• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2011

In this study, we investigated factors for affecting pneumothorax in percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy of lung lesions. This research were conducted at University Hospital in Daejeon from August 2007 to May 2008. Total 104 patients between the ages of 25~85 who had focal lung lesions were grouped in terms of the tumor location, tumor size, depth of lesion, gender, age, biopsy time, and the number of biopsies. Then, their correlations with pneumothorax were studied. The incidence of pneumothorax according to the positions showed 27.3% in the right lower lobe, 24.3% in the right upper lobe, 15% in the left lower lobe and 12% in the left upper, respectively. In addition, the incidence by lesion size showed 24.0% in 0~2.0 cm, 18.2% in 2.1~4.0 cm, above 20.0% in 4.1 cm respectively. The probabilities of pneumothorax was 6.7% at 0 cm depth of lesion, 24.2% at 0.1~2.0 cm and greater than 26.8% at 2.1 cm. By gender differences, we found that probability of incidence of pneumothrax is 21.7% for male and 17.1% for female. According to age, pneumothorax occurred in 25% in the group of less than 40-years-old, 11.7% in 41~50 years, 14.3% in 51~60 years, 24.1% in 61~70 years old and 24.1% in over 70 years. According to the time of biopsy, the incidence of pneumothorax was 3.8% from 0 to 10.0 minutes, 18.9% from 10.1 to 20.0 minutes and 40% more than 21 minutes.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2011

Purpose : This study was performed for the purpose of finding causative organisms and clinical features of septic arthritis or acute osteomyelitis in children. Methods : The study involved a retrospective review of the medical records of 63 microbiologically confirmed cases of acute pyogenic arthritis and osteomyelitis. All of the cases were brought about by community-associated infections and managed at the Seoul National University Children's Hospital or Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from June 2003 to July 2009. Results : The median age of all cases was 60 months and there were 35 males and 28 females. Major involved joints included the hip joint (15 cases), knee joint (7 cases), shoulder joint (4 cases), and elbow joint (4 cases). Also, major involved bones included the femur (20 cases), tibia (13 cases), humerus (7 cases), and radius (7 cases). Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly identified causative organism, accounting for 49 cases (77.8%). Of the 49 isolates of S. aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) accounted for 8 cases (16.3%). Group B streptococcus spp. (GBS) and Salmonella spp. accounted for 3 cases, respectively. Nafcillin or cefazolin was often prescribed as an initial empirical antibiotic. There were 9 cases that were managed by a regimen that included vancomycin as the first choice. Fifty four cases (85.7%) recovered without any complications. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), responsible for 41 cases, caused chronic complications in 3 cases. Of 8 cases caused by MRSA, 1 case showed chronic complication. There were no fatal cases. Conclusion : S. aureus remains the most common organism causing acute pyogenic arthritis and osteomyelitis of childhood acquired in the community. The high prevalence of methicillin resistance among S. aureus should be considered carefully in the selection of initial empirical antibiotics.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.331-340
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• 2015

Mutations in Fused in Sarcoma (FUS) have been identified in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Pathological FUS is mis-localized to cytosol and forms aggregates associated with stress granules (SG), while FUS is normally localized to nucleus. However, it is largely unknown how pathological FUS forms SG-aggregates and which domains are responsible for this process. In this study, we examined cellular localization and aggregation of ALS-linked FUS missense mutants (P525L, R521C, R521H, R521G), analyzed the domains responsible for cytosolic FUS aggregation in HEK293T cells, and confirmed this in cultured mouse neurons. To do this, we firstly generated missense mutants of FUS and then examined their cellular localization. We found that P525L was mostly mis-localized to cytosol and formed FUS-positive SG aggregates while R521C, R521H, or R521G was localized to both nucleus and cytosol. To further characterize the domains required for aggregate formation of cytosolic FUS, we generated different domain-deletion mutants using FUS-∆17 which has a deletion of nuclear localization signal. Interestingly, cytosolic FUS without SYGQ and RGG1 domain or cytosolic FUS without RGG2-ZnF-RGG3 domain did not form FUS-positive SG aggregates, while cytosolic FUS without RRM domain generated more aggregates compared to FUS-∆17. Taken together, these data suggest that SYGQ-RGG1 or RGG2-ZnF-RGG3 domain contributes to formation of cytosolic aggregate, while RRM domain might interfere with FUS aggregation. Therefore, our studies will provide important insight for understanding cellular pathogenesis of neurodegeneration associated with FUS aggregate as well as finding therapeutic targets for ALS or FTD.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.370-375
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• 2002

