• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권7호
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• pp.1004-1007
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• 2014

Culture is the gold standard for diagnosis of tuberculosis, but it takes 6 to 8 weeks to confirm the result. This issue is complemented by the detection method using polymerase chain reaction, which is now widely used in a routine microbiology laboratory. In this study, we evaluated the performance of the Seegene Anyplex TB PCR to assess its diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, and compared its results with the Roche Cobas TaqMan MTB PCR, one of the most widely used assays in the world. Five university hospitals located in the Chungcheong area in South Korea participated in the study. A total of 1,167 respiratory specimens ordered for acid-fast bacilli staining and culture were collected for four months, analyzed via the Seegene Anyplex TB PCR, and its results were compared with the Roche Cobas TaqMan MTB PCR. For detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the Anyplex TB PCR were 87.5% and 98.2% respectively, whereas those of the Cobas TaqMan were 92.0% and 98.0% respectively (p value > 0.05). For smear-positive specimens, the sensitivity of the Anyplex TB PCR was 95.2%, which was exactly the same as that of the Cobas TaqMan. For smear-negative specimens, the sensitivity of the Anyplex TB PCR was 69.2%, whereas that of the Cobas TaqMan TB PCR was 84.6%. For detection of MTB, the Seegene Anyplex TB PCR showed excellent diagnostic performance, and high sensitivity and specificity, which were comparable to the Roche Cobas TaqMan MTB PCR. In conclusion, the Anyplex TB PCR can be a useful diagnostic tool for the early detection of tuberculosis in clinical laboratories.

• 대한치과의사협회지
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• 제55권11호
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• pp.778-788
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• 2017

Ultrasound sonography(US) is used to evaluate various diseases of oral and maxillofacial region including salivary glands, soft tissue and jaw lesions because of easy accessibility and no hazard of ionizing radiation. Also, US can offer dynamic study showing real-time images during diagnostic or surgical procedure. US images provide accurate information about the internal features of lesions on the jaw prior to surgical treatment. Doppler images are used to visualize the vascular distribution of the lesions and to provide additional information to enhance diagnostic value. It is necessary to evaluate the diagnostic value of US and evaluate its usefulness by looking at clinical cases using US images. Therefore, US imaging may be recommended as an assistant image in evaluating jaw lesions. US images provided accurate information about the internal structure of lesions on the jaw prior to surgical treatment, and diagnostic value was enhanced by visualizing the vascular distribution of the lesion using doppler imaging. We report the protocol and suggest the effectiveness of US for various lesions and US-guided sialography.

• 한국정보통신학회논문지
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• 제20권10호
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• pp.1949-1954
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• 2016

스마트 그리드(smart grid) 기술은 전력 공급자와 소비자 사이를 실시간으로 전력정보를 교환함으로써 전력의 효율성을 높이는 전력망 관리 기술이다. 최근에는 유지보수 및 설치가 용이한 태양광 발전시스템에 대한 적용이 늘고 있다. 그러나 태양광 발전 시스템은 고장진단이 어려우며, PV(PhotoVoltaics) 어레이 및 인버터(inverter) 등의 결함과 기타 잠재적인 출력저하 요소로 인하여 발전량이 감소하기도 한다. 이처럼 태양광 발전 시스템을 통하여 안정적인 에너지 포집과 관리 및 조속한 고장 검출이 필수 요구사항이라 할 수 있다. 본 논문에서는 태양광 발전 시스템을 대상으로 전력 생산량 및 이상 동작 현상을 모니터링하고 외부 환경을 계측하는 계측모듈을 개발하고, 계측된 정보 데이터를 전송할 수 있는 통신모듈을 통하여 원격지에서 태양광 발전 시스템의 동작 상태를 모니터링 하도록 설계하였다. 또한 스마트폰을 기반으로 구축된 태양광 발전 시스템을 실시간으로 관리하고 모니터링 할 수 있는 모바일 관리 시스템을 제시하고자 한다.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.70-75
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• 2015

