• Title/Summary/Keyword: utility

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Ultrasonographic Utility for Arthroscopic Examination of Knee (슬관절 관절경 검사 시 초음파 검사의 유용성)

  • Byun, Ki-Yong;Rhee, Kwang-Jin;Kim, Kyung-Cheon;Kim, Dong-Kyu;Kim, Bo-Kun
    • The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.18-23
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    • 2009
  • Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between the real pathology & abnormal finding found by ultrasonography. Without an MRI test being done beforehand, an arthroscopy is done after an ultrasonography to show abnormal lesions during a knee abnormality. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 42 patients out of 49 cases, excluding those with rheumatoid arthritis, septic arthritis and patients suspected with a ligament tear, which were examined by ultrasonography alone before receiving a knee arthroscopy in our hospital from July 2007 to July 2008. In every case, a physical examination, simple X-ray and knee ultrasonography was done. An arthroscopy was performed when there was ultrasonographic abnormal finding. Before the procedure, a MRI test was not performed and when abnormal findings were found by an arthroscopy, an appropriate surgery was done. Results: During the ultrasonographic examination, there were various sized effusions in the suprapatellar pouch. Also, in addition there were eleven cases of medial meniscus abnormalities, sixteen cases of lateral meniscus abnormalities, and two cases of cystic lesions. Throughout the arthroscopic examination, there were 14 cases of medial meniscus abnormalities, 20 cases of lateral meniscus abnormalities, 15 cases of cartilage damages, 9 cases of medial pathologic plica, 2 cases of intra-articular loose bodies, 5 cases of chondromalacia, 2 cases of cyst, and 2 cases of synovitis. When an effusion abnormality was found by the ultrasonography in a suprapatellar pouch, there was a 100% probability of knee pathology. When a medial meniscus abnormality was found with an ultrasonography, there was a 90.9% probability of a real pathology. When a lateral meniscus abnormality was found there was 81.2% probability of a real pathology. Ultrasonography was 100% accurate when it came to cystic lesions. Conclusion: Knee ultrasonography performed before an arthroscopy seems to be a very useful examination method when suspecting intra-articular lesions.

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Diagnostic and Therapeutic Utility of Ultrasonography-guided Facet Joint Block in Chronic Cervical Spinal Pain (만성 경추 동통 환자에서 초음파를 이용한 후관절 차단술의 진단 및 치료적 유용성)

  • Kim, Tae Kyun;Shim, Dae Moo;Oh, Sung Kyun;Choi, Byong San;Han, Sang Su
    • The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.54-58
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    • 2010
  • Purpose: In patients with chronic cervical pain, the facet joint is the source of the majority. Due to the difficulty of identifying the exact location of the joint that causes these symptoms, the possibility of complications and the placebo effect brings clinical application into question. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of patients with chronic cervical pain and report the diagnostic and therapeutic usefulness of ultrasonography - guided facet joint block therapy. Materials and Methods: Patients with nonspecific chronic cervical pain for more than 6 months were selected. Patients with disc herniation, sciatica-related pain were excluded from the study and 160 patients who failed in conservative treatment (physical therapy, chiropractic therapy, medication) were included in the study. Diagnostic Ultrasonography-guided facet joint block was performed with 1% lidocaine, and after two weeks, Bupivacaine 0.25% was used in patients who tested positive for lidocaine. Patients with more than 75% pain reduction during movement after facet joint block were considered positive. Results: Among the 160 patients with chronic cervical pain, 96 patients(60%) had a positive reaction after facet block using lidocaine. Among the 64 patients with a negative reaction to lidocaine, 48 patients(75%) had a positive reaction to bupivacaine. There were 48 false positive patients(50%) who showed a positive reaction to lidocaine but a negative reaction to bupivacaine. The mean VAS of the total 160 patients before blocks was 8.5, after 2 weeks follow up it decreased to 2.7 (p = 0.001) and after 4weeks 3.6 (p = 0.001). The 8 patients as an initial improvement of symptoms are not satisfied with the procedure and the 3 patients had been worsened during observation, were showed pain relief after additional ultrasonography-guided facet joint block at 4th week. Conclusion: A single ultrasonography-guided block to chronic cervical pain patients has relatively low diagnostic value since high false positive rate. The twice facet joint blocks is thought to be a useful method for interventional pain management of patients with chronic cervical pain.