Purpose : In most cases, myelodysplastic syndrome(MDS) transforms into a more aggressive state or acute myelogenous leukemia; it's prognosis is very poor. It is believed that hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT) is the only curative treatment of MDS, but available data in children are very sparse. In this report, the short term outcome of HSCT in childhood MDS was analyzed. Methods : Ten children with MDS(CMMoL 5, RAEB 3, RAEBt 2) underwent HSCT(HLA-matched sibling transplantation 4, HLA-matched unrelated transplantation 4, cord blood transplantation 1, HLA-mismatched familial transplantation 1) between November 1995 and January 2001 at St. Mary's Hospital. Median follow-up duration was 11 months. Results : Engraftment was successful in all cases and 8 patients are alive without disease. Three cases of VOD were observed and improved without complication. Four cases of grade II and 1 case of grade III acute GVHD were observed and well controlled with treatment. Three patients relapsed after transplantation. One patient is alive without disease after cytoreduction with allogenic stem cell rescue and 2 patients died of relapse. Conclusion : HSCT is a curative strategy of MDS and the survival rate is relatively higher than that of adults. But there is an obvious need for more studies because of the small number of patients and the short duration of the follow-up.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2010

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of planting times on the growth and yield of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) in non-heated greenhouse in Jeju Island ($33^{\circ}28.110N,\;126^{\circ}31.076E$), Korea. Five transplanting dates (from Feb. 25 to Apr. 30) of the first half of the year and six transplanting dates (from July 30 to Dec. 15) of the second half of the year were compared. In the spring cycle, most of the flower buds emerged from May to June, and the emergence was slightly earlier in 'Imperial Star' than in 'Green Globe'. The earliest harvest on June 16 was 'Imperial Star' which was planted on Feb. 25. The highest yield of 856 kg/10a was observed in 'Imperial Star' which was planted on Feb. 25. Transplanting of the first half of the year, it was impossible to harvest in the same year when the planting was done after April 15 since the flower buds were not emerged. The flower buds emerged from late Feb. to middle April of the following year in the all planting times of the second half of the year. It was possible to harvest the first time in early April. The highest yield was 2,127 kg/10a in 'Green Globe' which was planted on July 30, and the yields decreased as the planting times were delayed. In the comparisons of planting times of artichoke, it would be recommendable to plant artichoke on Feb. 25 for the same year harvest and in July 30~Oct. 15 for the following year harvest in Jeju Island non-heated greenhouse cultivation.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.108-118
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• 2013

Currently, an arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique does not routinely used in clinical studies to measure perfusion in brain because optimization of imaging protocol is required to obtain optimal perfusion signals. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate changes of perfusion-weighed signal intensities with varying several parameters on a pulsed arterial spin labeling MRI technique obtained from a 3T MRI system. We especially evaluated alternations of ASL-MRI signal intensities on special brain areas, including in brain tissues and lobes. The signal targeting with alternating radiofrequency (STAR) pulsed ASL method was scanned on five normal subjects (mean age: 36 years, range: 29~41 years) on a 3T MRI system. Four parameters were evaluated with varying: 1) the labeling gap, 2) the labeling delay time, 3) the labeling thickness, and 4) the slice scan order. Signal intensities were obtained from the perfusion-weighted imaging on the gray and white matters and brain lobes of the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital areas. The results of this study were summarized: 1) Perfusion-weighted signal intensities were decreased with increasing the labeling gap in the bilateral gray matter areas and were least affected on the parietal lobe, but most affected on the occipital lobe. 2) Perfusion-weighted signal intensities were decreased with increasing the labeling delay time until 400 ms, but increased up to 1,000 ms in the bilateral gray matter areas. 3) Perfusion-weighted signal intensities were increased with increasing the labeling thickness until 120 mm in both the gray and white matter. 4) Perfusion-weighted signal intensities were higher descending scans than asending scans in both the gray and white matter. We investigated changes of perfusion-weighted signal intensities with varying several parameters in the STAR ASL method. It should require having protocol optimization processing before applying in patients. It has limitations to apply the ASL method in the white matter on a 3T MRI system.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2009