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to play an important role in carcinogenesis. Previous studies revealed that miRNAs are present in human plasma in a remarkably stable form that is protected from endogenous RNase activity. In this study, we measured the plasma expression levels of three miRNAs (miR-21, miR-27a, and miR-155) to investigate the usefulness of miRNAs for gastric cancer detection. We initially examined plasma miRNA expression levels in a screening cohort consisting of 15 patients with gastric cancer and 15 healthy controls from Korean population, using TaqMan quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. We observed that the expression level of miR-27a was significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer than in healthy controls, whereas the miR-21 and miR-155a expression levels were not significantly higher in the patients with gastric cancer. Therefore, we further validated the miR-27a expression level in 73 paired gastric cancer tissues and in a validation plasma cohort from 35 patients with gastric cancer and 35 healthy controls. In both the gastric cancer tissues and the validation plasma cohort, the miR-27a expression levels were significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis of the validation cohort, revealed an area under the ROC curve value of 0.70 with 75% sensitivity and 56% specificity in discriminating gastric cancer. Thus, the miR-27a expression level in plasma could be a useful biomarker for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of gastric cancer.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.6.1-6.4
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• 2009

We stand at the brink of a fundamental change in how medicine will be practiced. Over the next 5-20 years medicine will move from being largely reactive to being predictive, personalized, preventive and participatory (P4). Technology and new scientific strategies have always been the drivers of revolutions and this is certainly the case for P4 medicine, where a systems approach to disease, new and emerging technologies and powerful computational tools will open new windows for the investigation of disease. Systems approaches are driving the emergence of fascinating new technologies that will permit billions of measurements on each individual patient. The challenge for health information technology will be how to reduce this enormous amount of data to simple hypotheses about health and disease. We predict that emerging technologies, together with the systems approaches to diagnosis, therapy and prevention will lead to a down turn in the escalating costs of healthcare. In time we will be able to export P4 medicine to the developing world and it will become the foundation of global medicine. The "democratization" of healthcare will come from P4 medicine. Its first real emergence will require the unprecedented integration of biology, medicine, technology and computation. as well as societal issues of major importance: ethical, regulatory, public policy, economic, and others. In order to effectively move the P4 scientific agenda forward new strategic partnerships are now being created with the large-scale integration of complementary skills, technologies, computational tools, patient records and samples and analysis of societal issues. It is evident that the business plans of every sector of the healthcare industry will need to be entirely transformed over the next 10 years.and the extent to which this will be done by existing companies as opposed to newly created companies is a fascinating question.

• BMB Reports
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• 제41권8호
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• pp.597-603
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• 2008

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that induces changes in various inflammatory skin cells. The prevalence of AD is as high as 18% in some regions of the world, and is steadily rising. However, the pathophysiology of AD is poorly understood. To identify the proteins involved in AD pathogenesis, a comparative proteomic analysis of protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from AD patients and healthy donors was conducted. Significant changes were observed in the expressions of fourteen proteins, including the vinculin, PITPNB, and Filamin A proteins. Among the proteins, $\alpha$-SNAP and FLNA decreased significantly, and PITPNB increased significantly in AD patients compared with control subjects; these findings were further confirmed by real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. The comparative proteome data may provide a valuable clue to further understand AD pathogenesis, and several differentially regulated proteins may be used as biomarkers for diagnosis and as target proteins for the development of novel drugs.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.266-272
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• 2016

Transcranial magnetic stimulation devices has been used mainly for diagnostic purposes by measuring the functions of the nervous system rather than for treatment purposes, and has a problem of considerable energy fluctuations per repeated pulse. The majority of strokes are caused by ischemia and result in brain tissue damage, leading to problems of the central nervous system including hemiparesis, dysfunction of language and consciousness, and dysfunction of perception. Control is difficult and the size is large due to the difficulty of digitalizing the energy stored in a capacitor, and there are many heavy devices. In addition, there are many constraints when it is used for a range of purposes such as head and neck diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of nerve palsy, muscle strengthening, treatment of urinary incontinence etc. Output stabilization and minimization of the energy variation rate are required as the level of the transcranial magnetic stimulation device is dramatically improved and the demand for therapeutic purposes increases. This study developed a compact, low cost transcranial magnetic stimulation device with minimal energy variation of a high repeated pulse and output stabilization using a real time capacitor charge discharge voltage. Ischemia was induced in male SD rats by closing off the common carotid artery for 5 minutes, after which the blood was re-perfused. In the cerebrum, the number of PARP reactive cells after 24 hours significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the TMS group compared to the GI group. As a result, TMS showed the greatest effect on necrosis-related PARP immuno-reactive cells 24 hours after ischemia, indicating necrosis inhibition, blocking of neural cell death, and protection of neural cells.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.42-53
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• 2020