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GIS based Development of Module and Algorithm for Automatic Catchment Delineation Using Korean Reach File (GIS 기반의 하천망분석도 집수구역 자동 분할을 위한 알고리듬 및 모듈 개발)

  • PARK, Yong-Gil;KIM, Kye-Hyun;YOO, Jae-Hyun
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.126-138
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    • 2017
  • Recently, the national interest in environment is increasing and for dealing with water environment-related issues swiftly and accurately, the demand to facilitate the analysis of water environment data using a GIS is growing. To meet such growing demands, a spatial network data-based stream network analysis map(Korean Reach File; KRF) supporting spatial analysis of water environment data was developed and is being provided. However, there is a difficulty in delineating catchment areas, which are the basis of supplying spatial data including relevant information frequently required by the users such as establishing remediation measures against water pollution accidents. Therefore, in this study, the development of a computer program was made. The development process included steps such as designing a delineation method, and developing an algorithm and modules. DEM(Digital Elevation Model) and FDR(Flow Direction) were used as the major data to automatically delineate catchment areas. The algorithm for the delineation of catchment areas was developed through three stages; catchment area grid extraction, boundary point extraction, and boundary line division. Also, an add-in catchment area delineation module, based on ArcGIS from ESRI, was developed in the consideration of productivity and utility of the program. Using the developed program, the catchment areas were delineated and they were compared to the catchment areas currently used by the government. The results showed that the catchment areas were delineated efficiently using the digital elevation data. Especially, in the regions with clear topographical slopes, they were delineated accurately and swiftly. Although in some regions with flat fields of paddles and downtowns or well-organized drainage facilities, the catchment areas were not segmented accurately, the program definitely reduce the processing time to delineate existing catchment areas. In the future, more efforts should be made to enhance current algorithm to facilitate the use of the higher precision of digital elevation data, and furthermore reducing the calculation time for processing large data volume.

Clinical Utility of Amplified Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct Test in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (폐결핵 잔단에서 Amplified Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct Test의 임상적 유용성)

  • Park, Sam-Seok;Kwak, Kyung-Rok;Hwang, Ji-Yun;Yun, Sang-Myeong;Ryue, Chi-Chan;Chang, Chul-Hun;Lee, Min-Gi;Park, Sun-Gue
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.47 no.6
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    • pp.747-756
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    • 1999
  • Background: Acid-fast stain and cultures for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis are primary and essential method, but have their limitation : low sensitivity and time consuming. The objective of this study is comparison of amplified Mycobacterium tuberculosis direct test(MTD) by the conventional AFB smears and cultures in the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in respiratory specimens. Methods: During the period between November, 1997 and May, 1998 a total of 267 respiratory specimens (sputum 173, bronchial washing 94) from 187 patients suspected pulmonary tuberculosis were subjected to AFB smears, cultures and MID test. MID is based on nucleic acid amplification. We compared the MID with 3% Ogawa culture method. In positive AFB smear and negative MID specimen, positive culture identification between nontuberculous mycobacterium and M.tuberculosis was assesed by using Accuprobe M.tuberculosis complex probe. In negative AFB smear and negative AFB culture, MTD results are assessed by clinical follow-up. Results : 1) Compared with culture in sputum and bronchial fluid specimens, sensitivity and specificity of MTD in positive AFB smear is 79.7% and 20.0%, sensitivity and specificity of MTD in negative AFB smear specimens is 75.0% and 79.7%. 2) Discrepant analysis is assessed by clinical follow-up and other specimen results beyond study. Culture negative but MTD positive specimens were proved to be true positive and gave MTD sensitivity 79.2%, specificity of 84.4%, positive predictive value 80.5% and negative predictive value 83.2%. 3) 14 out of 31 specimens in negative AFB smear, negative AFB culture and positive MTD showed pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosed on clinical follow-up and sensitivity is 45.2%. 4) 2 out of 13 specimens in positive AFB smear, positive AFB culture and negative MID diagnosed as non tuberculous mycobacterium by Accuprobe culture. Conclusion: This study suggested that MID in respiratory specimens is simple and rapid diagnostic method, but considered adjuvant method rather than replace the conventional AFB smear and culture.

