• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.68-76
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• 2012

Purpose: The study was designed to verify effects of aromatherapy on depression, anxiety and the autonomic nervous system in breast cancer patients who are undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy. Methods: Data were collected from November 2006 through March 2007 at the C university hospital in Seoul. The study included 33 patients and they were assigned to three groups. Group I had aroma oil inhalation for 2 minutes per time, three times a day for six weeks whereas Group II and a control group inhaled aroma oil for 2 minutes per time, once a day for six weeks. For Groups I and II, a mixture of lemon, lavender, rosewood and rose essential oils were used while control group inhaled tea tree oil. Results: Depression was significantly decreased in patients in the experimental groups only. In Groups I and II patients, anxiety level was lower than that in control patients. Patients in Groups I and II also showed stronger physical resistance to stress than control group patients. Conclusion: Aromatherapy should be considered as a method that can significantly decrease depression in breast cancer patients who are undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-167
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• 2003

Identification of salmonellosis-infected commercial poultry flocks has become a pivotal component of efforts to reduce incidence of egg-associated transmission of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium to humans. As a basic study for sanitary control of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium, main food-borne pathogenic bacteria in eggs produced by domestic hens, commercial egg samples were tested for specific antibodies to whole cells of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium and outer membrane protein(OMP) of S. typhimurium by ELISA to detect infection of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium in various groups of hens. When the antibody titers of yolks from three commercial brand eggs were tested after diluting in the ratio from 1:100 to 1:1,600 with double dilution method, ELISA values of the specific antibodies could be shown as differences in dilution patterns by comparing with negative control egg. When the antibody titers of the yolks from two commercial brand eggs were tested after diluting in the ratio of 1:200 and 1:1,000, ELISA values of specific antibodies were different among same brand eggs. When the antibody titers of yolks from five eggs sampled randomly from twenty one commercial brand eggs were tested after diluting in the ratio of 1:1,000, ELISA value of the specific antibodies were shown generally high. ELISA values of 28.5, 30, and 28.5% of yolks from 21 brand eggs were shown low and similar to negative control egg in antibody titers to whole cells of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium and OMP of S. typhimurium, respectively. The results demonstrated that ELISA test of egg yolk antibody could provide a highly sensitive indicator to detect contamination of S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis in poultry, and could be used effectively to reduce incidence of S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis infection in poultry.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2001

Background : Perfusion scans are accurate predictors of postoperative lung function. There are few previous studies aimed at predicting the postoperative exercise capacity using the perfusion scanning and those that did reported contradictory results. Method : We prospectively studied the preoperative spirometric, exercise tests and perfusion scans from in 49 consecutive patients who were admitted to Inha University Hospital with surgically resectable lung cancer from Jan. 1998 to Jun. 1999 29 patients who had any condition affecting the lung function and exercise capacity, or refused a surgical resection or a follow-up study were excluded. Spirometric and exercise tests were performed 6 months after operation in 20 patients. Results : The predicted postoperative $FEV_1$, FVC and TLC correlated well with the following corresponding postoperative values : $r_s$ and p value, 0.809 and 0.000 for the $FEV_1$ 0.895 and 0.000 for the FVC ; 0.741 and 0.006 for the TLC, respectively. The measured postoperative exercise values were slightly higher than the postoperative exercise values predicted, $VO_{2max}$ and $Wr_{max}$, were as 112% of $VO_{2max}$ predicted and 119% of $WR_{max}$ predicted. The change in $FEV_1$, FVC and TLC had a weak correlation with the change in $VO_{2max}$ and $WR_{max}$. Conclusion : The perfusion scan was a useful tool for predicting the postoperative exercise capacity. However, they had a tendency to underestimate the exercise capacity, especially in the patients who had a pneumonectomy. A weak correlation between the change in lung function and exercise capacity was observed.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.196-204
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• 2001

