• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.279-284
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• 2013

Background: Sternal dehiscence is one of the most troublesome complications following cardiac surgery. Treatment failure and consequent lethal outcomes are very common. The aim of this study was to evaluate titanium plate fixation as a treatment for sternal dehiscence following major cardiac surgery. Materials and Methods: Between 2010 and 2012, 17 patients underwent sternal reconstruction using horizontal titanium plating for the treatment of post-cardiac-surgery sternal dehiscence. The plates were cut and shaped, and then were fixed to corresponding costal segments using 2-3 titanium screws per each side. Results: The median age of our patients was 66 years (range, 50 to 78 years) and 9 were female. Indications for sternal reconstruction included aseptic sternal dehiscence in 3 patients and osteomyelitis in 14 patients including 6 patients who were diagnosed with mediastinitis. During the operation, sternal resection and autologous flap interposition were combined in 11 patients. One patient died due to sepsis. Two patients required additional soft tissue wound revisions. Another patient presented with a tuberculous wound infection which was resolved using anti-tuberculosis medications. The postoperative course was uncomplicated in the other 13 patients. Conclusion: Titanium plate fixation that combines appropriate debridement and flap interposition is very effective for the treatment of sternal dehiscence following major cardiac surgery.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.579-585
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• 2013

Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus (Streptococcus zooepidemicus, SEZ) is an important pathogen associated with opportunistic infections of a wide range of species, including pigs and humans. The absence of a suitable vaccine makes it difficult to control SEZ infection. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) has been previously identified as an immunogenic protein using immunoproteomic techniques. In the present study, we confirmed that the sequence of GAPDH was highly conserved with other Streptococcus spp. The purified recombinant GAPDH could elicit a significant humoral antibody response in mice and confer significant protection against challenge with a lethal dose of SEZ. GAPDH could adhere to the Hep-2 cells, confirmed by flow cytometry, and inhibit adherence of SEZ to Hep-2 cells in an adherence inhibition assay. In addition, real-time PCR demonstrated that GAPDH was induced in vivo following infection of mice with SEZ. These suggest that GAPDH could play an important role in the pathogenesis of SEZ infection and could be a target for vaccination against SEZ.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제38권12호
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• pp.1079-1085
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• 2015

Originally, activins were identified as stimulators of FSH release in reproduction. Other activities, including secondary axis formation in development, have since been revealed. Here, we investigated the influence of activin ${\beta}_A$ on the body, including the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. Initially, the activin ${\beta}_A$ protein was detected in the serum proportional to the amount of pCMV-rAct plasmid injected. The induced level of activin ${\beta}_A$ in muscle was higher in female than male mice. Subsequent results revealed that stomach and intestine were severely damaged in pCMV-rAct-injected mice. At the cellular level, loss of parietal cells was observed, resulting in increased pH within the stomach. This phenomenon was more severe in male than female mice. Consistent with damage of the stomach and intestine, activin ${\beta}_A$ often led to necrosis in the tip of the tail or foot, and loss of body weight was observed in pCMV-rAct-injected male but not female mice. Finally, in pCMV-rAct-injected mice, circulating activin ${\beta}_A$ led to death at supraphysiological doses, and this was dependent on the strain of mice used. Taken together, these results indicate that activin ${\beta}_A$ has an important role outside of reproduction and development, specifically in digestion. These data also indicate that activin ${\beta}_A$ must be controlled within a narrow range because of latent lethal activity. In addition, our approach can be used effectively for functional analysis of secreted proteins.

