• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.138-148
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• 2004

Purpose: Regardless of the underlying diseases, the proteinuric condition demonstrates ultrastructural changes in podocytes with retraction and effacement of the highly specialized interdigitating foot processes. We examined the molecular basis for this alteration of the podocyte phenotypes, including quantitative and distributional changes of ZO-1 protein as a candidate contributing to the pathogenic changes in the barrier to protein filtration. Methods: To investigate whether high glucose and advanced glycosylation endproduct(AGE) induce podocyte cytoskeletal changes, we cultured rat GEpC under 1) normal glucose(5 mM=control) or 2) high glucose(30 mM) or 3) AGE-added or 4) high glucose plus AGE-added conditions. The distribution of ZO-1 was observed by confocal microscope and the change of ZO-1 expression was measured by Western blotting and RT-PCR. Results: By confocal microscopy, we observed that ZO-1 moves from peripheral cytoplasm to inner actin filaments complexes in both AGE-added and high glucose condition. In Western blotting, high glucose or AGE-added condition decreased the ZO-1 protein expression by 11.1%(P>0.05) and 2.3%(P>0.05), respectively compared to the normal glucose condition. High glucose plus AGE-added condition further decreased ZO-1 protein expression to statistically significant level(12%, P<0.05). No significant change was seen in the osmotic control. In RT-PCR, high glucose plus AGE-added condition significantly decreased the expression of ZO-1 mRNA by 12% compared to normal glucose condition. Conclusion: We suggest that both high glucose and AGE-added condition induce the cytoplasmic translocation and suppresses the production of ZO-1 at transcriptional level and these changes may explain the functional changes of podocytes in diabetic conditions.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.166-175
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• 2004

Purpose: Present study has been undertaken to determine the distribution of various renal diseases causing asymptomatic hematuria in children and to evaluate the benefit of doing renal biopsy in these children. Methods: Study population consisted of 146 children with asymptomatic primary hematuria who had been admitted to the pediatric departmen of Kyungpook National University Hospital for the past 4 years from 1999 to 2002. In 122 out of 146 cases, renal biopsy was performed percutaneously and in 24 out of 146 cases, diagnosed as idiopathic hypercalciuria, oral calcium loading test was performed. Results: The age$(mean{\pm}SD)$ at onset or discovery of hematuria of the 146 children in-cluded in this study was $8.0\pm3.2$ years and the proportion of boys and girls was 54.8% and 45.2%, respectively. In 76 out of 146 cases(52%), asymptomatic hematuria was first diagnosed by school urinalysis screening. The proportion of histopathologic findings based on 122 biopsies was as follows : Thin Glomerular Basement Membrane(TGBM) 73 cases(50%): IgA nephropathy 20 cases(14%): Alport syndrome 6 cases(4%), Membranous Glomerulonephropathy(MGN) 4 cases(3%): Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis(MPGN) 2 cases(1%); IgA nephropathy with TGBM 3 cases(2%): 'normal' glomeruli 14 cases(10%) Twenty four cases (16%) were diagnosed as idiopathic hypercalciuria. During follow-up periods, 15% of 146 cases became hematuria-free and renal function did not deteriorate in any cases. Conclusion: Unless hematuric children manifest poor prognostic indicators for renal survival, we would recommend long term regular follow-up prior to a renal biopsy.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.157-163
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• 2019

This study aimed to assess the incidence and distribution of toxigenic fungi in Korean oat. Toxigenic fungi were isolated from oat samples collected from 12 oat fields from heading to harvest in 2017 and 2018. A total of 745 fungal colonies were isolated based on morphology and identified using marker genes. About 92% of the fungal isolates were Fusarium spp. and others were Penicillium (5.9%) and Aspergillus (2.1%). Fusarium isolates comprised mostly of F. asiaticum (83.1%), followed by F. incarnatum (5.4%), F. proliferatum (3.5%), F. fujikuroi (2.8%), F. tricinctum species complex (FTSC) 11 (1.5%) and F. graminearum (1.0%). About 97% of F. asiaticum was nivalenol type, and 3-acetyl deoxynivalenol (3.2%) and 15-acetyl deoxynivalenol (0.4%) types also were found. Pathogenicity test of the selected Fusarium isolates revealed that F. asiaticum isolates have a wide range of virulence depending on the tested plants. F. graminearum and FTSC 11 isolates from blighted spikelets were the most virulent in naked oat. All Fusarium isolates (n=18) except one (FTSC 11) produced nivalenol (0.2-7.6 ㎍/g), deoxynivalenol (0.03-6.1 ㎍/g), and zearalenone (0.1-27.0 ㎍/g) on rice medium. This study is first report that F. asiaticum causes Fusarium head blight disease of oat in Korea. These findings demonstrate the dominance of F. asiaticum in oat agroecosystems as in rice, wheat and barley in Korea.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.164-172
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• 2019