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Market Structure Analysis of Automobile Market in U.S.A (미국자동차시장의 구조분석)

  • Choi, In-Hye;Lee, Seo-Goo;Yi, Seong-Keun
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.141-156
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    • 2008
  • Market structure analysis is a very useful tool to analyze the competition boundary of the brand or the company. But most of the studies in market structure analysis, the concern lies in nondurable goods such as candies, soft drink and etc. because of the their availability of the data. In the field of durable goods, the limitation of the data availability and the repurchase time period constrain the study. In the analysis of the automobile market, those of views might be more persuasive. The purpose of this study is to analyze the structure of automobile market based on some idea suggested by prior studies. Usually the buyers of the automobile tend to buy upper tier when they buy in the next time. That kind of behavior make it impossible to analyze the structure of automobile market under the level of automobile model. For that reason I tried to analyze the market structure in the brand or company level. In this study, consideration data was used for market structure analysis. The reasons why we used the consideration data are summarized as following. Firstly, as the repurchase time cycle is too long, brand switching data which is used for the market analysis of nondurable good is not avaliable. Secondly, as we mentioned, the buyers of the automobile tend to buy upper tier when they buy in the next time. We used survey data collected in the U.S.A. market in the year of 2005 through questionaire. The sample size was 8,291. The number of brand analyzed in this study was 9 among 37 which was being sold in U.S.A. market. Their market share was around 50%. The brands considered were BMW, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Mercedes, and Toyota. �� ratio was derived from frequency of the consideration set. Actually the frequency is different from the brand switch concept. In this study to compute the �� ratio, the frequency of the consideration set was used like a frequency of brand switch for convenience. The study can be divided into 2 steps. The first step is to build hypothetical market structures. The second step is to choose the best structure based on the hypothetical market structures, Usually logit analysis is used for the choice best structure. In this study we built 3 hypothetical market structure. They are type-cost, cost-type, and unstructured. We classified the automobile into 5 types, sedan, SUV(Sport Utility Vehicle), Pickup, Mini Van, and Full-size Van. As for purchasing cost, we classified it 2 groups based on the median value. The median value was $28,800. To decide best structure among them, maximum likelihood test was used. Resulting from market structure analysis, we find that the automobile market of USA is hierarchically structured in the form of 'automobile type - purchasing cost'. That is, result showed that automobile buyers considered function or usage first and purchasing cost next. This study has some limitations in the analysis level and variable selection. First, in this study only type of the automobile and purchasing cost were as attributes considered for purchase. Considering other attributes is very needful. Because of the attributes considered, only 3 hypothetical structure could be analyzed. Second, due to the data, brand level analysis was tried. But model level analysis would be better because automobile buyers consider model not brand. To conduct model level study more cases should be obtained. That is for acquiring the better practical meaning, brand level analysis should be conducted when we consider the actual competition which occurred in the real market. Third, the variable selection for building nested logit model was very limited to some avaliable data. In spite of those limitations, the importance of this study lies in the trial of market structure analysis of durable good.

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Development and Utility Evaluation of Portable Respiration Training Device for Image-guided Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) (영상유도 체부정위방사선 치료시 호흡동조를 위한 휴대형 호흡연습장치의 개발 및 유용성 평가)

  • Hwang, Seon Bung;Park, Mun Kyu;Park, Seung Woo;Cho, Yu Ra;Lee, Dong Han;Jung, Hai Jo;Ji, Young Hoon;Kwon, Soo-Il
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.264-270
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    • 2014
  • This study developed a portable respiratory training device to improve breathing stability, which is an important element in using the CyberKnife Synchrony respiratory tracking device, one of the typical Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) devices. It produced an interface for users to be able to select one of two displays, a graph type and a bar type, supported an auditory system that helps them expect next respiration by improving a sense of rhythm of their respiratory period, and provided comfortable respiratory inducement. By targeting 5 applicants and applying individual respiratory period detected through a self-developed program, it acquired signal data of 'guide respiration' that induces breathing through signal data gained from 'free respiration' and an auditory system, and evaluated the usability by comparing deviation average values of respiratory period and respiratory amplitude. It could be identified that respiratory period decreased $55.74{\pm}0.14%$ compared to free respiration, and respiratory amplitude decreased $28.12{\pm}0.10%$ compared to free respiration, which confirmed the consistency and stability of respiratory. SBRT, developed based on these results, using the portable respiratory training device, for liver cancer or lung cancer, is evaluated to be able to help reduce delayed treatment time due to respiratory instability and improve treatment accuracy, and if it could be applied to developing respiratory training applications targeting an android-based portable device in the future, even use convenience and economic efficiency are expected.

