• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.169-178
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• 2000

Background : Usually fever subsides within one week in over 90% of pulmonary tuberculosis (TBp) patients after the start of short-course anti-tuberculosis therapy, but occasionally it persists over two weeks after treatment. When the fever persists, drug resistance, combined infection, or drug fever, and so on, are considered as an etiology and, in some cases, drugs are changed. But inadvertent discontinuation of a short-course regimen inevitably will extend the duration of treatment, and the treatment completion may be delayed. This study was performed to investigate the causes of prolonged fever (PF) and to identify the predictors of PF in drug-susceptible TBp patients in Korea. Method : Five hundred-ninety-eight patients, who were admitted to Asan Medical Center from January 1996 to March 1999, diagnosed with TBp and prescribed short-course, anti-tuberculosis treatment, were reviewed. PF was defined as having fever over two weeks despite treatment. The causes of PF were analyzed. Drug-sus-ceptible TBp patients who presented no causes for PF, except turberculosis itself, were selected(n=22), and they were compared with those who had no fever at diagnosis (n=22) and those who had fever at diagnosis, which had subsided within two weeks after treatment (n=22). Clinical, laboratory, and radiological parameters were compared among the three groups. Results : Twenty-eight (4.8%) of 598 patients showed PF over two weeks despite short-course treatment. The causes of PF were drug fever (n=2), multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (n=3), disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection (n=1), and drug-susceptible tuberculosis itself (n=22). The patients with PF had more risk factors for tuberculosis, long duration of symptoms before treatment, night sweats, weight long, numerous acid fast bacilli on sputum smear, anemia, hyponatremia, hypoalbuminemia, over three lung cavity numbers and extensive infiltration, indicating that they had prolonged and extensive lung diseases. Conclusion : The main cause of PF in TBp despite short-course regimen seems to be drug-susceptible but extensive disease in Korea. Any changes to the drug regiment provided for TBp patients with prolonged fever despite treatment should be carefully considered.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.585-593
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• 2000

Background : International consensus guidelines have recently been developed to improve the assessment and management of asthma. One of the major recommendation of these guidelines is that asthma severity should be assessed through the recognition of key symptoms, such as nocturnal waking, medication requirements, and objective measurements of lung function. Differential classification of asthma severity would lead to major differences in both long term pharmacological management and the treatment of severe exacerbation. Methods : This study examined the relationship between the symptom score and measurements of $FEV_1$ and PEF when expressed as a percentage of predicted values in asthmatics (n=107). Results : The correlation of $FEV_1$ % with PEFR% was highly significant (r=0.83, p<0.01). However, there was agreement in terms of the classification of asthma severity in 76.6% of the paired measurements of $FEV_1$ % and PEFR%. Agreement in the classification of asthma severity was also found in 57.1% of the paired analysis of $FEV_1$ % and symptom score. 39% of the patients classified as having moderate asthma on the basis of $FEV_1$ % recording would be considered to have severe asthma if symptom score alone were used. Low baseline $FEV_1$ and high bronchial responsiveness were associated with a low degree of perception of airway obstruction. Conclusion : The relationships between the symptom score, PEFR and $FEV_1$ were generally poor. When assessing asthma severity, age, duration, $PC_{20}$, and baseline $FEV_1$ should be considered.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.311-316
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• 1999

