• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.39-50
• /
• 2002

Hypercholesterolemia is one of main causes of coronary heart disease(CHD). Clinical trials demonstrated that lowering serum cholesterol levels would reduce incidence of new cardiovascular events and mortality by primary or secondary preventions. The objective of this retrospective study was to compare efficacy and side effects of lovartatin and simvastatin in treatement of hypercholesterolemia. In Boramae Hospital, patients were included when they have taken lovastatin 20 mg or simvastatin 10 mg for 52 weeks with laboratory monitoring for cholesterol at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 month period. As results, total 128 outpatients were included with their total cholesterol level <240 mg/dl and triglyceride level <400 mg/dl at baseline. Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol of lovastatin group (n=60) and simvastatin group (n=68) were significantly reduced from baseline (p=0.001). Lovastatin maximally reduced total cholesterol by $23.9\%,\;triglyceride\;by\;12.3\%$, LDL cholesterol by $36.1\;\%$ and increased HDL cholerterol by $7.8\%$ and simvastatin reduced by $24.1\%,\;20.5\%,\;34.3\%\;respectively$ and HDL increased by $11.2\%$. There were no significant differences between lovastatin and simvastatin in mean percent change of lipid levels at 12, 24 and 52 weeks from baseline. Cumulative percentage of patients reaching the target LDL cholesterol concentration by 24 weeks was $61.7\%$ in lovastatin and $64.7\%$ in simvastatin. Average time to reach the target LDL goal was 100.1 days in lovastatin and 99.8 days in simvastatin. Both lovastatin and simvastatin also significantly reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in all subgroups (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and coronary heart disease). In this study, treatment efficacy in patients with coronary heart disease was lower than other patients. Considering clinical importance of secondary prevention, more intensive treatment is necessary to decrease LDL cholesterol level of 100 mg/dl or lower in patients with coronary heart disease or other clinical atherosclerotic disease. There were no serious side effects during the study period. Digestive side effects were most frequently reported (lovastatin $8.3\%\;vs\;simvastatin\;8.8\%$). In conclusion, both lovastatin and simvastatin were similar in lipid lowering effects and there was no difference in incidence of side effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.25 no.7
• /
• pp.927-935
• /
• 2019

Screw-failure accidents in small ships frequently occur in coastal waters. In particular, vessels' propulsion systems are frequently coiled due to objects such as fish-nets and ropes that float on the sea. The failure of the ship's propulsion system can cause primary accidents such as ship operation delays and drifting due to loss of power; furthermore, the possibility of secondary accidents such as those involving operators in the underwater removal of rope stuck in a propeller. Ships that do not have the proper tools to solve these problems must be either lifted onto land to be repaired or divers must dive directly under the ship to solve the problem. Accordingly, some small vessels have been equipped with rope-cutter devices on the propeller shaft to prevent ship propeller system accidents in recent years; however, they are not being applied efficiently due to the cost and time of installation. To solve these problems, this study develops an underwater rope-cutter device and controller for the removal of propeller and shaft foreign material in small vessels. This device has simple structures that use the principle of a saw. Meteor gears and crank pins were used for the straight-line rotation of saw blades of the underwater rope-cutters to allow for long strokes. Furthermore, the underwater rope-cutting machines can be operated by being connected to the ship battery. The user, a non-professional, can ensure convenience and stability by applying reverse current prevention and a speed control circuit so that it can be used more conveniently and safely.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.263-275
• /
• 2008

Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) is one of significant risk factors of developing diabetes. The persons with IFG are, thus, an important target group for primary prevention of diabetes. It is well known that plasma homocysteine concentration may be increased in poor folate nutritional status. Elevated level of plasma homocysteine is considered as a marker of enhanced oxidative stress. In addition, the protective effect against oxidative stress may be diminished in poor antioxidative nutrient status as vitamin C. It is, therefore, important to maintain adequate nutritional status of folate and vitamin C in the patients with type 2 diabetes or IFG. This study was performed to determine the effects of supplementation of folic acid or vitamin C on plasma concentrations of homocysteine, oxidized LDL, and lipids and on the activity of plasma anti-oxidative enzyme in patients with IFG. A total of 97 patients with IFG were participated voluntarily with written consents. They were divided into one of the four experimental groups; Control (C), Folatesupplemented (F), Ascorbate-supplemented (A), and Folate plus ascorbate-supplemented (FA). The subjects in C were taken placebo, those in F were supplemented 1 mg of folate, those in A were received 1,000 mg of vitamin C, and those in FA were given 1 mg of folate plus 1,000 mg of vitamin C daily for 4 weeks. No change in plasma concentrations of vitamin C, lipids, and oxidized LDL and the activity of GSH-Px were observed in vitamin C-supplemented group (A + FA) and folate-supplemented group (F + FA) compared to the placebo group (C + A). Only the folate-supplemented group (F + FA) had significantly increased average serum folate concentration and lowered plasma homocysteine concentration compared to the placebo group (C + A). Thus, it should be recommended the patients with IFG to increase folate intake through diets and, if it is not sufficient, to take folic acid supplements to prevent the development of complications induced by hyperhomocysteinemia as well as oxidative stress.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.518-526
• /
• 2007

There have been serious soil erosion and water pollution problems caused by highland agriculture practices at Doam-dam watershed. Especially agricultural activities, chemical and organic fertilizer and pesticide applications, soil reconditioning to maintain soil fertility are known as primary causes of soil erosion and water qaulity degradation in the receiving water bodies. Among these, soil reconditioning can accelerate soil erosion rates. To develop soil erosion prevention practices, it is necessary to estimate the soil erosion from the watershed. Thus, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model has been developed and utilized to assess soil erosion. However, the USLE model cannot be used at watershed scale because it does not consider sediment delivery ratio (SDR) for watershed application. For this reason, the Sediment Assessment Tool for Effective Erosion Control (SA TEEC) was developed to assess the sediment yield at any point in the watershed. The USLE-based SA TEEC system can estimate the SDR using area-based SDR and slope-based SDR module. In this study, the SATEEC system was used to estimate soil erosion and sediment yield at the Doam-dam watershed using the soil properties from reconditioned agricultural fields. Based on the soil sampling and analysis, the US LE K factor was calculated and used in the SA TEEC system to analyze the possible errors of previous USLE application studies using soil properties from the digital soil map, and compared with that using soil properties obtained in this study. The estimated soil erosion at the Doam-dam watershed without using soil properties obtained in the soil sampling and analysis is 1,791,400 ton/year (123 ton/ha/year), while the soil erosion amount is 2,429,900 ton/year (166.8 ton/ha/year) with the use of soil properties from the soil sampling and analysis. There is 35 % increase in estimated soil erosion and sediment yield with the use of soil properties from soil reconditioned agricultural fields. Since significant amount of soil erosion are known to be occurring from the agricultural fields, the soil erosion and sediment yield from only agricultural fields was assessed. The soil erosion rate is 45.9 ton/ha/year without considering soil properties from soil reconditioned agricultural fields, while 105.3 ton/ha/year after considering soil properties obtained in this study, increased in 129%. This study shows that it is very important to use correct soil properties to assess soil erosion and sediment yield simulation. It is recommended that further studies are needed to develop environment friendly soil reconditioning method should be developed and implemented to decrease the speed of soil erosion rates and water quality degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.187-193
• /
• 2016

In this study, we performed the carotid artery ultrasound targeting 140 subjects who have conducted to evaluate the changes in intima-media thickness(IMT) and plaque correlated with the presence or absence of a hematological test of the carotid artery. Considering that the IMT thickness more than 1mm is abnormal based on the carotid artery ultrasound to assess the presence or absence of plaque, and examined the correlation by classifying the blood lipid value and the fasting blood glucose level through the serum test. Consequently, the fasting blood glucose level is being analyzed as independent predictors of causing dental plaque(p=0.033), cut off value was determined as 126 mg/dL(sensitivity 56.25%, specificity 68.38%) in ROC curve analysis. Furthermore, the odds ratio appeared 1.01 times the value in the Logistic regression. Therefore, it seemed that the necessity to prospective studies in a number of subjects are considered, and also taking into account a number of blood test values along with the sonography of the carotid artery as a valuable part for effective primary prevention and follow-up observation of the cardiac and brain vascular disease is highly recommended.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.213-221
• /
• 2010