• 대한약침학회지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.213-224
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• 2016

Objectives: Ginseng Rh2+ is enzyme-treated ginseng extract containing high amounts of converted ginsenosides, such as compound k, Rh2, Rg3, which have potent anticancer activity. We conducted general and genetic toxicity tests to evaluate the safety of ginseng Rh2+. Methods: An acute oral toxicity test was performed at a high-level dose of 4,000 mg/kg/day in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. A 14-day range-finding study was also conducted to set dose levels for the 90-day study. A subchronic 90-day toxicity study was performed at dose levels of 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg/day to investigate the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of ginseng Rh2+ and target organs. To identify the mutagenic potential of ginseng Rh2+, we conducted a bacterial reverse mutation test (Ames test) using amino-acid-requiring strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli (E. coli), a chromosome aberration test with Chinese hamster lung (CHL) cells, and an in vivo micronucleus test using ICR mice bone marrow as recommended by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Results: According to the results of the acute oral toxicity study, the approximate lethal dose (ALD) of ginseng Rh2+ was estimated to be higher than 4,000 mg/kg. For the 90-day study, no toxicological effect of ginseng Rh2+ was observed in body-weight changes, food consumption, clinical signs, organ weights, histopathology, ophthalmology, and clinical pathology. The NOAEL of ginseng Rh2+ was established to be 2,000 mg/kg/day, and no target organ was found in this test. In addition, no evidence of mutagenicity was found either on the in vitro genotoxicity tests, including the Ames test and the chromosome aberration test, or on the in vivo in mice bone marrow micronucleus test. Conclusion: On the basis of our findings, ginseng Rh2+ is a non-toxic material with no genotoxicity. We expect that ginseng Rh2+ may be used as a novel adjuvant anticancer agent that is safe for long-term administration.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• 제57권4호
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• pp.454-465
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• 2024

Background/Aims: Gastrointestinal bleeding is a significant and potentially lethal event. We aimed to review the efficiency and safety of self-assembling peptides for the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal tract bleeding. Methods: We conducted a systematic search for studies describing the endoscopic use of self-assembling peptides for treatment or prevention of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract in a parallel, independent fashion. The primary outcomes were rates of successful initial hemostasis, delayed bleeding, and rebleeding. The secondary outcomes were adverse events and ease and volume of gel used. Results: Seventeen studies were analyzed. Overall success rate of self-assembling peptides in gastrointestinal bleeding was 87.7% (38%-100%), regardless of etiology or associated treatments. Rebleeding rate ranged from 0% to 16.2%, with a mean of 4.7%, and overall delayed bleeding rate was 5% (range, 0%-15.9%). Only three adverse events were reported in a pooled number of 815 patients. The volume of gel used varied (0.43 to 3.7 mL) according to indication and type of bleeding. Conclusions: The limited available data on the use of self-assembling peptides in gastrointestinal endoscopy suggest a high efficiency and good safety profile.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.61-67
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• 2014

Background: Solid cancers with bone marrow metastases are rare but lethal. This study aimed to identify clinical factors predictive of survival in adult patients with solid cancers and bone marrow metastases. Methods: A total of 83 patients were enrolled consecutively between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. Bone marrow metastases were confirmed by biopsies. Patient clinical features and laboratory data were analyzed for associations. Results: The median age of the patients was 54 years (range, 23-88 years), and 58% were male. The 3 most common primary tumor locations were the stomach (32 patients, 39%), prostate (16 patients, 19%), and lungs (12 patients, 15%). The median overall survival was 49 days (range, 3-1423 days). Patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 1, cancers of prostate origin, platelet counts over 50,000/ml, and undergoing antitumor therapies had a significantly better prognosis in the multivariate analysis. The median survival times were 173 and 33 days for patients with 2-3 more favorable parameters (n=24) and those with 0-1 (n=69), respectively (hazard ratio 0.30; 95% CI 0.17-0.52, p<0.001). Conclusions: Solid cancers with bone marrow metastases are dismal and incurable diseases. Understanding prognostic factors to these diseases helps medical personnel to provide appropriate treatments and better inform patients about outcomes. Antitumor therapies may improve outcomes in selected patient cohorts.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.174-179
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• 2007

