• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.275-285
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• 2013

Purpose : The objective of this study was to investigate effects of different smoothing kernel sizes on brain tissue-masked susceptibility-weighted images (SWI) obtained from normal elderly subjects using voxel-based analyses. Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy human volunteers (mean $age{\pm}SD$ = $67.8{\pm}6.09$ years, 14 females and 6 males) were studied after informed consent. A fully first-order flow-compensated three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo sequence ran to obtain axial magnitude and phase images to generate SWI data. In addition, sagittal 3D T1-weighted images were acquired with the magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition of gradient-echo sequence for brain tissue segmentation and imaging registration. Both paramagnetically (PSWI) and diamagnetically (NSWI) phase-masked SWI data were obtained with masking out non-brain tissues. Finally, both tissue-masked PSWI and NSWI data were smoothed using different smoothing kernel sizes that were isotropic 0, 2, 4, and 8 mm Gaussian kernels. The voxel-based comparisons were performed using a paired t-test between PSWI and NSWI for each smoothing kernel size. Results: The significance of comparisons increased with increasing smoothing kernel sizes. Signals from NSWI were greater than those from PSWI. The smoothing kernel size of four was optimal to use voxel-based comparisons. The bilaterally different areas were found on multiple brain regions. Conclusion: The paramagnetic (positive) phase mask led to reduce signals from high susceptibility areas. To minimize partial volume effects and contributions of large vessels, the voxel-based analysis on SWI with masked non-brain components should be utilized.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.294-307
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• 2013

Purpose : To investigate the correlations between Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery (SNSB) scores and the gray matter volumes (GMV) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitively normal (CN) elderly subjects with correcting the genotypes. Materials and Methods: Total 75 subjects were enrolled with 25 subjects for each group. The apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon genotypes, SNSB scores, and the 3D T1-weighted images were obtained from all subjects. Correlations between SNSB scores and GMV were investigated with the multiple regression method for each subject group using both voxel-based and region-of-interest-based analyses with covariates of age, gender, and the genotype. Results: In the AD group, Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) delayed recall scores were positively correlated with GMV. In the MCI group, Seoul Verbal Learning Test (SVLT) scores were positively correlated with GMV. In the CN group, GMV negatively correlated with Boston Naming Test (K-BNT) scores and Mini-Mental State Examimation (K-MMSE) scores, but positively correlated with RCFT scores. Conclusion: When we used covariates of age, gender, and the genotype, we found statistically significant correlations between some SNSB scores and GMV at some brain regions. It may be necessary to further investigate a longitudinal study to understand the correlation.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.107-115
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• 2018

PURPOSES : As the population of the mobility handicapped, who are classified as the disabled, the elderly, pregnant women, children, etc., has increased, the voices for guaranteeing their rights have been increasing as well. Thus, the design manuals for roads and sidewalks for the mobility handicapped were developed by the local government, such as the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Tourism, in Seoul City. However, according to the 2013 survey results of the Seoul Metropolitan City, the mobility handicapped still feel uncomfortable with the sidewalks, and particularly request for the improvement of the step and slope of the sidewalk curb. Therefore, in this study, we conducted an empirical experimental study to determine the slope of the sidewalk curb and height of the steps considering the mobility handicapped and analyzed whether there is a statistically significant difference. METHODS : The methodology of this study is an empirical experimental one. In the study, five non-disabled people, 10 wheelchair users, and 10 eye patch and stick users walked about 2-3 min on the sidewalk plates of the sloped type (0%, 5%, 6.3%, 8.3%) and stepped type (0 cm, 1 cm, 3 cm, 6 cm), and their human physiological responses, such as the skin temperature, volume of perspiration on forehead and chest, and heart rate, were measured and recorded. After combining the data, we conducted a nonparametric test, ANOVA, or t-test to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference according to each slope and step type. RESULTS : It was found that for the non-disabled, there was no significant difference in human physiological responses according to the slope and steps of the sidewalk. It can be said that the non-disabled do not feel much physiological discomfort while walking. In the case of the sloped sidewalk plate, the heart rate of the wheel chair users increased when the slope was 6.3%. In the case of the eye patch and stick users, the volume of perspiration on the chest increased at a slope of 5.0%. In general, it is judged that a sidewalk with a slope that is less than 5% does not cause a change in the physiological response. In the case of a stepped sidewalk plate, when 0 cm, 1 cm, and 3 cm were compared for wheelchair users, the amount of forehead perspiration increased from 1 cm. Meanwhile, in the case of the eye patch and stick users, when 0 cm and 6 cm were compared, the amount of perspiration on the forehead and chest as well as the heart rate all increased at 6 cm. Taken together, in the case of wheelchair users, a difference was shown when the height of the step of the sidewalk plate was 1 cm, suggesting that installing it at 0 cm does not cause any physiological discomfort. Moreover, in the case of the eye patch and stick users, when comparing only 0 cm and 6 cm, 0 cm was considered to be suitable, as there was a difference in physiological response at 6 cm. CONCLUSIONS : In this study, we set the human physiological responses such as chest skin temperature, amount of perspiration, and heart rate as evaluation items, and our study was considered to be a meaningful experiment that targeted wheelchair users as well as eye patch and stick users. The validity of the evaluation items was confirmed, as the results of human physiological responses were significant. As for the sidewalk design, according to the experiment result, it is considered that differential application should be implemented according to the type of mobility handicap, rather than uniformly applying a sidewalk step of 2 cm and sidewalk slope of 1/25, which are the current legal standards.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1337-1344
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• 2019