Background: The drug-resistant tuberculosis has recently decreased in Korea, but it is still one of the major obstacles in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Unfortunately there are no reliable ways to figure out the drug sensitivity pattern of the M. tuberculosis in the starting point of treatment. At least several months which is critical for the success of treatment have to be passed away before getting the report of drug-sensitivity test. The aim of this study was to find out the clinical and radiological parameters that make it possible to predict the drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis and to make a correct decision on the antituberculosis drug regimens. Method: We studied 253 pulmonary TB patients with sputum and/or bronchial washing fluid culture-positive diagnosed at the Chung-Ang University Young-San Hospital in the period of 1989-1994. The differences in the clinical and raiological variables between the drug-sensitive and the drug-resistant tuberculosis patients were evaluated. Results: In 66 out of 253 patients(26.1%), drug resistant tuberculosis to at least one antituberculosis drug were found. Patients with retreatment showed higher resistance rate than those with initial treatment(30/69, 43.5% vs 36/184, 19.5%, p<0.01). Patients with cavitary TB showed higher resistance rate than those with non-cavitary TB(24/54, 44.4% vs 42/199, 21.1%, p<0.05). Among patients with initial treatment, those with far-advanced TB showed a higher drug resistance rate than those with minimal lesion(9/23, 36.9% vs 10/82, 12.5%, p<0.05). Patients with culture positive only in the bronchial washing fluid showed lower resistance rate than those with sputum culture positive(7/63, 11.1 % vs 59/190, 31.1%, p<0.05). Conclusion: Prior treatment history for pulmonary tuberculosis, the presence of cavity & far advanced tuberculosis in the radiologic exam, sputum rather than solely bronchial washing culture positivity would be the related factors to the drug resistance. So in the patients with such characteristics, it is needed to try to find out the drug sensitivity pattern of the infecting tuberculosis organism as soon as possible.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.364-373
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• 2004

Background : Obstructive sleep apnea is a contributory factor of hypertension, arrhythmia, ischemic heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. However, the pathophysiology underlying this relationship is unclear. Recent reports have shown that the soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1(sICAM-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) are involved in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, and some reports state that increased levels of these cytokines are found in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. In this study, the levels of sICAM-1 and VEGF were measured in patients with obstructive sleep apnea in order to determine if obstructive sleep apnea is involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases. Methods : Thirty-seven patients were chosen amongst a population who visited the Sleep Disorders Clinic of St. Paul's Hospital in Seoul, Korea for a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and who had subsequently undergone an overnight polysomnography at the clinic. The sera from these patients were retrieved after an overnight polysomnography session and the samples were kept at $-70^{\circ}C$. The cytokine levels were determined with ELISA and the relationships between the serum levels of sICAM-1 and VEGF along with polysomnography parameters were analyzed. Results : No statistically significant correlation was observed between the sICAM-1 levels and the apnea-hypopnea index(r=0.27, P>0.05). Positive correlations were found between the apnea-hypopnea index and serum VEGF levels (r=0.50, P<0.01), the apnea index and the serum sICAM-1 levels (r=0.31, P<0.01), and the apnea index and the serum VEGF levels (r=0.45, P<0.01). Conclusions : Obstructive apnea or hypopnea leads to an increase in the sICAM-1 and VEGF levels. Such an increase in the cytokine levels most likely leads to the higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases observed in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.89 no.2
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• pp.275-284
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• 2000

This study was carried out to analyze the mechanical properties of soil and the slope stability on the fill slope of forest road constructed in the regions which consist of igneous and metamorphic rock area. The results were summarized as follows. 1) Soil type by Unified Soil Classification System(USCS) was classified as SW in soil slope, GP in weathered rock slope, GP in soft rock slope for both types of parent rock, but gravelly soil slopes in igneous and metamorphic rock area were classified as SP and GW, respectively. 2) Dry unit weight was $1.34g/cm^2{\sim}1.59g/cm^2$, specific gravity 0.57~0.61, and void ratio 0.66~0.93 in the case of igneous rock area, a dry unit weight was $1.35g/cm^2{\sim}1.51g/cm^2$, specific gravity 2.67~2.77, and void ratio 0.78~1.01 in the case of metamorphic rock area. 3) The strength parameters such as internal friction angle(${\phi}$) and cohesion(c) were selected and tested for slope stability analysis. ${\phi}$ and c of soil in igneous rock area were within the range of $29.51^{\circ}{\sim}41.82^{\circ}$ and $0.03kg/cm^2{\sim}0.38kg/cm^2$, respectively, and $21.43^{\circ}{\sim}41.43^{\circ}$ and $0.05kg/cm^2{\sim}0.44kg/cm^2$ in metamorphic rock area, respectively. 4) Result of the slope stability analysis of forest road showed that, in the weathered rock slope of igneous rock and the weathered rock and soil slope of metamorphic rock area, the possibility of slope failure was high as safety factor was below 1.0.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.120-129
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• 1996