A Case Study on Mechanism Factors for Result Creation of Informatization of IT Service Company (IT서비스 기업의 정보화 성과 창출을 위한 메커니즘 요인 사례 연구)

  • Choi, Hae-Lyong;Gu, Ja-Won
    • Management & Information Systems Review
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    • v.36 no.5
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    • pp.1-26
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    • 2017
  • In the meantime, research on corporate informatization focuses on the completeness of information technology itself and its financial effects, so there is insufficient research on whether information technology can support business strategy. It is necessary to verify whether the management strategy implementation of the company can be led through the informatization of the enterprise and the relation between the main mechanism factors and the informatization performance. In this study, what a mechanism factor is applied in the process of result creation of informatization from three mechanism perspectives such as selecting mechanism, learning mechanism and coordinating mechanism with cases of representative domestic IT company and what an importance mechanism factors have been ascertained. This study results in 8 propositions. For a main agent of companies, securement of information capability of organizations has been selected to realize informatization results and investment of informatization has been selected to solve organizational decentralization problems as the most important factor. Additionally, as competition in the industry gets fierce, investment on informatization has been changed to a utility way of implementation of strategies and decision on investment has been made through the official process and information technology. Differentiated company capability has been made based on acquisition of technical knowledge and company information has been expanded to its whole employees through the information system. Also, informatization change management and outside subcontractor management have been acknowledged as an important adjustment factor of company. The first implication of this study is that since case studies on mechanism factors that preceding studies on informatization results did not empirically cover have directly been dealt with based on experiences of executives in charge of business and in charge of informatization, this study can provide practical views about factors that should be mainly managed for informatization results of IT companies. Secondly, since ser-M framework has been applied for IT companies for the first time, this study can academically contribute to companies in other fields about main mechanism factors for result creation of informatization based on deeper understanding and empirical cases.

Clinical Characteristics and Diagnostic Utility of Eosinophilic Pleural Effusion (호산구성 흉막유출의 임상상과 진단적 의의)

  • Roh, Gil-Hwan;Kang, Soo-Jung;Youn, Jong-Wook;Hwang, Jung-Hye;Ham, Hyoung-Suk;Kang, Eun-Hae;Lim, Young-Hee;An, Chang-Hyeok;Suh, Gee-Young;Chung, Man-Pyo;Kim, Ho-Joong;Kwon, O-Jung;Rhee, Chong-H.
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.49 no.6
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    • pp.733-739
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    • 2000
  • Background : Pleural eosinophilia is rare and commonly considered to be an indicator of good prognosis. The diagnostic significance of eosinophilic pleural effusions remains controversial despite a century of observation and discussion. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of eosinophilia in 446 consecutive samples of pleural fluid, to review the cause of eosinophilic pleural effusion and to determine whether the presence of eosinophils increases the likehood of benign conditions. Method : A retrospective analysis was performed upon patients that underwent first thoracentesis due to pleural effusion between January 1999 and December 1999. Results : Eosinophilic pleural effusions were identified in 24 of the 446 patients (5.4%). Malignancy, parapneumonic effusion and tuberculosis were determined the major causes of pleural effusion (80.6%). Malignancy was diagnosed as frequently in eosinophilic effusions as in non-eosinophilic effusions (54.2% vs 50.5%, p=0.725). No difference was found in the prevalence of eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic effusion according to the etiology. The mean blood eosinophil ratio in patients with eosinophilic pleural effusion was 5.4% and no significant correlation existed between the blood and pleural eosinophilic count. Conclusion : Pleural eosinophilia is not helpful for differentiating benign and malignant etiology and is not related with bood eosinophilia or repeated tapping.