Background : Bronchial asthma is characterized by a reversible airway obstruction, airway hyperresponsiveness, and eosinophilic airway inflammation. The bronchodilator response(BDR) after short acting beta agonist inhalation and PC20 with methacholine inhalation are frequently used for diagnosing bronchial asthma. However, the relationship between the presence of a bronchodilator response and the degree of airway hyperresponsiveness is uncertain. Therefore, the availability of a eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and a correlation ECP with a bronchodilator response and airway hyperresponsiveness was investigated. Method : A total 71 patients with a moderate to severe degree of bronchial asthma were enrolled and divided into two groups. 31 patients with a positive bronchodilator response and 38 patients with a negative bronchodilator response were evaluated. In both groups, the serum ECP, peripheral blood eosinophil counts, and total IgE level were measured and the methacholine bronchial provocation test was examined. Results : There were no differences observed in age, sex, atopy, and baseline spirometry in both groups. The peripheral eosinophil counts showed no difference in both groups, but the ECP level in group 1 (bronchodilator responder group) was higher than in group 2(non-bronchodilator responder group) ($22.4{\pm}20.7$ vs $14.2{\pm}10.4$, mean$\pm$SD). The PC20 in group 1 was significantly lower than in group 2 ($1.14{\pm}1.68$ vs $66{\pm}2.98$). There was a significant positive correlation between the BDR and ECP, and a negative correlation between the bronchial hyperresponsiveness and ECP. Conclusion : The bronchodilator response significantly correlated with the bronchial hyperresponsiveness and serum ECP in the moderate to severe asthma patients. Hence, the positive bronchodilator response is probably related with active bronchial inflammation and may be used as a valuable index in treatment, course and prognosis of bronchial asthma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.693-700
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• 1996

Background : Antituberculous therapy is set a short-term therpy used isoniazid(INH), rifampin(RFP), ethambutol(EMB), pyrazinamide(PZA) from 1970s' and treatment rate has been very improved. But drug interruption or irregular medication due to side effects and resistance of drug are serious problem to retreatment cases, specially. Ofloxasine(OFX), developed from Quinolone at 1980's is effective not only other respiratory infectious disease but also pulmonary tube rculosis. And this is useful drug instead of injection agents for retreatment patients who have side effects to other drugs, lived far distance from medical clinics. So, we will evaluate theffectiveness as four oral drugs involving OFX. Method : A retrospective study was made through the regular follow up of smear positive cases,who treated by four drug, namely, prothionamide (PTA) cycloserine(CS), OFX, paraminosalicylic acid(pAS). Results: 1) Out of 66case with positive sputum AFB smear, 42(64%)cases achieved the negative conversion. 2) Considering the negative conversion in all group, 34 case (52%) of sputum conversion occured within first 6 months, on the extent of diease was minimal, moderate, far advanced pulmonary tuberculosis, sputum AFB smear negative response to treatment was 100%, 78%, 46% respectively. 3) The roentgenological improvement occured in 38(58%), extent of diease was minimal, moderately, far advanced pulmonary tuberculosis, Roentgenological improvement to retreatment was 75%, 64%, 46%. 4) When the drnation of patients illness was less than 1 year, 1 to 3 years, 3 10 5 years and more than 5 years, sputum AFB smear negative response to retreatment was 100%, 88%, 80%, 52 %. 5) On side effects, major problems are gastrointestinal troubles, mild liver function abnormality, psychotic problemes, and skin problem(urticaria, itching sensation). Conclusion : The duration & extents of patients illness was shorter & minimal, sputum AFB smear negative response rate was better. Radiologic response is better as shorter duration and minimal extent of diease. But, as diease is longer duration & far advanced, sputum negative conversion & Roentgenological improvement is poor and limited. The adverse reaction was mainly observed gastrointestinal troubles(indigestion, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea) and are well controled by symptomatic management in most patients, as regard to tolerance to the secondary drugs.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.478-487
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• 2003