This study was carried out to investigate the hydraulic architecture such as relative hydraulic conductivity, Leaf specific conductivity(LSC), Huber value, Specific conductivity of the stem, branch and Junctions of stem-to-branch in Quercus mongolica trees. The hydraulic architecture of various hydraulic conductivities of stem and branch was described. The results obtained were summarized as follows : 1. The range of relative hydraulic conductivity was $2.5526{\times}10^{-12}$ to $1.2260{\times}10^{-10}m^2$ in stems, $1.6279{\times}10^{-11}$ to $6.8378{\times}10^{-11}m^2$ in branches. The relative hydraulic conductivities increased with decreasing diameter of stem and branch. The relative hydraulic conductivity of one-year-old terminal shoots were two times greater than that of the lateral shoots. 2. LSC value was larger at the top than at the base in stem. LSC is much smaller in branches than in stem ; especially smallest at branching part. 3. Hydraulic conductivities of the branching part appeared the different values with the 4 type and 4 type. Relative hydraulic conductivity, LSC, Specific conductivity and mean vessel diameter in type branching part were larger in stem than in branch part, but not found in the branching part of Y type. 4. LSC and Specific conductivity of stem increased with decreasing diameter, but Huber value slowly increased with decreasing diameter ; especially highest at less than 1cm diameter. 5. LSC, Huber value, and mean diameter of vessels were larger at 1-year-old leader shoots than at lateral shoots. 6. The mean vessel diameter in various parts of a tree decreased with decreasing diameter of stem, but the number of vessels per unit area($mm^{-2}$) increased reversely. Mean vessel diameter in stem decreased sharply at earlywood and slowly at latewood with decreasing diameter of stem.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.43-71
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• 1999

This research is an experimental work of developing a construction material using municipal wastewater sludge as liner and cover materials for waste disposal landfill. Weathered granite soil and flyash, produced as a by-product in the power plant, were used as the primary additives to improve geotechnical engineering properties of sludge. For secondary additives, bentonite and cement were mixed with sludge to decrease the permeability and to increase the shear strength, respectively. Various laboratory test required to evaluate the design criteria for liner and cover materials, were carried out by changing the mixing ratio of sludge with the additives. Basic soil properties such as specific gravity, grain size distribution, liquid and plastic limits were measured to analyze their effects on permeability, compaction, compressibility and shear strength properties of mixtures. Laboratory compaction tests were conducted to find the maximum dry densities and the optimum moisture contents of mixtures, and their effectiveness of compaction in field was consequently evaluated. Permeability tests of variable heads with compacted samples, and the stress-controlled consolidation tests with measuring permeabilities of samples during consolidation process were performed to obtain permeability, and to find the compressibility as well as consolidational coefficients of mixtures, respectively. To evaluate the long term stability of sludges, creep tests were also conducted in parallel with permeability tests of variable heads. On the other hand, for the compacted sludge decomposed for a month, permeability tests were carried out to investigate the effect of decomposition of organic matters in sludges on its permeability. Direct shear tests were performed to evaluate the shear strength parameters of mixed sludge with weathered granite, flyash and bentonite. For the mixture of sludge with cement, unconfined compression tests were carried out to find their strength with varying mixing ratio and curing time. On the other hand, CBR tests for compacted specimen were also conducted to evaluate the trafficability of mixtures. Various test results with mixtures were assessed to evaluate whether their properties meet the requirements as liner and cover materials in waste disposal landfill.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2006