Objectives: Plasma lipid profiles and Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) are established risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The knowledge of lipid profile may estimate the potential victims of cardiovascular disease before its initiation and progression and offers the opportunity for primary prevention. The most common ApoE polymorphism has been found to influence plasma lipid concentrations and its correlation with CVD has been extensively investigated in the last decade. Methods: The ApoE polymorphism and its influence on plasma lipid were investigated in healthy woman workers. The information on confounding factors was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire and ApoE polymorphism was investigated using PCR. Results: The relative frequencies of alleles E2, E3 and E4 for the study population (n = 305) were 0.127, 0.750 and 0.121, respectively. ApoE polymorphism was associated with variations in plasma HDL-cholesterol lipid profile. In order to estimate the independent effects of alleles E2 and E4, as compared with E3, on lipid profile, multiple regression was performed after adjustment for confounding variables such as age, BMI, blood pressure, education status, insulin, fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, menopause. ApoE2 had a negative association with HDL cholesterol and ApoE4 had a positive association with LDL cholesterol. Conclusions: This study identified that the ApoE and CVD risk factors contribute to the lipid profiles, similar to other studies. The analysis including dietary intake and other gene in further studies may help to identify clear effects on lipid profiles as risk factor for CVD.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.143-149
• /
• 2019

Purpose: No previous study has assessed elderly pedestrian traffic accidents based on a nationwide database. This study aimed to help primary physicians who examine patients in emergency departments to determine and make prompt and accurate treatment decisions. Methods: This study used data from the Emergency Department-based Injury Indepth Surveillance from 2013 to 2017, managed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pedestrians aged ${\geq}65years$ were included, and using multivariate logistic regression multiple factors were analyzed to determine their relationship with injury severity. Results: Of 227,695 subjects, 6,498 were included, of whom 2,065 (31.8%) were severely injured. There were more female than male patients in all severity groups. Most accidents occurred in the afternoon and on general roads. In the multivariate analysis, the odds ratio (OR) of injury severity for male pedestrians was 1.165 (95% confidence interval: 1.034-1.313, p=0.012). Older age of patients and the use of ambulances were associated with greater injury severity. The accident time affected the degree of injury severity; i.e., compared to dawn, injury severity increased in the morning (OR: 1.246, p=0.047) and decreased at night (OR: 0.678, p<0.001). A significant difference was noted in the correlation between the type of vehicle causing the accident and the accident severity; i.e., motorcycle accidents had lower severity than bicycle accidents (OR: 0.582, p=0.047). Conclusions: Injury severity was correlated with sex, age, transportation to the ED, TA onset time, and type of vehicle. The study results suggest that injury severity may be positively reflected in initial assessments and overall integrated treatments by physicians and in the related policies.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.23-40
• /
• 2019

