• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.84 no.4
• /
• pp.326-332
• /
• 2021

Background: The association of invasive tracheobronchial aspergillosis (ITBA) with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is not well established. We aimed to compare clinical characteristics between patients who exhibited ITBA with IPA and those who exhibited isolated ITBA (iITBA). Additionally, the usefulness of serum or bronchial galactomannan (GM) tests in diagnosing ITBA was evaluated. Methods: This retrospective single-center case-control study was conducted over a period of 4 years. Fifteen patients were enrolled after confirming the presence of ITBA using bronchoscopy-guided biopsy (iITBA, 7 vs. ITBA+IPA, 8). Clinical characteristics of patients and results obtained from serum or bronchial GM tests were compared between the two groups. Mortality was assessed using data collected from a 6-month follow-up period. Results: The ITBA+IPA group showed a higher prevalence of hematologic malignancy (75% vs. 14%, p=0.029), a greater number of patients with multiple bronchial ulcers (75% vs. 14%, p=0.029), lower platelet counts (63,000/μL vs. 229,000/μL, p<0.001), and a mortality rate which was significantly higher (63% vs. 0%, p=0.026) than the iITBA group. In the ITBA+IPA group, 57% of patients tested positive according to the serum GM assay, whereas in the iITBA group, all patients tested negative (p=0.070). The bronchial GM level was high in both groups, but there was no significant difference between them. Conclusion: Patients with ITBA+IPA had a greater number of hematologic malignancies with lower platelet counts and a poorer prognosis than patients diagnosed with iITBA. Findings obtained from bronchoscopy and bronchial GM tests were more useful in diagnosing ITBA than the serum GM test results.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2019

In South Korea, six large outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have occurred since the first confirmation in 2003 from chickens. For the past 15 years, HPAI outbreaks have become an annual phenomenon throughout the country and has extended to wider regions, across rural and urban environments. An understanding of the spatial epidemiology of HPAI occurrence is essential in assessing and managing the risk of the infection; however, local spatial variations of relationship between HPAI incidences in Korea and related risk factors have rarely been derived. This study examined whether spatial heterogeneity exists in this relationship, using a geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) model. The outcome variable was the number of HPAI-positive farms at 252 Si-Gun-Gu (administrative boundaries in Korea) level notified to government authority during the period from January 2014 to April 2016. This response variable was regressed to a set of sociodemographic and topographic predictors, including the number of wild birds infected with HPAI virus, the number of wintering birds and their species migrated into Korea, the movement frequency of vehicles carrying animals, the volume of manure treated per day, the number of livestock farms, and mean elevation. Both global and local modeling techniques were employed to fit the model. From 2014 to 2016, a total of 403 HPAI-positive farms were reported with high incidence especially in western coastal regions, ranging from 0 to 74. The results of this study show that local model (adjusted R-square = 0.801, AIC = 954.5) has great advantages over corresponding global model (adjusted R-square = 0.408, AIC = 2323.1) in terms of model fitting and performance. The relationship between HPAI incidence in Korea and seven predictors under consideration were significantly spatially non-stationary, contrary to assumptions in the global model. The comparison between global Poisson and GWPR results indicated that a place-specific spatial analysis not only fit the data better, but also provided insights into understanding the non-stationarity of the associations between the HPAI and associated determinants. We demonstrated that an empirically derived GWPR model has the potential to serve as a useful tool for assessing spatially varying characteristics of HPAI incidences for a given local area and predicting the risk area of HPAI occurrence. Considering the prominent burden of HPAI this study provides more insights into spatial targeting of enhanced surveillance and control strategies in high-risk regions against HPAI outbreaks.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.17-28
• /
• 2019

