• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.729-734
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• 1999

Broncho-esophageal fistula(BEF) is an uncommon clinical entity which can cause severe suppurative lung disease. Acquired fistulas between the esophagus and tracheobronchial tree are relatively uncommon. They are caused by many diseases including malignancy and chronic inflammation such as tuberculosis and have favorable outcome with proper treatment To our knowledge, there has been no description of patients with BEF due to the bronchiectasis. We report a case of broncho-esophageal fistula in association with bronchiectasis in a 35-year-old male patient with hemoptysis. Bronchoscopy revealed mild bleeding from the superior segment of the right lower lobe without specific endobronchial lesion. Barium esophagogram could not confirm the fistula. The diagnosis of a broncho-esophageal fistula was established by an esophagogastroscopy using fistulogram and subsequent bronchoscopy, in which the communication between the bronchial tree and the esophagus was demonstrated by instilling dye selectively through the fistulous opening using esophagogastroscopy and visualizing the fistula and the bronchial tree. The patient was treated with resection of the right lower lobe, extirpation of the diverticulum and surgical closure of the bronchial defect and fistula, but he suffered from pneumonia thereafter and eventually expired due to sepsis and multiple organ failure.

• BMB Reports
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.460-465
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• 2017

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common inherited disorders, involving progressive cyst formation in the kidney that leads to renal failure. FK506 binding protein 12 (FK506BP) is an immunophilin protein that performs multiple functions, including regulation of cell signaling pathways and survival. In this study, we determined the roles of PEP-1-FK506BP on cell proliferation and cyst formation in PKD cells. Purified PEP-1-FK506BP transduced into PKD cells markedly inhibited cell proliferation. Also, PEP-1-FK506BP drastically inhibited the expression levels of p-Akt, p-p70S6K, p-mTOR, and p-ERK in PKD cells. In a 3D-culture system, PEP-1-FK506BP significantly reduced cyst formation. Furthermore, the combined effects of rapamycin and PEP-1-FK506BP on cyst formation were markedly higher than the effects of individual treatments. These results suggest that PEP-1-FK506BP delayed cyst formation and could be a new therapeutic strategy for renal cyst formation in PKD.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2014

Purpose: Since most terminally ill cancer patients die of multiple organ failure, plasma endotoxin concentration levels may be used to predict the life expectancy. This study was performed to evaluate the clinical significance of endotoxin level in plasma as a prognostic factor for survival in patients with terminal cancer. Methods: This study was conducted with 56 terminally ill cancer patients, above 20 years old, from April 2009 through October 2009. Demographic characteristics, Karnofsky performance status, and survival time were evaluated. We analyzed blood levels of white blood cell hemoglobin, hematocrit, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, c-reactive protein, total bilirubin and endotoxin in each patient. Results: We considered following variable for univariate analysis: plasma endotoxin level, sex, age, WBC, hemoglobin, hematocrit, AST, ALT, total bilirubin, CRP and severity of pain. Univariate analysis did not show a significant association between plasma endotoxin level and survival time. However, in a multivariate analysis with factors that were found to be significantly associated with survival sex, WBC count and total bilirubin level in univariate analysis, high levels of plasma endotoxin and short survival time were significantly related. Conclusion: Plasma endotoxin level could be used as a prognostic factor to predict the life expectancy of terminally ill cancer patients.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.172-180
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• 2020

This study investigated retrospectively the correlation between the results of the N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and a routine blood test using a hospital information system. The NT-proBNP is involved in the pathophysiology of heart failure. The results show that the relationship between age and NT-proBNP was significant (P<0.01) with a positive correlation (r=0.163). The peptide concentration showed a negative correlation between the total protein (r=-0.250) and albumin (r=-0.270), and a negative correlation between the erythrocyte count and hemoglobin and hematocrit (P<0.01). NT-proBNP had a positive correlation with neutrophils (r=0.227) and a negative correlation with lymphocytes (r=-0.236), showing significant results (P<0.01). NT-proBNP and creatinine showed a positive correlation (r=0.594, P<0.01), and it was the most influential factor according to multiple regression analysis (B=0.53, t=7.65). P<0.01). The concentrations of NT-proBNP and uric acid showed a positive correlation (r=0.180, P<0.05). Lactate dehydrogenase was observed as a factor affecting the NT-proBNP (B=0.20, t=3.28, P<0.01). This explanatory power had an influence of 43%. Therefore, the accurate test and related factors of the NT-proBNP have significant clinical value.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.6
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• pp.516-522
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• 2007

