• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.256-262
• /
• 2010

bone grafting is indicated in the case of bony defects and is classified into autograft, allograft, and xenograft. Synthetic bone graft is contrasted with these three categories in that it has a different donor source. Autograft is most prominent as it is known as a gold standard of all grafting procedures. Its principles and practices are well established via accumulated informations and clinical experiences, which imposes no regulations or restrictions in its clinical use. On the other hand, other bone graft procedures are under tight control for the safety and effectiveness of each product. Food and Drug Administration of the United States has a system in which the information on the approvals and clearances of bone graft materials on their internet homepage. All the bone graft materials that are under the regulations of the United States are classified into the category of medical devices, which includes allogenic bone, xenogenic bone, and synthetic bone graft materials. Each bone graft material has its own indication and the FDA approvals and clearances of medical devices contain the item of "intended use" to specify the indications of each bone graft materials. US dentists, as users of the specific bone graft materials, are provided with adequate information on the approved materials they are to utilize. As an user of these materials, Korean dentists are less provided with the information on the bone graft materials they want to use. Medical providers of the bone graft materials have to be able to provide their users with the essential information such as the intended use of the regulatory approval. Dentists must also be active in gathering informations on the material of their interest, and the system must be built in which both of the medical providers and users of bone graft materials can be satisfied in providing and getting the information, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.10
• /
• pp.1372-1380
• /
• 2013

Different endophytic fungi isolated from Himalayan Yew plants were tested for their ability to produce taxol. The BAPT gene (C-13 phenylpropanoid side chain-CoA acetyl transferase) involved in the taxol biosynthetic pathway was used as a molecular marker to screen taxol-producing endophytic fungi. Taxol extracted from fungal strain TBPJ-B was identified by HPLC and MS analysis. Strain TBPJ-B was identified as Fusarium redolens based on the morphology and internal transcribed spacer region of nrDNA analysis. HPLC quantification of fungal taxol showed that F. redolens was capable of producing $66{\mu}g/l$ of taxol in fermentation broth. The antitumour activity of the fungal taxol was tested by potato disc tumor induction assay using Agrobacterium tumefaciens as the tumor induction agent. The present study results showed that PCR amplification of genes involved in taxol biosynthesis is an efficient and reliable method for prescreening taxol-producing fungi. We are reporting for the first time the production of taxol by F. redolens from Taxus baccata L. subsp. wallichiana (Zucc.) Pilger. This study offers important information and a new source for the production of the important anticancer drug taxol by endophytic fungus fermentation.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.165-181
• /
• 2024

Objectives: This study was aimed to review the global status of adverse event (AE) reports and the characteristics of the reported AEs of plants managed as herbal medicines (HMs) with toxic precautions in Korea. Methods: This is a cross-sectional quantitative study that analyzed information available through VigiAccess, a website that provides summarized statistical information from the WHO's global AE database to the public. VigiAccess was searched in 8 Jan, 2024. Information on the total number of reports, number of reports by year and continent, and the age and gender of patients were obtained, and the types of frequently reported AEs were also reviewed. Results: Data on the status of report submissions were obtained for a total of 9 HMs including Aconitum ciliare, Aconitum carmichaeli, Arisaema japonicum, Pinellia ternata, Euphorbiae Lathyridis, Croton tiglium, Strychni Ignatii, Strychnons nux-vomica, and Linum usitatissimum. The number of reports per HM was from 1 to 137. The most commonly reported type of AEs were gastrointestinal disorders in most of the HMs, followed by neurological disorders. Serious adverse events were reported only in Strychni Ignatii, Strychnons nux-vomica, and Linum usitatissimum, including one case of death. Conclusions: This study shows the status of reported AEs of botanicals considered as HMs with toxic precautions in Korea based on real world data. However, when interpreting the findings of this study, readers should consider the significant limitations of this study mainly because of the characteristics of the data source.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.1060-1066
• /
• 2005