Seedlot disinfection techniques to control mung bean sprout rot caused by Colletoricum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides were evaluated for commercial production scheme. Soaking seedlots in propolis (100 X) and ethanol (20% for 30 min) appeared promising with control values of 85.5 and 80.8 respectively, but still resulted in up to 20% rot incidence. None of the C. acutatum conidia survived through hot water immersion treatment (HWT) for 10 min at temperatures of 55, 60 and $65^{\circ}C$, whereas the effective range of the dry heat treatment (DHT) was $60-65^{\circ}C$. Tolerance of mung bean seedlot, as estimated by hypocotyl elongation and root growth, was lower for HWT than for DHT. Germination and growth of sprouts were excellent over the range of $55-65^{\circ}C\;at\;5^{\circ}C$ intervals, except for HWT at $65^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. At this marginal condition, heat damage appeared so that approximately 2% of seeds failed to sprout to normal germling and retarded sprouts were less than 5% with coarse wrinkled hypocotyls. These results suggested that DHT would be more feasible to disinfect mung bean seedlots for commercial sprout production. Heat treatment at above ranges was highly effective in eliminating the epiphytic bacterial strains associated with marketed sprout rot samples. HWT of seedlot at 55 and $60^{\circ}C$ for 5 min resulted in successful control of mung bean sprout rot incidence with marketable sprout quality. DHT at 60 and $65^{\circ}C$ for 30 min also gave good results through the small-scale sprouting system. Therefore, we optimized DHT scheme at 60 and $65^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, considering the practical value of seedlot disinfection with high precision and accuracy. This was further proved to be a feasible and reliable method against anthracnose incidence and those bacterial strains associated with marketed sprout rot samples as well, through factory scale mung bean sprout production system.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제27권5호
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• pp.529-534
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• 1994

해역에 오염을 일으킬 것으로 예상되는 Micropollutants로서 크롬, 구리, 아연, 수은, 카드뮴 및 LAS를 택하여 서해안의 대표적인 유용 어종인 조피볼락, 넙치 및 숭어에 대한 급성독성실험을 행한 결과 다음과 같은 결론을 얻었다. 1. 각종 중금속이나 LAS에 대한 넙치, 숭어, 조피볼락의 내성은 일정한 경향이 없었으나 기수성 어류인 숭어가 대체로 약하였고 독성물질 중 수은과 LAS의 독성이 특히 강하였다. 2. 크롬의 어종별 96hr-LC50은 8.4mg/l, 숭어1.14mg/l, 조피볼락 26.65mg/l으로 조피볼락이 타어종에 비해 내성이 훨씬 강하였다. 3. 구리의 어종별 96hr-LC50은 넙치 16.1mg/l, 숭어 2.32mg/l, 조피볼락 0.18mg/l으로 조피볼락의 내성이 타어종에 비해 매우 낮았으며 특히 조피볼락의 MATC는 $0.053{\sim}0.0053mg/l$으로 서해 연안역의 $92{\sim}93$년도 농도가 $0.003{\sim}0.012mg/l$인 점으로 보아 구리 오염에 주의할 필요가 있음을 알 수 있었다. 4. 아연의 어종별 96hr-LC50은 넙치 5.2mg/l, 숭어 13.75mg/l, 조피볼락 6.95mg/l으로 나타났다. 5. 수은의 어종별 96hr-LC50은 넙치 0.28mg/l, 숭어 0.1mg/l, 조피볼락 0.01mg/l으로 조피볼락이 타어종에 비해 내성 낮았으며, 특히 조피볼락의 MATC는 $0.0007{\sim}0.007mg/l$으로 $92{\sim}93$년도의 서해 연안역의 수은 농도가 $0.001{\sim}0.005mg/l$인 점을 고려하여 볼 때 수은 오염에 주의할 필요가 있음을 알 수 있었다. 6. 카드뮴의 어종별 96hr-LC50은 넙치 28.4mg/l, 숭어 2.55mg/l, 조피볼락 28.7mg/l으로 나타났다. 7. LAS의 96hr-LC50은 0.79mg/l이었고, 숭어에 대한 96hr-LC50은 0.06mg/l, 조피볼락 1.08mg/l으로 기수성 어류인 숭어의 내성이 매우 낮은 점이 특이하였다.