Osteoporosis is characterized by a reduction in bone mass and typically manifests as an increase in fractures. Because this disease is common in elderly populations and lifespans are rapidly increasing, the incidence of osteoporosis has also grown. Most drugs currently used for osteoporosis treatment target osteoclasts in the bone tissue to prevent absorption. However, these medications also cause certain side effects and, furthermore, cannot increase bone mass. Thus, in order to control osteoporosis, regenerative medicine that utilizes adult stem cells and osteoblasts has been extensively studied. Statins, also known as 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, are cholesterol-lowering drugs that have been widely prescribed for cardiovascular diseases. Interestingly, recent studies have reported the beneficial effects of various statins on bone formation via the activation of osteoblasts. Thus, the current study investigated the effects of seven statin-family drugs on osteoblast activity during osteogenic differentiation using adult stem cells from human periosteal tissue. Specifically, statin effects on alkaline phosphatase activity, an early marker of bone cell differentiation, and on calcium deposit, a late marker of bone cell differentiation, were assessed. The results demonstrate that some statins (for example, pitavastatin and pravastatin) have a weak but positive effect on bone formation, and the findings therefore suggest that statin treatments can be a novel modulator for osteogenic differentiation and regenerative medicine using periosteal stem cells.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.229-238
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• 2008

Background: Protection of the brain is a major concern during thoracic aortic surgery using hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA). This study compares the surgical outcomes of two different cerebral protection methods in thoracic aortic surgery using HCA: retrograde cerebral protection (RCP) and antegrade cerebral protection (ACP). Material and Method: We retrospectively reviewed data on 146 patients who underwent thoracic aortic surgery from May 1995 to February 2007 using either RCP (114 patients, Group 1) or ACP (32 patients, Group 2) during HCA. There were 104 dissections (94 acute and 10 chronic) and 42 aneurysms (41 true aneurysms and 1 pseudoaneurysm), and all patients underwent ascending aortic replacement. There were 33 cases of hemiarch replacement, 5 of partial arch replacement, and 21 of total arch replacement. Result: The two groups were similar in preoperative and operative characteristics, but Group 2 had more elderly (over 70 years old) patients (34.4% vs. 10.5%), more coronary artery diseases (18.8% vs. 4.4%), more total arch replacements (46.9% vs. 5.3%) and longer HCA time ($50{\pm}24$ minutes vs. $32{\pm}17$ minutes) than Group 1. The operative mortality was 4.4% (5/114) and 3.1% (1/32), the incidence of permanent neurologic deficits was 5.3% (6/114) and 3.1% (1/32), and the incidence of temporary neurologic deficits was 1.8% (2/114) and 9.4% (3/32) in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. There were no statistical differences between the two groups in operative mortality, postoperative bleeding, or neurologic deficits (permanent and temporary). Conclusion: The early outcomes of aortic surgery using HCA were favorable and showed no statistical difference between RCP and ACP. However, the ACP patients endured longer HCA times and more extended arch surgeries. ACP is the preferred brain protection technique when longer HCA time is expected or extended arch replacement is needed.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2002

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the present status of hospice palliative care programs in Korea as a basic database for standardization of hospice palliative care. Method : The data was collected from July to October, 2001. The instrument used for this study was the questionnaires which was consisted of the general characteristics of organization, recipient of service, manpower, contents of service, financial conditions and facilities. Sixty-four hospice palliative care programs answered the questionnaires, confirmed by telephone. Results : They were 40 hospital-based hospice palliative care programs and 24 nonmedical hospice palliative care programs. 11 Hospital-based hospice palliative programs have isolated unit or hospital affiliated free standing hospice. 6 Non-hospital hospice palliative programs have a free standing hospice. Major subjects of hospice palliative program were terminal cancer patients but patients with non-terminal illness were also included. Only 24 of 64 hospice palliative programs had all of the essential professionals : physicians, nurses, social workers, and clergies. Home hospice palliative care programs have a referral system in hospital based (89.7%) and nonmedical programs (73.7%). 24hr hospice are were provided in 26 hospital-based (65.0%) and 9nonmedical programs (37.5%). There were rooms for family in half of hospital-based programs. 73.9% of hospice palliative care programs have financial problems. 62.0% of Hospice palliative care programs need financial support from government. Conclusion : 64 Hospice palliative care programs provided hospice palliative services but had many problems in manpower, quality of care and facility. For improving the quality of terminal patients' life and promoting the cost effectiveness of health care resources, it is necessary to consider the standardization and institutionalization of hospice palliative care.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.349-353
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• 2013

