve this problem different possibilities are available. Analytical methods and higher order finite element method approaches (HO-FEM), like p-FEM, spectral elements, spectral analysis and isogeometric analysis, are among them. Although analytical approaches offer fast and accurate results, they are limited to rather simple geometries. On the other hand, the application of higher order finite element schemes is a computationally demanding task. The drawbacks of both methods can be circumvented if regions of complex geometry are modelled using a HO-FEM approach while the response of the remaining structure is computed utilizing an analytical approach. The objective of the paper is to present an efficient method to couple different HO-FEM schemes with an analytical description of an undisturbed region. Using this hybrid formulation the numerical effort can be drastically reduced. The functionality of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by studying the propagation of ultrasonic guided waves in plates, excited by a piezoelectric patch actuator. The actuator is modelled utilizing higher order coupled field finite elements, whereas the homogenous, isotropic plate is described analytically. The results of this "semi-analytical" approach highlight the opportunities to reduce the numerical effort if closed-form solutions are partially available.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.289-296
• /
• 2020

BACKGROUND: There is a need for a revolutionary method to overcome the problem of biochar, which has relatively low adsorption capacity for existing anion pollutants, along with collectively recycling fallen leaves, a kind of forest by-product. Therefore, the objective of this study was to prepare iron-decorated biochar derived from fallen leaves (Fe-FLB), and to evaluate their adsorption properties to Congo red (CR) as anionic dye. METHODS AND RESULTS: The adsorption properties of CR by fallen leaves biochar (FLB) and Fe-FLB were performed under various conditions such as initial CR concentration, reaction time, pH and dosage with isotherm and kinetic models. In this study, Fe-FLB prepared through iron impregnation and pyrolysis of fallen leaves contained 56.9% carbon and 6.3% iron. Congo red adsorption by FLB and Fe-FLB was well described by Langmuir model and pseudo second order model and the maximum adsorption capacities of FLB and Fe-FLB were 1.1 mg/g and 25.6 mg/g, respectively. In particular, it was found that the adsorption of CR was occurred by chemical adsorption process by the outer boundary layer of Fe-FLB. CONCLUSION: Overall, the production of Fe-FLB using fallen leaves and using it as an anion adsorbent is considered to be a way to overcome the problem of biochar with relatively low anion adsorption in addition to the reduction effect of waste.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.65-71
• /
• 2008

Purpose: This paper studied the effect of eyes on the comparison between the distance optical centers problem of dispensing reading glasses made by optician and finished reading glasses in the current market. Methods: The method of this study has been measured by eleven different categories from +1.00D to +4.00D. This study also separated into three groups by their optical frame size and measured optical center point (O.C) and optical center height (O.H) with 200 peoples of man and females over 40 years old without ocular disease living in Gwang-san gu, Gwang-Ju city. Results: As a result, optical center point ranged from 57 mm to 80 mm and it turned to be most common range is from 61 mm to 65 mm (64.6%). Moreover, the optical center height ranged from 1 mm to 8mm and most common ranged (23%) were 4 mm. In other words, finished reading glasses have irregular optical ranges. After observing 200 people who are over 40 years old men and women, result shows that more than 75.5% (151 people) currently use finished reading glasses. Survey of 151 people, most common error between the finished reading glasses's O.C and the wearers P.D were 4 mm (45%). Furthermore, the most common error between the finished reading glassses's O.H and the wearers O.H ranged from 3 mm to 4 mm. Astonishingly, the entire 151 people who wear finished reading glasses appeal that they feel tiredness on their eyes when they wear finished reading glasses. 53 people (35%) claimed that they feel tiredness on their eyes after 10 to 20 minutes wearing finished reading glasses. Base on the research, We conducted more experiment to find the value of prism of optical centers err because it will tell us whether the finished reading glasses are good enough to wear or not. We multiplied diopter by the difference between finished reading glasses's O.C. and wearer's P.D. Consequently, We found out that the finished reading glasses counter to the German RAL-RG 915 policy. And We also found that it is relative to the diopter of lenses. In conclusion, based on the researched that wearing finished reading glasses have a dangerous factor for our vision. Therefore optician must need to recommend correctly made dispensing reading glasses based on the optical center point.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.200-203
• /
• 2008

Obesity has become a worldwide health problem. Orlistat, an inhibitor of pancreatic lipase, is currently approved as an anti-obesity drug. However, gastrointestinal side effects caused by Orlistat may limit its use. In this study the inhibitory activities of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) against pancreatic lipase in vitro and in vivo were measured to determine its possible use as a natural anti-obesity agent. The inhibitory activities of the 95% ethanol extract of T. officinale and Orlistat were measured using 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate (4-MU oleate) as a substrate at concentrations of 250, 125, 100, 25, 12.5 and $4\;{\mu}g/ml$. To determine pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity in vivo, mice (n=16) were orally administered with com oil emulsion (5 ml/kg) alone or with the 95% ethanol extract of T. officinale (400 mg/kg) following an overnight fast. Plasma triglyceride levels were measured at 0, 90, 180, and 240 min after treatment and incremental areas under the response curves (AUC) were calculated. The 95% ethanol extract of T. officinale and Orlistat, inhibited, porcine pancreatic lipase activity by 86.3% and 95.7% at a concentration of $250\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. T. officinale extract showed dose-dependent inhibition with the $IC_{50}$ of $78.2\;{\mu}g/ml$. A single oral dose of the extract significantly inhibited increases in plasma triglyceride levels at 90 and 180 min and reduced AVC of plasma triglyceride response curve (p<0.05). The results indicate that T. officinale exhibits inhibitory activities against pancreatic lipase in vitro and in vivo. Further studies to elucidate anti-obesity effects of chronic consumption of T. officinale and to identify the active components responsible for inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase are necessary.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.123-136
• /
• 2005