Background : There have been several studies showing that the angiotensin II and angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE) contributes to the apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells in idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and the activation of fibroblasts during the process of pulmonary fibrosis. These results suggest that the pulmonary fibrosis can be inhibited by the angiotensin II receptor antagonist(AGIIRA). This study was performed to identify the therapeutic effect of AGIIRA in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF). Method : Thirteen patients with IPF, who were diagnosed with an open lung biopsy(6 patients) and furfilling the ATS criteria(7 patients) between March 1999 and October 2001 at the Gachon medical center, were enrolled in this study. Of these patients, eight patients were treated with a regimen including AGIIRA(AT group), and five were treated without AGIIRA(NT group). The pulmonary function tests and dyspnea(ATS scale) were measured at diagnosis and 1 year after treatment. All the data was collected to analyze the therapeutic effect of AGIIRA on the patients with IPF. Results : The AT group contained 8 patients(M:F=4:4) and the NT group contained 5 patients(M:F=3:2). There was no significant difference in the serum angiotensin II level between the two groups($202.5{\pm}58.5$ vs $163.7{\pm}47.3pg/ml$, p>0.05). The AT group showed an upward trend in TLC(+3%), FVC(+4%), FEV1(+3%) and DLco(+2%) compared to the NT group(TLC(-14%), FVC(-3%), FEV1(-4%) except for DLco(+5%)). The dyspnea score in the AT group improved significantly but not in the NT group. Conclusion : These results suggest that the angiotensin II receptor antagonist may have an effect on stabilizing IPF.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.44-48
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• 2006

Background : Isoniazid (INH) is one of the most effective anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs. In Korea, the dose of INH normally used in patients over 50 kg is 400 mg/day, which differs from the dose recommended by other countries. Indeed, the metabolism of INH shows ethnic variations, and Koreans are predominantly rapid acetylators. However, two reports suggested 300 mg of INH might be sufficient to reach an ideal peak level in Korean patients over 50 kg. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness and adverse reactions between INH 300 mg and 400 mg in Korean TB patients. Method : Patients who were culture-positive, susceptible to all 1st-line drugs, initially on HREZ, and weighed over 50 kg were selected from patients with pulmonary TB between April 2003 and March 2005. The treatment results and adverse reactions in the INH 300 mg and 400 mg group were compared. Since April 2004, most TB patients at Asan Medical Center were administered INH 300 mg irrespective of the body weight. Results : The study included 123 patients in the 300 mg INH group and 128 in the 400 mg INH group. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of age, gender, weight, history of TB treatment, initial smear strength, and frequency of cavitary lesions. There was no difference in the treatment duration between the groups. One hundred eleven (90%) patients in the INH 300 mg group and 102 (80%) in the INH 400 mg group completed treatment (p>0.05). There were no differences in the frequency of modification of the initial regimen between groups due to any adverse reactions (300 mg : 9.0%, 400 mg : 13.7%) and hepatotoxicity (300 mg : 2.7% ; 400 mg : 7.8%). Conclusion : Considering treatment results and adverse reactions of two groups, 300mg of INH may be sufficient for treating Korean TB patients. Further studies comparing the frequency of relapse will be needed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2005