This study was performed to evaluate the bactericidal efficacy of Fumagari OPP$^{(R)}$, fumigation disinfectant, containing 20% ortho-phenylphenol against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In this research, efficacy test of fumigant against S. aureus was carried out according to French standard NF T 72-281. S. aureus working culture suspension number (N value), all of the colony numbers on the carriers exposed with the fumigant (n1, n2, and n3), the number of bacterial test suspentions by pour plate method (N1), the number of bacterial test suspentions by filter membrane method (N2) and the mean number of bacteria recovered on the control-carriers (T value) were obtained from the preliminary test. In addition, the reduction number of S. aureus exposed with the fumigant (d value) was calculated using T value, the mean number of bacteria in recovery solution (n'1) and the mean number of bacteria on carriers plated in agar (n'2). N value was $4.0{\times}10^8$ CFU/mL, and n1, n2, and n3 were higher than 0.5N1, 0.5N2 and 0.5N1, respectively. Additionally, T value was $3.4{\times}10^6$ CFU/mL. In the bactericidal effect of the fumigant, the d value was 6.43 logCFU/mL. According to the French standard for the fumigant, the d value for the effective bactericidal fumigant should be over than 5 logCFU/mL. The results indicated that Fumagari OPP$^{(R)}$ had an effective bactericidal activity against S. aureus, then the fumigant can be applied to disinfect food materials and kitchen appliances contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.523-532
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• 2015

A variety of previous pharmacological studies have suggested Liriope platyphylla (L. platyphylla) may exert beneficial biological effects on inflammation, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorder, obesity, constipation, and atopic dermatitis. In addition, hydrocolloid membranes (HCMs) have attracted attention in dermatological care, including in the treatment of scleroderma skin ulcers, cutaneous ulcers, permanent tympanic membrane perforations, pressure sores, and decubitus ulcers in the elderly. To investigate the therapeutic effects of HCM containing an aqueous extract of L. platyphylla (HCM-LP) on second-degree burn wounds, their physico-chemical properties were analyzed and the therapeutic effects were observed in SD rats after treatment with HCM-LP for 14 days. Significant declines in tensile strength (38.4%) and absorptiveness (46.3%), as well as an increase in surface roughness (38.1%) were detected in HCM-LP compared with that of HCM. In SD rats with burned skin, the wound diameter was shorter in the HCM-LP treated group than in the GZ group on post-surgical day 14, while the significant improvements in scar tissue reduction, epithelium regeneration, angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix deposition were observed in the HCM-LP-treated group during all experimental periods. Overall, these results suggest HCM-LP may accelerate the process of healing the burn injury skin of SD rats through the regulation of angiogenesis and connective tissue formation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.491-496
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• 2007

Background: The best way of delivering drugs for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is via the inhaled route of administration. However, many patients use inhaler devices incorrectly. To augment the proper use of inhalation medicine and to improve knowledge of the disease and compliance, we have developed a "Computerized Respiratory Service Program" and applied the use of this program to educate patients. Methods: Prospectively, this study was performed in 164 patients with asthma or COPD prescribed with inhaled medication. When inhalation medication was first prescribed, education using a drug model was conducted two times and thereafter every month. In addition, education using a drug model was conducted and the ability of the patient to use inhalation medicine properly was evaluated. Results: A total of 164 patients participated in the sessions more than two times and received education. Fifty-seven patients participated in three sesions. After the patients received education one time, the ability of these patients to use an inhaler had an average score of 20.6. After the patients received education two times, the average score was 21.9. After the patients received education three times, the average score was 22.3, a further increase. The compliance of using the inhaler was 70.1% at the second session and increased to 81.8% at the third session. Conclusion: Feedback education using the "Computerized Respiratory Service Program" will increase the ability of the patient to use an inhaler and consistent education can maintain patient compliance with inhaler use.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1063-1073
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• 2016

Male climacteric syndrome, andropause, or testosterone deficiency syndrome (TDS) is one of the new health issues in elderly men. It is a natural phenomenon that happens with age in men, which is clinically characterized by a decline in levels of serum testosterone resulting in a significantly decreasing of physical and mental activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the putative alleviative effects of dandelion extract on the symptoms of TDS by increasing serum testosterone levels and compare the efficacy between dandelion extract (DE) and fermented dandelion extract (FDE). After daily intake of DE and FDE for 4 weeks, serum testosterone levels, muscles of vastus lateralis, forced swimming time, total sperm counts, and motile sperm counts were significantly increased in older rats (22 weeks). Additionally, SHBG, epididymal fat pad, total serum cholesterol and triglyceride were significantly decreased in DE and FDE fed groups. However, PSA levels were not different among all groups. Furthermore, DE and FDE enhanced the expression of genes related to testosterone biosynthesis in TM3 Leydig cells. Overall, these positive effects on andropause were greater in FDE compared to DE. These results suggest the potential of FDE as a safe and efficacious natural material for recovering testosterone levels and reducing andropause symptoms.