Background: Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) is characterized by a proliferation of Langerhans cells and this results in granulomas that involve multiple organs of the body. Because the incidence of PLCH is very low in Korea and worldwide, collecting the clinical data of patients with PLCH nationwide is needed to determine the clinical features of Korean patients with PLCH. Methods: The patients with PLCH confirmed by biopsy at any body site were included and the patients should have lung lesions present. A questionnaire that had items on the symptoms, lung function tests, the roentgenographic findings and the treatment was collected retrospectively at a Korean ILD Research Meeting. Results: A total of 56 cases were collected. The number of males and females was 48 and 8, respectively, and their median age was 43 years (range: 18-67 years). The patients were current or ex-smokers in 79% of the cases. The most frequent symptom was coughing (39%), followed in decreasing order by dyspnea (38%), sputum (20%) and chest pain (20%). Pneumothorax was observed in 16 (29%) patients. Lung function tests showed a normal, restrictive, mixed or obstructive pattern in 26 (61%), 7 (16%), 7 (16%) and 3 patients (7%), respectively. Nodular-cystic lesion was most frequently observed in 59% of the patients on HRCT. The lung lesions were located in the middle and upper lobes in almost the cases. The median follow-up period was 90 months (range: 1-180 months) and only two patients died during this period. Conclusion: This study provides a national survey of the patients with PLCH during a long follow-up period.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.726-731
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• 2006

Purpose : We reported previously that intramuscular ketamine with adjunctive midazolam is more effective than ketamine alone in pediatric procedural sedation, but with limited satisfactory sedation by suboptimal ketamine dose. The optimal dose of intramuscular ketamine in children has never been studied in Korea. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness and adverse events of ketamine 4mg/kg with adjunctive midazolam in pediatric laceration repair. Methods : From Jan. 2005 to July 2005, we enrolled 60 children, aged 3 months-7 years, who needed laceration repair under sedation. After verbal consent from parents, patients were randomly assigned to KMA group(IM ketamine 4 mg/kg＋atropine 0.01 mg/kg＋intramuscular midazolam 0.05 mg/kg) or KA group(without midazolam). We compared both groups with the induction time, recovery time, total sedation time, efficacy of sedation, adverse effects, and the satisfaction score of treating physicians. Results : Potentially confounding variables, age, weight, injury site and anxiety score, were similar between groups. The induction time, recovery time and total sedation time were not different statistically. In KMA group, 90.9 percent of patients showed satisfactory sedation compared to 66.7 percent of KA group(P=0.02) and the occurrence rate of significant adverse effect was 0.0 percent and 37.0 percent respectively. Conclusion : We found adjunctive midazolam with ketamine doses of 4 mg/kg IM produced more effective, satisfactory sedation and less adverse effect than without midazolam in pediatric laceration repair. The emergence phenomenon(agitation during recovery) only occurred in 9 KA group patients. In spite of adverse effect, all patients recovered, were discharged and there were no reported delayed events.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.90-95
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• 2008

In this study, a combined process of sequential anaerobic-aerobic digestion (SAAD), fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBBR), and ultrafiltration (UF) for the treatment of small scale food waste leachate was developed and evaluated. The SAAD process was tested for performance and stability by subjecting leachate from food waste to a two-phase anaerobic digestion. The main process used FBBR composed of aerators for oxygen supply and fluidization, three 5 ton reaction chambers containing an aerobic mesophilic microorganism immobilized in PE (polyethylene), and a sedimentation chamber. The HRTs (hydraulic retention time) of the combined SAAD-FBBR-UF process were 30, 7, and 1 day, and the operation temperature was set to the optimal one for microbial growth. The pilot process maintained its performance even when the CODcr of input leachate fluctuated largely. During the operation, average CODcr, TKN, TP, and salt of the effluent were 1,207mg/L, 100mg/L, 50 mg/L, and 0.01 %, which corresponded to the removal efficiencies of 99.4%, 98.6%, 89.6%, and 98.5%, respectively. These results show that the developed process is able to manage high concentration leachate from food waste and remove CODcr, TKN, TP, and salt effectively.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.333-341
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• 2010

Fluvial sediments are widely distributed in present and old river-beds of the mid-Keum River, the tributaries of which are the Yugu and Jeongan Rivers. The basement of the mid-Keum River area consists of Mesozoic granites which are easily eroded compared to Precambrian gneisses, which are exposed in the upper-Keum River area. The provenance of the fluvial sediments includes both the Precambrian gneisses and Mesozoic granites, which occur in the catchment of the mid-Keum River. The coarse-grained sediments were probably transported from the river-beds and the overbank floodings of the main Keum River and its tributaries when the climate was warm and wet. The oldest mud deposits were dated at ca. 9,400 yr BP by the radiocarbon method. It has been estimated that the sand deposits below the dated muds were formed in a period from the Late Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. However we have revealed that the major part of the present river-bed sediments was formed at ca. 3,000-6,000 yr BP, i.e., in the mid- to late Holocene, when summer monsoon was very strong due to climatic changes. We have calculated fluvial sedimentation rates of 0.12-0.16 cm/yr and 0.02-0.09 cm/yr for borehole KJ-29 river-bed sediments and borehole KJ-28 floodplain deposits, respectively. We conclude that the sedimentation rate is higher near the present stream channel than near the floodplain.