The Korean Astronomical Society (KAS) Education & Public Outreach Committee has provided education services for children and school teachers in Cambodia over the past three years from 2016 to 2018. In the first year, 2016, one KAS member visited Pusat to teach astronomy to about 50 children, and in the following two years of 2017 and 2018, three and six KAS members, respectively, executed education workshops for ~ 20 (per each year) local school teachers in Sisophon. It turned out that it is desirable to include both teaching of astronomical knowledge and making experiments and observations in the education in order for the program to be more effective. Language barrier was the main obstacle in conveying concepts and knowledge, and having a good interpreter was very important. It happens that some languages, such as the Khmer of Cambodia, do not have astronomical terminologies, so that lecturers and even the education participants together are needed to communicate and create appropriate words. Handout hard-copies of the education materials (presentation files, lecture/experiment summaries, terminologies, etc.) are extremely helpful for the participants. Actual performing of assembling and using astronomical telescopes for night sky observations has been lifetime experience for some of the participants, which might promote zeal for knowledge and education. It is hoped that these education services for developing countries like Cambodia can be regularly continued in the future, and further extended to other countries such as Laos and Myanmar.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.36.2-36.2
• /
• 2018

Cosmic reionization era in the early universe was playing a leading part on making the present universe we know. However, we have not been able to reveal the main contributor to the cosmic reionization to date. Faint quasars have been mentioned as the alternative due to the uncertainty of the faint end slope of the quasars luminosity function. With the availability of the deep (~25mag) images from Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Strategic Program survey, we have tried to find more quasar with low luminosity in the ELAIS-N1 field. Faint quasar candidates were selected from several multi-band color cut criteria based on the track of the simulated quasar at z ~ 5. The Infrared Medium-deep Survey (IMS) and The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) - Deep Extragalactic Survey (DXS) provide J band information which is used to cover the relatively long wavelength range of quasar spectra. To search the reliable candidates with possible Lyman break, medium-band observation was performed by the SED camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse(SQUEAN) in the McDonald observatory and Seoul National University 4k Camera(SNUCAM) in the Maidanak observatory. Photometric redshifts of the observed candidates were estimated from chi-square minimization. Also, we predicted the importance of the faint quasar to the cosmic reionization from the expected number density of the faint quasar.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.89-102
• /
• 2021

Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4-1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientific scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.221-247
• /
• 2020

This paper examines the meaning of Pyeongsari, the main stage of the novel 'Toji (Land )' and the original experience space engraved in the lives of the characters and suggests the direction of Pyeongsari as a 'Toji (Land )' content platform. Pyeongsa-ri, an imaginary space in the novel, starts from the background of the original work and turns into a representative tourist space for Ha Dong-gun. However, it is necessary to provide cultural experience-type contents that visitors can experience in person. In the original work, Pyeongsari is an ideal community and a symbol of the Korean modern history of suffering and pioneering. Therefore, taking advantage of this meaning, it is necessary to prepare a cultural experience space that shows Confucian culture, women's labor culture, and shamanic culture to draw on visitors' experiences. In addition, the app should be developed in connection with transformed works that have been the driving force behind the reorganization of Pyeongsari, and education and experience spaces using augmented reality are provided on the web. This interaction between digital and reality makes the meaning of the original or transformed works contemporaneous, while contributing to the visitor's own experience. In addition, through this, Pyeongsari can evolve into a cultural experience content platform that reflects the meaning of Korean culture and life. This paper is significant in that it suggests the direction of Pyeongsari's space planning for the 'geography of meaningful places'. In addition, while showing how the imaginary space of the original literary work has reorganized the space of reality, there are implications for the media content of the literary work and the terrain of the culture and arts industry.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.10-19
• /
• 2022

Purpose: To evaluate whether the added value of contrast leakage information from dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (DSC MRI) is a better prognostic imaging biomarker than the cerebral blood volume (CBV) value in distinguishing true progression from pseudoprogression in glioblastoma patients. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine glioblastoma patients who had undergone MRI after concurrent chemoradiotherapy with temozolomide were enrolled in this retrospective study. Twenty features were extracted from the normalized relative CBV (nCBV) and extraction fraction (EF) map of the contrast-enhancing region in each patient. After univariable analysis, we used multivariable stepwise logistic regression analysis to identify significant predictors for differentiating between pseudoprogression and true progression. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to determine the best cutoff values for the nCBV and EF features. Finally, leave-one-out cross-validation was used to validate the best predictor in differentiating between true progression and pseudoprogression. Results: Multivariable stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that MGMT (O⁶-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase) and EF max were independent differentiating variables (P = 0.004 and P = 0.02, respectively). ROC analysis yielded the best cutoff value of 95.75 for the EF max value for differentiating the two groups (sensitivity, 61%; specificity, 84.6%; AUC, 0.681 ± 0.08; 95% CI, 0.524-0.837; P = 0.03). In the leave-one-out cross-validation of the EF max value, the cross-validated values for predicting true progression and pseudoprogression accuracies were 69.4% and 71.4%, respectively. Conclusion: We demonstrated that contrast leakage information parameter from DSC MRI showed significance in differentiating true progression from pseudoprogression in glioblastoma patients.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.765-779
• /
• 2023