Purpose : Selective inhibition of multiple molecular targets may improve the antitumor activity of radiation. Two specific inhibitors of selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were combined with radiation on the HeLa cell line. To investigate cooperative mechanism with selective COX-2 inhibitor and EGFR blocker, in vitro experiments were done. Materials and Methods : Antitumor effect was obtained by growth inhibition and apoptosis analysis by annexin V-Flous method. Radiation modulation effects were determined by the clonogenic cell survival assay. Surviving fractions at 2 Gy ($SF_2$) and dose enhancement ratio at a surviving fraction of 0.25 were evaluated. To investigate the mechanism of the modulation of radiosensitivity, the cell cycle analyses were done by flow cytometry. The bcl-2 and bax expressions were analyzed by western blot. Results : A cooperative effect were observed on the apoptosis of the HeLa ceil line when combination of the two drugs, AG 1478 and NS 398 with radiation at the lowest doses, apoptosis of $22.70\%$ compare with combination of the one drug with radiation, apoptosis of $8.49\%$. In cell cycle analysis, accumulation of cell on $G_0/G_l$ phase and decrement of S phase fraction was observed from 24 hours to 72 hours after treatment with radiation, AG 1478 and NS 398. The combination of NS 398 and AG 1478 enhanced radiosensitivity on a concentration-dependent manner in HeLa cells with dose enhancement ratios of 3.00 and $SF_2$ of 0.12 but the combination of one drug with radiation was not enhanced radlosensitivity with dose enhancement ratios of 1.12 and SF2 of 0.68 (p=0.005). The expression levels of bcl-2 and bax were reduced when combined with AG 1478 and NS 398. Conclusion : Our results indicate that the selective COX-2 inhibitor and EGFR blocker combined with radiation have potential additive or cooperative effects on radiation treatment and may act through various mechanisms including direct inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, suppression of tumor cell cycle progression and inhibition of anti-apoptotic proteins.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.319-326
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• 1996

The objective of this study was to investigate correlation between the morphology by microscopic assessments of surplus blastocysts produced in human IVF program and their cell number obtained by differential labelling method. For these experiments, 76 surplus human blastocysts were obtained from 36 patients on day 5 after IVF, the embryos were classified to early (ErB), early expanding (EEB), middle expanding (MEB), expanded blastocyst (EdB) according to their blastocoel expansion and zona thickness. When the ovum size and zona thickness of the classified blastocysts were measured using micrometer, although the embryos were produced in the same culture condition, there were significant variances in ovum size ($148.8 217.6{\mu}m$) and zona thickness ($1.2-14.4{\mu}m$). Total blastomere cell number counted after hoechst staining was increased by two to three fold during the transition period from ErB ($39.1{\pm}3.6$) to EdB ($(89.6{\pm}3.3)$) stage on day 5 after IVF. ICM ($11.9{\pm}1.8-22.2{\pm}4.3$) and TE ($24.5{\pm}3.6-70.0{\pm}7.7$) cell numbers using differential labelling were also showed the increased pattern according to the developmental level. Especially, EdB which showed poor ICM morphologically also indicated the low ICM cell number after differential labelling. This demonstrated that there is good correlation between the morphological assessment and the cell number. The count of ICM and TE nuclei using differential labelling can be used as an important criterion, if it is accompanied with morphological assessments, in selecting the better embryos for improving the pregnancy rates in human blastocyst transfer program.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.51-63
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• 2013

To assess the effect of environmental factors on the sustainability of cultured production shellfish, we investigated the habitat characteristics of tidal flat (Namhae-po in Taean). We measured the physiochemical parameters (temperature, salanity, pH, dissolved oxygen and nutrients) and the geochemical characteristics (chemical oxygen demand, ignition loss, C/N ratio and C/S ratio). Surface sediments were collected from several site of tidal flat to examine the geochemical characteristics of both the benthic environment and heavy metal pollution. The grain size for research area of tidal flat were similar at the ratio of silt and clay in comparison with the other site of it. The C/N ratio was more than 5.0, reflecting the range arising from the mix of marine organism and organic matter. The C/S ratio (about 2.8) showed that survey area had anoxic or sub-anoxic bottom conditions. The enrichment factor (Ef) and index of accumulation rate (Igeo) of the metals showed that those research areas can be classified as heavily polluted, heavily to moderately polluted, or more or less unpolluted, respectively. Adult surf clam (Mactra veneriformis) density was highest at St. 2 (middle part of the Namhae-po), on the other hand, surf clam spat density was highest at St. 3 (lower part of the Namhae-po). Heavy rain, terrigenous suspended clay with fresh water from neighboring agricultural land, and severe high air temperature during summer could be thought as detrimental causes of spat and adult mortality in Namhae-po tidal flat. We suggested that the growth of shellfish in the tidal flat was effected by the various environmental conditions, so an improvement in the cultured method was needed.