The main purpose of this study is to analyze and examine the problems of the law systems of the safety and maintenance of nuclear facilities and to propose the improvements with respect to the related problems especialy focused on safety management of aquatic products. Therefore, the results of the paper would be helpful to build an effective management law system of safety and maintenance of nuclear facilities and fisheries products. The research methods are longitudinal and horizontal studies. This study compares domestic policies with foreign policies of nuclear plants and aquatic products. Using the above methods, examining the current system of nuclear-related laws and regulations, we have found that there exist 13 Acts including "Nuclear Safety Act", etc. Safety laws related on nuclear facilities have seven Acts including "Nuclear Safety Act", "the Act on Physical Protection and Radiological Emergency", "Radioactive waste control Act", "Act on Protective Action Guidelines against Radiation in the Natural Environment", "Special Act on Assistance to the locations of facilities for disposal low and intermediate level radioactive waste", "Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety Act". "Act on Establishment and Operation of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission". The seven laws are composed of 119 legislations. They have 112 lower statute of eight Presidential Decrees, six Primeministrial Decrees and Ministrial Decrees, 92 administrative rules (orders), 6 legislations of local self-government aself-governing body. The concluded proposals of this paper are as follows. Firstly, we propose that the relationship between the special law and general law should be re-established. Secondly, the terms with respect to law system of safety and maintenance of nuclear plants should be redefined and specified. Thirdly, it is advisable to re-examine and re-establish the Law System for Safety and Maintenance of Nuclear Facilities. and environmental rights like the French Nuclear Safety Legislation. Lastly, inadequate legislation on the aquatic pollution damage should be re-established. It is necessary to ensure sufficient transparency as well as environmental considerations in the policy decisions of the Korean government and legislation of the National Assembly. It is necessary to further study the possibilities of accepting the implications of the French legal system as a legal system in Korea. In conclusion, the safety management of nuclear facilities is not only focused on the secondary industry and the tertiary industry centering on power generation and supply, but also on the primary industry, which is the food of the people. It is necessary to prevent damage to be foreseen. Therefore, it is judged that there should be no harm to the people caused by contaminated marine products even if the "Food Safety Law for Prevention of Radiation Pollution Damage" is enacted.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.175-180
• /
• 2019

Torilis Japonica (TJ) has been used as an anti-allergy, antifungal, and antibacterial agent. Recent studies have reported that it also shows anti-cancer effects. It is report that TJ inhibits melanin synthesis in melanocyte in the skin. However, the effect and mechanism of TJ extract (TJE) on Ultraviolet (UV)B-induced photoaging are unknown. In this study, we investigated the preventive effects of TJE on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 expressions and the underlying molecular mechanism in UVB-irradiated primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). The effect of TJE on HDF cell viability was determined using the XTT assay and cell counting. MMP-1 and MMP-3 expressions levels were measured by western blotting and real-time PCR analysis. Activations of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKinase), nuclear $factor-{\kappa}B$ ($NF-{\kappa}B$), and activator protein-1(AP-1) were measured by western blotting. Our results showed that TJE effectively reduced UVB-induced MMP-1 and MMP-3 protein and mRNA levels. Moreover, TJE significantly blocked the UVB-induced activation of MAPK (p38 and JNK) and transcription factors ($NF-{\kappa}B$ and AP-1), but not ERK. Taken together, our results suggest that the TJE inhibits UVB-induced MMP expressions in HDFs and its may be a potential agent for the prevention and treatment of skin photoaging.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.19 no.12
• /
• pp.451-461
• /
• 2018

This study investigated changes in the youth smoking rate and smoking cessation rates before and after a cigarette price increase in 2015. Specifically, the changes in smoking rate, smoking cessation attempt rate, selection rate and amount of smoking were investigated using primary data pertaining to Korean Youth Risk Behavior obtained from a web-based survey of youth general characteristics, mental health, subjective grade, drinking and smoking related characteristics before and after a cigarette price increase. To accomplish this, 800 middle school and high school students in 9th (2013), 10th (2014), 11th (2015) were surveyed. The current youth smoking rate was slightly decreased from 9.7% in 2013 to 9.2% in 2014, while the smoking rate in 2015 decreased significantly by 15.2% after the cigarette price increased to 7.8%. These results confirmed that increasing cigarette price is very effective at decreasing youth smoking rate, providing motivation to stop smoking and preventing smoking. The prevention of smoking and inducement to stop smoking during adolescence is very important because the majority of teenage smokers continue smoking into their adulthood. In addition to expanding a completely non-smoking area and a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship should be urgently sought, and the effect can be maximized when the WHO FCTC faithfully implements the already-founded treaty.