Background: Postoperative pulmonary complications are important problems that prolong the length of the hospital stay and increase patient mortality. However, our knowledge of the postoperative factors that increase the risk of these complications is less than complete. Methods: We conducted a prospective study to determine the risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications. A total of 199 patients were referred to the Pulmonology Department for preoperative pulmonary evaluation. We reviewed the perioperative variables according to the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP). Postoperatively, we collected data on the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications and we evaluated the relationship between the perioperative variables and outcomes. Results: Twenty two patients (11%) had pulmonary complications; 6 had respiratory failure, 4 had pneumonia, 13 had pleural effusion and, 2 had atelectasis. Five variables were statistically significantly associated with pulmonary complications on the bivariate analyses. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that three of these variables were independently associated with an increased risk of pulmonary complications; a high cardiac risk index (OR 16.5, p=0.002), emergency surgery (OR 10.3, p=0.017), and thoracic/abdominal surgery (OR 3.8, p=0.047). Conclusion: The risk factors for postoperative pulmonary complications are a high cardiac risk index, emergency surgery and thoracic/abdominal surgery.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.183-199
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of mother's perfectionism and parenting beliefs on her preschooler's social competence. The participants were 277 mothers residing in Daejeon, Korea. Basic descriptive statistics, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression were used for statistical treatment. The results were as follows: First, a mother's perfectionism and parenting beliefs did not differ according to her educational level. One factor of perfectionism, 'holding high standards', alone showed significant difference between highschool graduates and graduate school graduates, the latter's scores being higher than the former's. There were no significant differences in preschooler's social competence by sex or age. However, a few sex and age differences were found in sub-factors of social competence. Girls scored higher than boys on 'showing affection', and 5 year olds scored lower on 'showing affection' and higher on 'leadership' than 3 years olds. Second, a mother's perfectionism and parenting beliefs were able to explain 22.8% of variance in preschooler's social competence, the former showing more predictive power than the latter. Each of the two factors of maternal perfectionism affected five factors of preschooler's social competence in a different manner. 'Holding high standards' of perfectionism positively influenced preschooler's social competence factors such as 'social capability', 'leadership', and 'showing affection', whereas maternal 'fear of failure' had a negative impact on 'showing affection', 'disturbing'(reversed), and 'instability'(reversed). These results were discussed in relation with changes in social atmosphere and value systems, changes in child-rearing behaviors, or the construct and concept of perfectionism itself, It was suggested that these results be utilized in developing parent education programs for preschoolers lacking social competence.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.50-53
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• 2014

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) occurs in the primary form (genetic or familial) or secondary form (acquired). The familial form of HLH (FHL) is a potentially fatal autosomal recessive disorder that occurs because of constitutional defects in cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Here, we report a fatal neonatal case of type 2 FHL (FHL2) that involved a novel frameshift mutation. Clinically, the newborn presented with severe sepsis-like features and required mechanical ventilation and continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration. Flow cytometry analysis showed marked HLH and complete absence of intracytoplasmic perforin expression in cytotoxic cells; therefore, we performed molecular genetic analyses for PRF1 mutations, which showed that the patient had a compound heterozygous mutation in PRF1, that is, c.65delC ($p.Pro22Argfs^*2$) and c.1090_1091delCT ($p.Leu364Glufs^*93$). Clinical and genetic assessments for FHL are required for neonates with refractory fever and progressive multiple organ failure, particularly when there is no evidence of microbiological or metabolic cause.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.51 no.11
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• pp.989-998
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• 2018