• 대한정형외과학회지
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• 제54권2호
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• pp.164-171
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• 2019

목적: 역분화 연골육종은 저 악성도의 연골육종과 골육종, 섬유육종 등 고 등급의 육종이 같이 관찰되는 매우 드문 악성 골종양이다. 저자들은 원자력병원에서 경험한 역분화 연골육종 환자들의 임상 양상과 종양학적 결과에 대해 알아보고자 하였다. 대상 및 방법: 2007년부터 1월부터 2016년 12월까지 본원에서 역분화 연골육종으로 진단된 이후 치료 받은 11명의 환자를 대상으로 하였다. 이들의 나이, 성별, 증상 발현 기간, 종양의 위치 및 크기, 병기, 자기공명영상, 수술적 절제연, 병리 소견을 후향적으로 분석하였고, 국소 재발 및 원격 전이 발생 시간, 추시 기간 및 종양학적 결과를 분석하였다. 생존율 분석에는 Kaplan-Meier 생존율 분석법을 이용하였다. 결과: 남자가 7예, 여자가 4예였으며, 평균 연령은 54세(33-80세)였다. 종양의 위치는 대퇴골이 6예, 골반골이 4예, 중족골이 1예였으며 종양의 평균 크기는 12.7 cm (6.0-26.1 cm)였다. 진단 당시 증상은 8예에서 동통, 2예에서 종괴였으며, 나머지 1예는 방사선에서 우연히 발견된 골병변이었다. 진단 시 병적 골절이 동반된 환자는 2명이었으며, 병기는 1예에서 IIA기, 9예에서 IIB기, 1예에서 III기였다. 8예가 원발성, 3예가 속발성 역분화 연골육종이었으며, 원발성 중 1예는 방사선적으로 저 등급의 연골육종으로 오인되어 소파술을 시행받은 후 진단되었다. 평균 추시 기간은 17개월(5-56개월)이었고, 국소 재발이 8예, 원격 전이가 10예에서 발생했다. 국소 재발은 평균 8개월(2-23개월), 원격 전이는 평균 7개월(1-32개월)에서 관찰되었다. 역분화 연골육종 환자의 Kaplan-Meier 3년 생존율은 18%였으며, 10명의 환자가 질병으로 인해 사망하였다. 결론: 역분화 연골육종은 조기에 폐 전이가 발생하여 매우 좋지 않은 예후를 갖는 치사율이 높은 악성 골종양으로 확인되었다.

• 한국시뮬레이션학회논문지
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.47-55
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• 2020

본 논문은 드론봇 전투체계를 운용하여 전투전단의 적 보병부대 위치정보를 수집하였을 시, 지휘관이 요구하는 적 부대 피해수준을 충족하면서 적 보병부대를 신속하고 정확하게 타격하기 위하여, 보유한 화력체계의 살상범위를 기초로 최적의 사격발수 및 조준점 위치를 실시간 자동으로 산출하는 인공지능 알고리즘 연구이다. 이를 위해, 100m×200m 크기의 야지 전장환경에서 증강된 소대급 규모의 적 보병부대를 임의로 전개 및 모의하고, 약 15m의 살상범위를 갖는 가상의 화력체계에 대한 모델링을 수행하였으며, 각개 적병사의 무피해/경상 및 중상/사망 등의 피해유형 및 임무수행 가능여부를 모의하기 위하여 연성표적의 피해효과에 적용되는 칼튼피해함수를 적용하고 전장의 불확실성을 모의하기 위하여 몬테칼로 시뮬레이션을 수행하였다. 또한, 지휘관 의도에 부합된 적부대의 피해수준을 달성하기 위하여, 반복적인 모의 및 비지도학습의 k-mean clustering 기법을 적용하여 최적의 사격발수 및 조준점 위치를 0.4초 이내로 산출하였다. 본 연구에서 제안하는 방법은 드론봇 전투체계를 운용하는 대대급 규모의 전투부대에서 '탐지-결심-타격' 의사결정시간의 단축에 기여할 것으로 판단된다.