Objective: Recently, microRNA (miRNA) has been identified both as a powerful regulator involved in various biological processes through the regulation of numerous genes and as an effective biomarker for the prediction and diagnosis of various disease states. The objective of this study was to identify and validate miRNAs and their target genes involved in inflammation in placental tissue. Methods: Microarrays were utilized to obtain miRNA and gene expression profiles from placentas with or without inflammation obtained from nine normal pregnant women and 10 preterm labor patients. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blots were performed to validate the miRNAs and differentially-expressed genes in the placentas with inflammation. Correlations between miRNA and target gene expression were confirmed by luciferase assays in HTR-8/SVneo cells. Results: We identified and validated miRNAs and their target genes that were differentially expressed in placentas with inflammation. We also demonstrated that several miRNAs (miR-371a-5p, miR-3065-3p, miR-519b-3p, and miR-373-3p) directly targeted their target genes (LEF1, LOX, ITGB4, and CD44). However, some miRNAs and their direct target genes showed no correlation in tissue samples. Interestingly, miR-373-3p and miR-3065-3p were markedly regulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment, although the expression of their direct targets CD44 and LOX was not altered by LPS treatment. Conclusion: These results provide candidate miRNAs and their target genes that could be used as placental biomarkers of inflammation. These candidates may be useful for further miRNA-based biomarker development.

• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.1-15
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• 2010

Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) is endemic in swine, and classified into influenza A and influenza C but not influenza B. Swine influenza A includes H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3 subtypes. Infection of SIV occurs in only swine and that of S-OIV is rare in human. What human can be infected with S-OIV is called as zoonotic swine flu. Pandemic 2009 swine influenza H1N1 virus (2009 H1N1) was emerged in Mexico, America and Canada and spread worldwide. The triple-reassortant H1N1 resulting from antigenic drift was contained with HA, NA and PB1 of human or swine influenza virus, PB2 and PA polymerase of avian influenza virus, and M, NP and NS of swine influenza virus, The 2009 H1N1 enables to transmit to human and swine. The symptoms and signs in human infected with 2009 H1N1 virus are fever, cough and sore throat, pneumonia as well as diarrhea and vomiting. Co-infection with other viruses and bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae can occur high mortality in high-risk population. 2009 H1N1 virus was easily differentiated from seasonal flu by real time RT-PCR which contributed rapid and confirmed diagnosis. The 2009 H1N1 virus was treated with NA inhibitors such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) but not with adamantanes such as amantadine and rimantadine. Evolution of influenza virus has continued in various hosts. Development of a more effective vaccine against influenza prototypes is needed to protect new influenza infection such as H5 and H7 subtypes to infect to multi-organ and cause high pathogenicity.

• 정보처리학회논문지:컴퓨터 및 통신 시스템
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• 제3권8호
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• pp.245-250
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• 2014

최근 의료기술의 발전으로 인하여 응급의료 서비스가 병원에서 가정으로 변화되고 있다. 이와 관련하여 예방 또는 조기진단을 위한 연구가 활발해지고 있다. 특히, 생체신호를 모니터링하여 다양한 u-헬스케어 응용 서비스에 적용하고 있다. 본 논문에서 제안하는 시스템은 다양한 센서로부터 측정된 의료정보 보호 및 보안 기술을 제안하고자 한다. 특히, 생체신호는 개인의 주요 정보이면서 프라이버시와 관련된 정보이기 때문에 보호 및 관리를 위해 2차원 코드화 기술인 QR 코드를 적용하였다. 클라이언트 단말에서는 QR 코드를 분석하여 확인할 수 있도록 하였다. 끝으로 제안한 플랫폼 상에서 의료영상정보와 생체신호의 통합 이미지 파일 생성과 배포를 확인하는 응용서비스를 통해 수행 결과를 보였다.