Connectivity between water source and demand node can be served as a critical system performance indicator of the degree of water distribution network (WDN)' failure severity under abnormal conditions. Graph theory-based approaches have been widely applied to quantify the connectivity due to WDN's graph-like topological feature. However, most previous studies used undirected-unweighted graph theory which is not proper to WDN. In this study, the directed-weighted graph theory was applied for WDN connectivity analyses. We also proposed novel connectivity indicators, Source-to-Node Shortest Pathway (SNSP) and SNSP-Degree (SNSP-D) which is an inverse of the SNSP value, that does not require complicate hydraulic simulation of a WDN of interest. The proposed SNSP-D index was demonstrated in total 42 networks in J City, South Korea in which Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) between the proposed SNSP-D and four other system performance indicators was computed: three resilience indexes and an energy efficiency metric. It was confirmed that a system representative value of the SNSP-D has strong correlation with all resilience and energy efficiency indexes (PCC = 0.87 on average). Especially, PCC was higher than 0.93 with modified resilience index (MRI) and energy efficiency indicator. In addition, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the system hydraulic characteristic factors that affect the correlation between SNSP-D and other system performance indicators. The proposed SNSP is expected to be served as a useful surrogate measure of resilience and/or energy efficiency indexes in practice.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.24-31
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• 2020

Centralized systems in computing environments have various problems, such as privacy infringement due to hacking, and the possibility of privacy violations in case of system failure. Blockchain, one of the core technologies for the next generation of converged information, is expected to be an alternative to the existing centralized system, which has had various problems. This paper proposes a blockchain-based user authentication system that can identify users using EID in an online environment. Existing identification (ID)/password (PW) authentication methods require users to store personal information in multiple sites, and receive and use their respective IDs. However, the proposed system can be used without users signing up at various sites after the issuing of an EID. The proposed system issues an EID with a minimum of information, such as an e-mail address and a telephone number. By comparing the stability and efficiency of a centralized system, the proposed integrated authentication system proved to be excellent. In order to compare stability against existing systems, we chose attack methods and encroachments on the computing environment. To verify efficiency, the total throughput between the user's app, the issuance and certification-authority's servers, and the service provider's servers was compared and analyzed based on processing time per transaction.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2012

Purpose: Hemorrhage is a main cause of death in trauma patients. The goal of this study is to describe the characteristics of trauma patients with massive bleeding and to evaluate the prognostic factors concerning their survival. Methods: This study was performed retrospectively and included trauma patients with massive bleeding who had been treated from March 2007 to August 2012. The inclusion criterion was patients who received more than 10 U of packed red blood cells within the first 24 hours after visiting the emergency department. Based on their medical records, we collected data in terms of demographic findings, mechanisms of injury, initial clinical and laboratory findings, methods for hemostasis (emergency surgery and/or angioembolization), transfusion, injury severity score (ISS), revised trauma score (RTS) and trauma and injury severity score (TRISS). We used the Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test to compare the variables between the patients that survived and those that did not. We performed a logistic regression analysis with the significant variables from the univariate test. Results: Thirty-two(32) patients were enrolled. The main mechanisms of injury were falls and motor vehicle accidents. The mean transfusion amount of packed red blood cells (PRBC) was 17.4 U. The mean elapsed time for the first hemostasis (surgery or embolization) was 3.5 hours. The initial technical success rates were 83.3%(15/18) in angioembolization and 66.7%(8/12) in surgery. The overall mortality rate was 34.4%(11/32). The causes of death were bleeding, brain swelling and multiple organ failure. The ISS(25.5 vs 46.3, p=0.000), TRISS(73.6 vs 45.1, p=0.034) and base excess(<-12 mmol/L, p=0.020) were significantly different between the patients who survived and those who did not. Conclusion: The ISS was a prognostic factor for trauma patients with massive bleeding.