This study was undertaken to compare the tooth and arch size between crowding patient and normal subjects. Two group of dental casts were selected on the basis of crowding patients and normal subjects. One group, consisting of 40 pair of dental casts(20 male and 20 female), exhibited noncrowded dentitions. A second group, consisting of 40 pairs of dental cast(21 male and 21 female), exhibited remarkably crowding need for orthodontic treatment. Tooth width measurements were made with a sliding digital caliper with Vernier scale neared 0.01 mm. Mean, standard deviation, T-test of the following parameters were used to compare two group : individual mesiodistal crown widths, arch width and arch length. The following result were obtained. In the mesiodistal crown widths, normal subjects had generalized larger teeth than Wheeler's results(human tooth size index), except for maxillary central incisor, maxillary 2nd premolar, mandibular canine, and mandibular 1st molar. In the orthodontic patients with crowded dentitions, the mesiodistal tooth crown widths were generalized larger teeth than noncrowded normal subjects. In the arch width and arch length, the crowded dentition group had smaller arch width and arch length than the normal group.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2018

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of combination of air temperature and soil water contents on growth, physiological disorder rate, and yield of garlic. This experiments has been carried out in the typical plastic house (one side open and other side installed ventilation fans) which was maintained gradient air temperature (maximum different value of air temperature : $6^{\circ}C$). The excessive irrigation (EI) set at $0.34m^3/m^3$ soil moisture contents. The significant differences found in the growth parameters of garlics as affected by air temperature and soil moisture conditions. The plant height of garlic with combination of ambient $(A)+6^{\circ}C$ and optimal irrigation (OI; set at $0.22m^3/m^3$ soil moisture contents) treatments represented 47.4 cm/plant, which was the highest among all the tested treatments. The leaf length and width showed the greatest, which were 16.1 and 2.4 cm/plant, respectively, in $A+6^{\circ}C-OI$. The physiological disorder ratio was higher as 12.9% at $A+6^{\circ}C-OI$ and was not occurred at ambient temperature with EI compared with OI treatment. The bulb and clove weight were dramatically decreased at $A+6^{\circ}C$ temperature treatment. The yields were decreased by 51% in OI at $A+6^{\circ}C$ and $A+3^{\circ}C$ temperature treatment. Those results indicated that yields were decreased and ratio of physiological disorders was increased by high temperature treatments.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.65-77
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• 1996

Using the 2-D and 3-D Hoffman brain phantom, 3-D Jaszczak phantom and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, the effects of data acquisition parameter, attenuation, noise, scatter and reconstruction algorithm on image quantitation as well as image quality were studied. For the data acquisition parameters, the images were acquired by changing the increment angle of rotation and the radius. The less increment angle of rotation resulted in superior image quality. Smaller radius from the center of rotation gave better image quality, since the resolution degraded as increasing the distance from detector to object increased. Using the flood data in Jaszczak phantom, the optimal attenuation coefficients were derived as 0.12cm$\^$-1/ for all collimators. Consequently, the all images were corrected for attenuation using the derived attenuation coefficients. It showed concave line profile without attenuation correction and flat line profile with attenuation correction in flood data obtained with jaszczak phantom. And the attenuation correction improved both image qulity and image quantitation. To study the effects of noise, the images were acquired for 1min, 2min, 5min, 10min, and 20min. The 20min image showed much better noise characteristics than 1min image indicating that increasing the counting time reduces the noise characteristics which follow the Poisson distribution. The images were also acquired using dual-energy windows, one for main photopeak and another one for scatter peak. The images were then compared with and without scatter correction. Scatter correction improved image quality so that the cold sphere and bar pattern in Jaszczak phantom were clearly visualized. Scatter correction was also applied to 3-D Hoffman brain phantom and resulted in better image quality. In conclusion, the SPECT images were significantly affected by the factors of data acquisition parameter, attenuation, noise, scatter, and reconstruction algorithm and these factors must be optimized or corrected to obtain the useful SPECT data in clinical applications.