Under environmental stress, such as strong irradiance or nitrogen deficiency, unicellular green algae of the genus Haematococcus accumulate secondary carotenoids, i.e. astaxanthin, in the cytosol. The induction and regulation of astaxanthin biosynthesis in microalgae has recently received considerable attention owing to the increasing use of secondary carotenoids as a source of pigmentation for fish aquacultures, and as a potential drug in cancer prevention as a free-radical quencher. Accordingly, this study generated expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a library constructed from astaxanthin-induced Haematococcus pluvialis. Partial sequences were obtained from the 5' ends of 1,858 individual cDNAs, and then grouped into 1,025 non-overlapping sequences, among which 708 sequences were singletons, while the remainder fell into 317 clusters. Approximately $63\%$ of the EST sequences showed similarity to previously described sequences in public databases. H. pluvialis was found to consist of a relatively high percentage of genes involved in genetic information processing ($15\%$) and metabolism ($11\%$), whereas a relatively low percentage of sequences was involved in the signal transduction ($3\%$), structure ($2\%$), and environmental information process ($3\%$). In addition, a relatively large fraction of H. pluvialis sequences was classified as genes involved in photosynthesis ($9\%$) and cellular process ($9\%$). Based on this EST analysis, the full-length cDNA sequence for superoxide dismutase (SOD) of H. pluvialis was cloned, and the expression of this gene was investigated. The abundance of SOD changed substantially in response to different culture conditions, indicating the possible regulation of this gene in H. pluvialis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.63-77
• /
• 2019

Traditional wastewater research mainly focuses on 1) estimating the amount of waste entering sewage treatment facilities, 2) evaluating the treatment efficiency of sewage facilities, 3) investigating the role of sewage treatment effluent as a point source, and 4) designing and managing sewage treatment facilities. However, since wastewater contains a variety of chemical and biological substances due to the discharge of human excreta and material used for daily living into it, the collective constituents of wastewater are likely a reflection of a community's status. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), an emerging and promising field of study that involves the analysis of substances in wastewater, can be applied to monitor the state of a defined community. WBE provides opportunities for exploiting indicators in wastewater to fulfill various objectives. The data analyzed under WBE are those pertaining to selected natural and anthropogenic substances in wastewater that are a result of the discharge of metabolic excreta, illicit or legal drugs, and infectious pathogens into the wastewater. This paper reviews recent progress in WBE and addresses current challenges in the field. It primarily discusses several representative applications including the investigation of drug consumption across different communities and the management of community disease and health. Finally, it summarizes established indicators for WBE.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.61-68
• /
• 2010

Purpose: Poisoning is a major health problem for the elderly, and poisoning can cause fatal side effects. However, the characteristics and clinical features of elderly patients with acute poisoning have not been well studied in the previous domestic research. So, we tried to analyze the clinical characteristics and toxic substances of the patients who were 65 years old or older and who were admitted to the regional emergency medical center due to acute poisoning. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and poisoning protocols of the patients who were 65 years of age or older and who had with acute poisoning and who visited the ED in our emergency center from January 2005 to December 2009. We collected the demographic information, the gender, the underlying diseases, the causes and toxic substances, the initial presentation, the treatment and the outcomes. Results: A total of 2179 poisoned patients visited the hospital during 5 years, and among them 244 were 65 years of age or older (11.2%). The mean age was $75.6{\pm}6.9$ years and the male:female ratio was 1:1.7. The most common cause of poisoning was suicide (73.4%) and the most common source of poisonous substances was their own drugs. Of the substances used for poisoning, benzodiazepine was the most common drug (25.8%), followed by sedatives other than benzodiazepine (25.4%), insecticide (12.7%), chemical agents (12.3%) and herbicides (8.2%). The most common initial presentation was mental change (64.8%). When comparing the factors between the three elderly groups, there was no difference in gender, the cause, the substances and the underlying disease. The outcomes of treatment included ICU admission (56.1%), a good condition at discharge (12.7%) and admission to a general ward (12.7%). The overall mortality rate was 10.2% for the elderly patients. Conclusion: In this Korean study, unlike the foreign studies, the most common cause of poisoning in elderly patients was intentional poisoning. The admission rate was 68.8% and mortality rate was 10.2%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
• /
• 2003.09a
• /
• pp.44-44
• /
• 2003