Rice blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is the most important disease of rice in both South and North Korea. Cultivation of disease-resistant cultivar is the best way to prevent this notorious disease, but M. oryzae races have been continuously changed to adapt a new cultivar. Therefore, it is important to get the information about the race and avirulence genes of the pathogen for developing blast-resistant rice cultivar. Since the entrance of North Korea was prohibited, the information about the races of M. oryzae in North Korea border areas and South Korea was collected to get the information about the diversity of rice blast pathogen in North Korea. The disease occurrence on monogenic lines carrying single resistant gene was investigated in Jeonju, Suwon, Cheorwon, Goseong, and Baengnyeongdo in Korea, and Dandong in China. The monogenic lines in Jeonju and Suwon showed diverse ranges of the response, while those in Baengnyeongdo and Dandong showed relatively high resistant responses to rice blast. All the field isolates of M. oryzae were characterized for rice blast races by the Korean differential varieties and screened for known avirulence genes to determine the spatial distribution of avirulence genes and the population of M. oryzae.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2006

Purpose : We hypothesized that mannose binding lectin gene(MBL2), a key molecule of innate immunity, may contirbute to the development and the outcome of respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) disease in early childhood. This study was performed to investigate the genetic basis of polymorphisms and haplotypes of MBL2 for RSV disease severity in Korean children. Methods : Cases with severe RSV diseases are 99 children with severe RSV lower respiratory tract infections, who were admitted to the Seoul National University Children's Hospital through 1993~2000. The control subjects consisted of 224 anonymous healthy Korean blood donors. The frequency of promoter variant(-221, X/Y) and structural variant(codon 54) were compared between the case patient group and the control subject group. Results : The mean age of patients was 11.8 months; 49% were <6 months, 39% were 6-24 months and 12% were >24 months. In the cohort of cases of severe RSV diseases, the genotypic frequencies of structural variant in codon 54 were 61% for AA, 34% for AB, and 5% for BB. Those of the promoter X/Y variant were 85% for YY and 15% for XY. There were no significant differences in overall distribution of both structural and promoter variants between the cases and the control subjects. We did not observe statistical difference in the haplotypic frequencies of MBL2. Conclusion : Common variants of MBL2 gene most likely do not contribute to the risk for severe RSV diseases in Korean children. Further genetic association studies should be conducted in a larger propsectively recruited cohort of children with RSV infection.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2005

Purpose : Children occupy a large proportion of burn victims. So we want to aid to pediatric burn care through the understanding of the bacterial distribution in burn wounds and antibiotic susceptibility against isolated microorganisms from burn wounds. Methods : We analysed the medical records of 213 pediatric burn patients(0~15 years), 406 samples that grew bacteria in burn wound sites. Results : Of the total 213 patients, male were 59.6% and female were 40.4%. Scalding burn was the most common(78.4%), flame burn was the second(16.4%). Pathogens were isolated in 406 samples. The most common was Pseudomonas aeruginosa(58.1%). Next were Enterococcus species, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus species, Acinetobacter species. P. aeruginosa was resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in 100%, cephalothin in 98.1%, ampicillin-sulbactam in 96.2%, ampicillin in 95.3%, ceftriaxone in 95.2%, tobramycin in 93.7%, cefoperazone in 68.9%, ceftazidime in 67.7%. Enterococcus species were resistant to tetracycline in 63.9%, streptomycin in 45.5%, gentamicin in 36.1%, penicillin G in 13.7%. S. aureus was resistant to gentamicin in 89.7%, tetracycline in 86.2%, ciprofloxacin in 86.2%, penicillin G in 84.3%, oxacillin in 78.4%, erythromycin in 76.5%. Acinetobacter species were resistant to ampicillin-sulbactam in 100%, gentamicin in 85.7%, ampicillin in 83.3%, piperacillin in 61.5%. Conclusion : P. aeruginosa was highly resistant to drugs like cefoperazone in 68.9%, ceftazidime 67.7%. S. aureus was highly resistant to penicillin G in 84.3%, oxacillin in 25.9 %, but none to vancomycin in 0%, teicoplanin in 2.2%. According to the study, Acinetobacter species turned out to be multi-resistant strains, so careful attention must be paid to the choice of antibiotics.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.126-132
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• 1997