The Daum Vent Field (DVF) was newly discovered in the Central Indian Ridge during the hydrothermal expedition by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) in 2021. In this paper, we describe the detailed mineralogy and geochemistry of hydrothermal chimney and mound to understand the nature of hydrothermal mineralization in the DVF. The mineral assemblages (pyrite±sphalerite±chalcopyrite) of dominant sulfides, FeS contents (mostly <20 mole %) of sphalerite, and (Cu+Zn)/Fe values (0.001-0.22) of bulk compositions indicate that the DVF has an strong affinity with basaltic-hosted seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposit along the oceanic ridge. Combined with the predominance of colloform and/or dendritic-textured pyrite and relatively Fe-poor sphalerite in chimneys, the fluid-temperature dependency of trace element systematics (Co, Mn, and Tl) between chimney and mound indicates that the formation of mound was controlled by relatively reducing and high-temperature fluids compared to chimney. The δ³⁴S values (+8.31 to +10.52‰) of pyrite reflect that sulfur and metals were mainly leached from the associated basement rocks (50.6-61.3%) with a contribution from reduced seawater sulfur (38.7-49.4%). This suggests that the fluid-rock interaction, with little effect of magmatic volatile influx, is an important metal source for the sulfide mineralization in the DVF.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.101-115
• /
• 2024

The ocean heatwave is emerging as a major issue due to global warming, posing a direct threat to marine ecosystems and humanity through decreased food resources and reduced carbon absorption capacity of the oceans. Consequently, the prediction of ocean heatwaves in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula is becoming increasingly important for marine environmental monitoring and management. In this study, an LSTM model was developed to improve the underestimated prediction of ocean heatwaves caused by the coarse vertical grid system of the Korean Peninsula Ocean Prediction System. Based on the results of ocean heatwave predictions for the Korean Peninsula conducted in 2023, as well as those generated by the LSTM model, the performance of heatwave predictions in the East Sea, Yellow Sea, and South Sea areas surrounding the Korean Peninsula was evaluated. The LSTM model developed in this study significantly improved the prediction performance of sea surface temperatures during periods of temperature increase in all three regions. However, its effectiveness in improving prediction performance during periods of temperature decrease or before temperature rise initiation was limited. This demonstrates the potential of the LSTM model to address the underestimated prediction of ocean heatwaves caused by the coarse vertical grid system during periods of enhanced stratification. It is anticipated that the utility of data-driven artificial intelligence models will expand in the future to improve the prediction performance of dynamical models or even replace them.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.273-285
• /
• 2015

The extensive hydrothermal deposits have been found, for the first time, on the western TA25 seamount caldera in the Tonga arc. The seafloor hydrothermal vents are active and immature, emitting the transparent fluids of which temperatures range from $150^{\circ}C$ to $242^{\circ}C$ (average=$203^{\circ}C$). The recovered hydrothermal sulfides are mainly composed of sphalerite, pyrite, marcasite, galena, chalcopyrite, covellite, tennantite, enargite and sulfates such as barite, gypsum/anhydrite. Predominant sphalerite categorize it into Zn-rich hydrothermal ore body. Zn-rich sulfide ores have minor enargite, indicating that mineralization occurred in high sulfidation environment. The proportion and FeS content of sphalerite increase from outside to inside of the hydrothermal ores, respectively. In particular, sphalerite has a great silver content (up to ~10 wt.%). Chalcopyrite is more frequently observed in mound than in the chimney, implying mineralization temperature in the mound is higher than in the chimney. Homogenization temperatures and salinities from fluid inclusions in barite at the mound range from $148^{\circ}C$ to $341^{\circ}C$ (average=$213^{\circ}C$) and 0.4 to 3.6 equiv. wt.% NaCl, respectively. Homogenization temperatures suggest that sulfides in the mound mineralized at a higher temperature (${\geq}200^{\circ}C$) than in the chimney.