As a basic measurement tool in the areas of animal models of human disease, gene expression and therapy, and drug discovery and development, small animal PET imaging is being used increasingly. An ideal small animal PET should have high sensitivity and high and uniform resolution across the field of view to achieve high image quality. However, the combination of long narrow pixellated crystal array and small ring diameter of small animal PET leads to the degradation of spatial resolution for the source located at off center. This degradation of resolution can be improved by determining the depth of interaction (DOI) in the crystal and by taking into account the information in sorting the coincident events. Among a number of 001 identification schemes, dual layer phsowich detector has been widely investigated by many research groups due to its practicability and effectiveness on extracting DOI information. However, the effects of each crystal length composing dual layer phoswich detector on DOI measurements and image qualities were not fully characterized. In order to minimize the DOI effect, the length of each layer of phoswich detector should be optimized. The aim of this study was to perform simulations using a simulation tool, GATE to design the optimum lengths of crystals composing a dual layer phoswich detector. The simulated small PET system employed LSO front layer LuYAP back layer phoswich detector modules and the module consisted of 8${\times}$8 arrays of dual layer crystals with 2 mm ${\times}$ 2 mm sensitive area coupled to a Hamamatsu R7600 00 M64 PSPMT. Sensitivities and variation of radial resolutions were simulated by varying the length of LSO front layer from 0 to 10 mm while the total length (LSO + LuYAP) was fixed to 20 mm for 10 cm diameter ring scanner. The radial resolution uniformity was markedly improved by using DOI information. There existed the optimal lengths of crystal layers to minimize the variation of radial resolutions. In 10 cm ring scanner configuration, the radial resolution was kept below 3.4 mm over 8 cm FOV while the sensitivity was higher than 7.4% for LSO 5 mm : LuYAP 15 mm phoswich detector. In this study, the optimal length of dual layer phoswich detector was derived to achieve high and uniform radial resolution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.487-495
• /
• 1996

The consumer perception on health and food habit, the experience of health food use and the discrimination between health food and drug of Korean consumer were surveyed by using a questionnaire containing 20 items in order to obtain the basic data for the assessment of the benefit and risk of health foods in Korea. A total of 1,000 people over 20 years of age living in Seoul and the vicinities were interviewed and asked to fill out the questionnaire during the period from the October 1995 to the February 1996. Among the 882 answers collected 23 was incomplete data, and 859 answers were used for the statistical analysis by using SAS program. The survey revealed a strong interest of the consumer on health food by showing that more than a half of the subjects (58.8%) had the experience of actual use of health food, and 68.2% believed the effectiveness. What the consumer expect most from health food was to have beneficial effect to maintain overall health condition (59.8%), and the most negative aspect of health food was the overstatement on the effectiveness by the producers (52.1%). The most important source of information for the purchase of health food was the suggestion of friends and relatives (30.6%). Among the health foods registered and regulated by the food law, royal jelly (22.7%), squalene (16.0%), refined fish oil (15.1%), lactic acid bacteria (10.6%) and aloe (8.8%) were relatively well aware. Although 84% of the subjects perceived that health food is different from drug or traditional medicine, the largest percentage of the subject selected ginseng as the most well known type of health food (22.7%) as well as the most well known drug (or traditional medicine) (41.7%). Ginseng was also chosen as the most frequently used health food (17.0%), and vitamin tablets the third (13.0%). The vague definition of health food and unambiguous discrimination of it from medicine by the consumers were problematic for the correct use and reasonable purchasing behavior. The clear definition and proper regulation on the manufacture and distribution of health food, more strict control of labelling and advertisement, and a wide consumer education on health food were recommended.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.51-60
• /
• 1995