Measles outbreak in the world was decreased since measles vaccine had been introduced. Although vaccination rate is high, measles was not eradicated and measles reappeared among vaccinated children. We measured measles-specific antibody from the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups who had experienced apparent measles in the Seongnam city in 1993. The results were as follows. 1) The data included total 126 children (M:F=1 : 1). Age distribution of measles outbreak revealed 6 children in 5yr, 11 in 6yr, 20 in 7yr, 39 in 8yr, 22 in 9yr, 11 in 10yr, 11 in 11yr, and 6 in 12yr. 2) MMR vaccination rate was 78.6%(99/126) in the children who had experienced measles. Positive rate of measles-specific IgM Ab was 80.8% (80/99) among the vaccinated group and among 9E.6.% (25/27) the unvaccinated. 3) Positive rate of measles-specific IgG Ab was 90.9% (90/99) among MMR-vaccinated group, and 85.2% (23/27) in unvaccinated group. In conclusion, measles-specific IgM antibody have been detected more than 1 month in most patients. The relatively high proportion of measles-specific IgM positivity may mean primary vaccine failure. To booster the antibody titers and to prevent measles epidemic in school-aged children, revaccination of measles should be considered.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2016

Purpose: Enterovirus (EV) infection in children can manifest various diseases from asymptomatic infection to nonspecific febrile illness, hand-foot-mouth disease, and aseptic meningitis. This study was aimed to investigate epidemiology and clinical significance of various genotypes of EV infections in pediatric inpatient. Methods: We collected the stool samples from the admitted pediatric patients in Inha University Hospital from March 2014 to March 2015. EV detection and genotype identification were performed by real-time RT-PCR and semi-nested RT-PCR. Phylogenetic trees were constructed by neighbor joining method. Results: A total of 400 samples were collected during study period and 112 patients (28%) were diagnosed with EV infections. The mean age of EV positive patients was 2.66 years (0.1-14) and sex ratio was 1.73:1. Genetic sequences of EVs were identified; coxsackievirus B5 (17, 15.2%), coxsackievirus A16 (13, 11.6%), enterovirus 71 (10, 8.9%), and coxsackievirus A2 (9, 8.0%). Nonspecific febrile illness (96, 86%) was the most common clinical manifestation and the duration of fever was 0-11 days (mean 3.1 days). Rash (44, 39%) and meningitis (43, 38%) were followed. Patients who were attending daycare center or had siblings accounted for 82.1%. Phylogenetic relationship tree revealed 6 distinct genogroups among 56 types of EVs. Conclusions: This study is the report of epidemiology, serotype distribution and clinical manifestations of children with EV infection in Incheon. This data will be helpful for further study about the epidemiology of EV infection in Korea.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2007

Purpose : We evaluated the epidemiologic characteristics of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Daejeon, Korea from January 2001 through December 2005. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 540 medical records of children with gastroenteritis, who had been hospitalized at The Catholic University of Korea, Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital and were tested positive by rotavirus stool examinations (latex agglutination or immunechromatography). Results : The mean age was $21.8{\pm}15.3$ months (ranged from 2 months to 9 years of age) and the distribution of children were 144 cases (26.7%) in <1 year of age, 228 (42.2%) in 1 year of age, and 93 (17.2%) in 2 years of age, and the 505 children (93.5%) were less than 4 years of age. The male-to-female ratio was 1.4:1. The mean annual number of cases was 108, with a relative even occurrence in each year. Although the patients with rotaviral gastroenteritis occurred through the year, a higher rate of occurrence was seen in spring (March to May, 40.8%) and winter season (December to February, 37.9%), without significant differences in each year. Conclusion : In Daejeon, Korea, rotaviral gastroenteritis have occurred in children less than 4 years of age, with slight annual variations and similar seasonal occurrence in the recent years. The data indicate that the recent trend in peak rotavirus activity is different from that observed decades ago in Korea.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.304-310
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• 2010

Less execution of the electron arc treatment could in large part be attributed to the lack of an adequate planning system. Unlike most linear accelerators providing the electron arc mode, no commercial planning systems for the electron arc plan are available at this time. In this work, with the expectation that an easily accessible planning system could promote electron arc therapy, a commercial planning system was commissioned and evaluated for the electron arc plan. For the electron arc plan with use of a Varian 21-EX, Pinnacle3 (ver. 7.4f), with an electron pencil beam algorithm, was commissioned in which the arc consisted of multiple static fields with a fixed beam opening. Film dosimetry and point measurements were executed for the evaluation of the computation. Beam modeling was not satisfactory with the calculation of lateral profiles. Contrary to good agreement within 1% of the calculated and measured depth profiles, the calculated lateral profiles showed underestimation compared with measurements, such that the distance-to-agreement (DTA) was 5.1 mm at a 50% dose level for 6 MeV and 6.7 mm for 12 MeV with similar results for the measured depths. Point and film measurements for the humanoid phantom revealed that the delivered dose was more than the calculation by approximately 10%. The electron arc plan, based on the pencil beam algorithm, provides qualitative information for the dose distribution. Dose verification before the treatment should be mandatory.