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The Changes of Cuff Pressure from Endotracheal Intubation for Long-term Mechanical Ventilation (장기간 기계호흡 환자에서 기관내 관의 기낭압의 변화)

  • Jung, Bock-Hyun;Park, Whan;Koh, Youn-Suck
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.52 no.2
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    • pp.156-165
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    • 2002
  • Background: A tracheal stenosis is caused by mucosal ischemic injury related to a high cuff pressure ($P_{cuff}$) of the endotracheal tube. In contrast, aspiration of the upper airway secretion and impaired gas exchange due to cuff leakage is related to a low $P_{cuff}$. To prevent these complications, the $P_{cuff}$ should be kept appropriately because the appropriate $P_{cuff}$ appears to change according to the patient's daily respiratory mechanics. However, the constant cuff volume($V_{cuff}$) has frequently been instilled to the cuff balloon on a daily basis to maintain the optimal $P_{cuff}$ instead of monitoring the $P_{cuff}$ directly at the patients' bedside. To address the necessity of continuous $P_{cuff}$ monitoring, the change in the $P_{cuff}$ was evaluated at various $V_{cuff}$ levels on a daily basis in patients with long-term mechanical ventilation. The utility of mercury column sphygmomanometer for the continuous monitoring $P_{cuff}$ was also investigated. Method: The change in $P_{cuff}$ according to the increase in $V_{cuff}$ was observed in 17 patients with prolonged endotracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation for 2 week or more. This maneuver measured the change in $P_{cuff}$ daily during the mechanical ventilation days. In addition, the $P_{cuff}$ measured by mercury column sphygmomanometer was compared with the $P_{cuff}$ measured by an automatic cuff pressure manager. Results : There were no statistically significant changes of $P_{cuff}$ during more than 14 days of intubation for mechanical ventilation. However the $V_{cuff}$ required to maintain the appropriate $P_{cuff}$ varied from 1.9 cc to 9.6 cc. In addition, the intra-individual variation of the $P_{cuff}$ was observed from 10 $cmH_2O$ to 46 $cmH_2O$ at constant 3 cc $V_{cuff}$. The $P_{cuff}$ measured by the bedside mercury column sphygmomanometer is well coincident with that measured by the automatic cuff pressure manager. Conclusion: Continuous monitoring and management of the $P_{cuff}$ to maintain the appropriate $P_{cuff}$ level in order to prevent cuff related problems during long-term mechanical ventilation is recommended. For this purpose, mercury column sphygmomanometer may replace the specific cuff pressure monitoring equipment.

Studies on the Utilization of Plant Pigments -II. Stability of Anthocyanin Pigments in Ganges Amaranth- (식물성(植物性) 색소(色素)의 이용(利用)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究) -II. 꽃잎맨드라미(Amaranthus tricolor L.) Anthocyanin색소(色素)의 안정성(安定性)-)

  • Kim, Kwang-Soo;Lee, Sang-Jik;Yoon, Tai-Heon
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.42-49
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    • 1979
  • In order to evaluate the utility of the anthocyanins of Amaranthys tricolor L. as an edible pigment, the present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of pH. temperature, ascorbic acid, sugars and their degradation products, quercetin, thiourea, sodium pyrophosphate and metal ions on the stability of the anthocyanins in the model systems. The results obtained from this study were as follows. 1. The degradation of total anthocyanins was retarded as the pH levels decreased from 8.0 to 1.0. At pH 1.0, however. the initial degradation reaction proceeded faster than at pH 2.0 to 3.0 2. On heating in buffered aqueous solution at $80^{\circ}C$, the total anthocyanin content was higher at pH 2.0 than other pH levels. Increasing the storage temperature accelerated greatly the pigment degradation. In darkness at $40^{\circ}C$, after 10 days, only 19% of the original amount was left, while at $2^{\circ}C$, under the same conditions of storage, approximately 90% of the pigment was retained. The half-life of the pigment, 63.0 days at $2^{\circ}C$, shortened to 1. 7 days at $40^{\circ}C$. 3. An increase in ascorbic arid concentration from 0. 15 to 0.50 mg/ml lowered the anthocyanin retention. 4. There was no significant difference between glucose and fructose in anthocyanin degradation effect. Furfural was more effective than other sugar degradation products, formic acid or levulinic acid in accelerating anthocyanin breakdown. 5. Neither quercetin nor sodium pyrophosphate had a protective effect on the anthocyanins in the presence of ascorbic acid, while, in the systems 0.5 or 1 mg/ml of thiourea with $150{\;}{\mu}g/ml$ of ascorbic acid, the loss of anthocyanins was significantly reduced. 6. Both mercuric and cupric ions in 30 ppm greatly accelerated anthocyanin degradation.

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