This research is to compare the infant's temperament and parenting stress perceived by premature infants' mother and full-term infants' mother. It aims at establishing the healthy relationship between mothers and infants. It investigates the basic data of nursing intervention program to help the mother of premature infant. The period of data collection was from May 1, 2005 to May 30, 2005, and the subjects were total 123 mothers: 44 mothers of premature infants and 79 mothers of full-term infants under 6 months who visited general hospitals, individual pediatrics, and health center located in G city. "What My Baby Is Like(WBL)" developed by Pridham, Chang, and Chiu(1994) and translated by Bang Kyeong Sook(1999) was used as a measuring instrument of infants' temperament, and Parenting Stress Index (PSI) developed by Abidin(1990) and revised and complemented by Kim Dong Hee(1997) was used as a measuring instrument of parenting stress. Collected Data were analyzed through $X^2$-test, t-test, Pearson's correlation with SPSS 12.0 window program. The results are as follows: 1. There was a significant difference in the infant's temperament perceived by premature infants' mothers and full-term infants' mothers (t=-4.08, p=.00). In subcategory, there were significant difference between premature infants' mother and full-term infants' mother in geniality(t=-3.62, p=.00), adaptation(t=-3.43, p=.00) and reaction(t=-2.01, p=.05). 2. There was a significant difference in parenting stress between premature infants' mother and full-term infants' mother(t=6.57, p=.00). The parenting stress of premature infants mothers appeared to be higher than full-term infants' mothers. They showed the higher stress in the mother-child relationship area(t=6.27, p=.00) and child area(t=7.38, p=.00) among 3 areas of parenting stress. 3. There were negative correlation between infants' temperament and parenting stress. As mothers perceived the infant's temperament negatively, the parenting stress. Especially, the negative correlation of infants' temperament and parenting stress of premature infants' mothers(r=-.44) was stronger than that of full-term infants' mothers(r=-37). From the research, as mothers of premature infants receive more stress, their stress can cause the serious problem to the relationship of the mother and the infant. Therefore, the nursing intervention should be carried out in order to change the negative perception of mothers towards their infants into the positive perception reduce the parenting stress.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.436-444
• /
• 2010

Objectives: This study aimed to assess prospectively the clinical outcome of nonsurgical endodontic treatment and identify patient- and tooth-related factors, rather than treatment-related factors, that were the best predictors of this outcome. Materials and Methods: The inception cohort comprised 441 teeth (320 patients) and 175 teeth (123 patients) were followed up for 1-2 years. Age, gender, presence of medical disease, number of canals, previous endodontic treatment, presence of sensitivity and pain, pulp vitality, swelling or sinus tract of pulpal origin on the gingiva, periapical radiolucency and tendency of unilateral bite on the affected tooth were recorded at treatment start. Results: The outcome was classified on the basis of periapical radiolucency as healed or non healed. The overall healed rate in these cases, including nonsurgical retreatment, was 81.1%. Four tooth-related factors had a negative impact in the bivariate analysis: previous endodontic treatment, necrotic pulp, preoperative gingival swelling or sinus tract of pulpal origin, and preoperative periapical radiolucency. Stepwise logistic regression analysis including patient-, tooth-related factors and level of the root canal filling as a treatment-related factor showed that preoperative gingival lesion (odds ratio [OR]: 4.4; p = 0.005), preoperative periapical radiolucency (OR: 3.6; p = 0.011), and $\leq$ 1-2 mm under root filling length (OR: 9.6; p = 0.012) were significant predictors of failure. Conclusions: A preoperative gingival lesion of pulpal origin can influence the outcome of nonsurgical endodontic treatment in addition to preoperative periapical radiolucency.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.2857-2860
• /
• 2016

Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is one of the important causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Thailand, involved in the pathogenesis and leading to a development of HCC with or without cirrhotic changes of the liver. This study was aimed to investigate the predictive factors for HCC among CHB patients in a tertiary care center in Thailand. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of CHB patients with or without HCC during the period of January 2009 and December 2014 at Thammasat University Hospital, Pathumthani, Thailand. Data on clinical characteristics, biochemical tests and radiologic findings were collected from review of medical records. Results: A total of 266 patients were diagnosed with CHB in Thammasat university hospital during the study period. However, clinical information of only 164/266 CHB patients (98 males, 66 females with mean age of 49.4 years) could be completely retrieved in this study. The prevalence of HCC in CHB infection in this study was 38/164 (23.2%). CHB patients with HCC had a mean age older than those without HCC (59.5 vs 47 years, P-value = 0.01). Furthermore, history of upper GI bleeding, tattooing, blood transfusion, and chronic alcoholism were significantly more common in CHB patients with HCC than patients without HCC (13.2% vs 3.2% P-value 0.03, OR = 4.6, 95%CI = 1.2-18.1, 20% vs 3.9%, P-value = 0.01, OR= 6.1, 95% CI= 1.6-23.6, 20% vs 6.3%, P-value = 0.03, OR = 3.8, 95%CI =1.1-12.7, 62.2% vs 30.3%, P-value <0.0001, OR = 3.7, 95%CI= 1.7-8.1 respectively). Interestingly, more CHB patients with HCC had evidence of cirrhosis than those without HCC (78.9% vs 20.4%, P-value <0.0001, OR = 14.6, 95%CI = 5.8-36.7). In CHB patients with HCC, surgical therapy provided longer survival than radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (72 vs 46.5 months, P-value= 0.04). The mean survival time after HCC diagnosis was 17.2 months. Conclusions: HCC remains a major problem among patients with CHB infection in Thailand. Possible risk factors are male gender, history of upper GI bleeding, chronic alcoholism, tattooing, blood transfusion and evidence of cirrhosis. For early stage HCC patients, surgical treatment provided longer survival time than RFA. Most HCC patients presented with advanced disease and had a grave prognosis. Appropriate screening of CHB patients at risk for HCC might be an appropriate approach for early detection and improvement of long-term outcomes.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.619-627
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Colitis is a serious health problem, and chronic obesity is associated with the progression of colitis. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of natural raw meal (NRM) on high-fat diet (HFD, 45%) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS, 2% w/v)-induced colitis in C57BL/6J mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: Body weight, colon length, and colon weight-to-length ratio, were measured directly. Serum levels of obesity-related biomarkers, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), insulin, leptin, and adiponectin were determined using commercial kits. Serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, and IL-6 were detected using a commercial ELISA kit. Histological study was performed using a hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining assay. Colonic mRNA expressions of TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were determined by RT-PCR assay. RESULTS: Body weight and obesity-related biomarkers (TG, TC, LDL, HDL, insulin, leptin, and adiponectin) were regulated and obesity was prevented in NRM treated mice. NRM significantly suppressed colon shortening and reduced colon weight-to-length ratio in HFD+DSS induced colitis in C57BL/6J mice (P < 0.05). Histological observations suggested that NRM reduced edema, mucosal damage, and the loss of crypts induced by HFD and DSS. In addition, NRM decreased the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, and IL-6 and inhibited the mRNA expressions of these cytokines, and iNOS and COX-2 in colon mucosa (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that NRM has an anti-inflammatory effect against HFD and DSS-induced colitis in mice, and that these effects are due to the amelioration of HFD and/or DSS-induced inflammatory reactions.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.103-111
• /
• 2006

Statement of problem: The previous unilateral bite force recorder has several limitations for taking long time for measuring and causing discomfort to subjects. Because of these reasons, it could not use widely for epidemiological researches. However, 'Dental Prescale System' which is new equipment for measuring bite force, is more convenient for measuring bite force than previous unilateral recorder. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare a new technique(Dental Prescale System) using pressure sensitive foils for recording of maximal jaw closing force with conventional measurement using unilateral bite force recorder Material and method: This studies included 22 healthy dental students in college of dentistry Yonsei university in Rep of Korea. Mean age was 23.9 years. All subjects had continuous dental arches and no significant malocclusion or signs from the teeth and craniomandibular system. The Dental Prescale System (Fuji Film, Tokyo, Japan) consists of a horseshoe-shaped pressure sensitive sheet (50H, R type) and a computerized scanning system.(FPD705) We also used unilateral bite force recorder(Denbotics Co. Seoul, Rep.Korea) for comparing with Dental Prescale. Results and conclusion: The total bite force recorded with Dental Prescale System (1423 N) was systematically higher than that recorded by unilateral bite force recorder. (256 N) However, the maximum bite force values measured in the two ways were significantly correlated (r=0.46, p<0.05). The Dental Prescale bite force calculated for first molar (208 N) was lower than that recorded by unilateral bite force recorder. (256 N) The two values were also very significantly correlated. (r=0.66. p<0.001) There were significantly different in bite force between two measurement methods. The reasons were first, unilateral bite force recorder measured only the bite force of a part of teeth, and Dental Prescale measured the total teeth force. Second, in measurement, a difference in muscle contraction appeared by an extent of mouth-opening. Third, unilateral bite force recorder has the reducing effect of the bite force by protective tape. Fourth, Dental Prescale has limitations during the computer scanning procedure. Therefore, Dental Prescale System is considered to be a very promising alternative to be conventional bite force recording methods.