This study was to examine the awareness of health and the utilization of primary health care in rural areas. The data were obtained from self-administered questionnaire conducted 450 parents of Mi Gum md Su Dong middle school students in Nam yang Ju city, Kyung Gi-Do, Korea, from December 15 to 20 in 1993. The results were as follows : 1) Among the causes of disease, 'insufficient health care' was the highest(39.1%), and 'bad environment'(28.9%), 'complexity of life style'(17.8%) in next order. 2) In the priority between 'daily farm work' and 'primary health care', only 45.6% of respondents answered that primary health care is more important than the daily farm work. The 29.8% of respondents answered 'daily farm work', and the 23.1% answered 'the equal of the both'. 3) The 63.6% of the respondents recognized correctly, the meaning of primary health care. And the rate of information source in primary health care were 'TV and Radio'(42.2%), 'medical facilities'(23.3%), and 'newspaper and magazine'(11.3%) in order. 4) In the choice rate of medical facilities for primary health care, 'drug store' was the highest(34.9%), and 'local private clinic'(34.7%), 'health (sub)center'(15.8%), 'hospital'(10.2%) in next order. 5) The 53.5% of the respondents had experienced to visit the health (sub)center more than once. And the disfavorite reasons of health (sub)center were 'insufficient equipment'(36.7%), 'inavailable time to visit'(26.9%), and 'poor treatment'(9.1%). 6) Among the preference of the physicians for primary health care, 'specialist' was the highest rate of the respondents(54.2%), and 'general practitioner'(32.4%), and 'family doctor'(9.8%) in next order. The major obstacles in utilizing the medical facilities for primary health care were 'daily farm work'(41.6%), 'distance'(21.1%) and 'medical cost'(10.4%) in order. 7) The weakened reasons in health (sub)center function were 'insufficient medical equipment'(44.4%), 'the lack of resident's understanding for health (sub)center'(21.8%), and 'short thought of duty in health (sub)center personnel'(16.9%) in order.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.245-254
• /
• 2002

Objective : To test if the intake of $H_2$ receptor antagonists ($H_2$-RAs) increases the risk of gastric cancer in the elderly. Methods : The source population for this study was drawn from the responders to a questionnaire survey administered to the Korea Elderly Pharmacoepidemiological Cohort (KEPEC), who were beneficiaries of the Korean Medical Insurance Corporation, were at least 65 years old, and residing in Busan in 1999. The information on $H_2$-RAs exposure was obtained from a drug prescription database compiled between inn. 1993 and Dec. 1994. The cases consisted of 76 gastric cancer patients, as confirmed from the KMIC claims data, the National Cancer Registry and the Busan Cancer Registry. The follow-up period was from Jan. 1993 to Dec. 1998. Cancer free controls were randomly selected by 1:4 individual matching, which took in to consideration the year of birth and gender. Information on confounders was collected by a mail questionnaire survey. The odds ratios, and their 95% confidence intervals, were calculated using a conditional logistic regression model. Results : After adjusting for a history of gastric ulcer symptoms, medication history, and body mass index, the adjusted OR (aOR) was 4.6 (95% CI=1.72-12.49). The odds ratio of long term use (more than 7 days) was 2.3 (95% CI=1.07-4.82). The odds ratio of short term use was 4.6 (95% CI=1.26-16.50). The odds ratio of parenteral use was 4.4 195% CI=1.16-17.05) and combination use between the oral and parenteral routes (aOR, 16.8; 95% CI=1.21-233.24) had the high risk of gastric cancer. The aOR of cimetidine was 1.7 (95% CI=1.04-2.95). The aOR of ranitidine was 2.0 (95% CI=1.21-3.40). The aOR of famotidine was 1.7 (95% CI=0.98-2.80). Conclusion : The intake of $H_2$-RAs might increase the risk of gastric cancer through achlorhydria in the elderly.