• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.129-135
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• 2011

This report documents a case in which the administration of an herbal product, an extract of the lacquer tree, Rhus verniciflua Stokes, as sequential and concurrent treatment with chemotherapy was associated with a long term survival and good quality of life in a patient with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). A 51-year-old Korean female was referred to the $M{\cdot}{\mu}$ Integrative Cancer Center, East-West Neo Medical centrer, Kyung Hee University for stage IV, metastatic NSCLC. She was treated with aRVS alone for 19 months and then received 1st line paclitaxel/carboplatin combined with aRVS, 2nd line gefitinib, and 3rd line pemetrexed. The number of cycles of pemetrexed administered was seventeen. aRVS was restarted as the 13th pemetrexed was administered. Pemetrexed with aRVS is currently ongoing. This patient has been alive for 41 months, and has been keeping a good performance status so far. We suggest aRVS as sequential and concurrent treatment with chemotherapy is an effective alternative treatment strategy.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.37-44
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to determine the inhibiting factors of dying well for people who want to have a good death. The final respondents in this study were sampled using stratified proportional allocation using a stratified random sampling method, and 1,000 adults aged between 19 and 75 years were selected. The questionnaire used consisted of four items on general characteristics and 20 items related to the inhibiting factors of dying well scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and decision tree analysis. Results showed that, among the inhibiting factors of dying well, "degenerative diseases (such as dementia)" and "loss of control (mental / physical)" scored 5.502 and 5.268 points, respectively; the highest significant positive correlation was found between "bad marital relationship" and "bad relationship with children," followed by "did not receive death education" and "lack of medical policy promotion (dying well)" and "bad relationship with children" and "indifference of others." Considering these findings, it appears that the whole society will make efforts to improve the perception and practice of good death, and life and death education will be expanded if death education for dying well is organized and implemented.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.435-447
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• 2019

In order to prevent unnecessary re-admission, it is necessary to intensively manage the groups with high probability of re-admission. For this, it is necessary to develop a re-admission prediction model. Two - year discharge summary data of one university hospital were collected from 2016 to 2017 to develop a predictive model of re-admission. In this case, the re-admitted patients were defined as those who were discharged more than once during the study period. We conducted descriptive statistics and crosstab analysis to identify the characteristics of rehospitalized patients. The re-admission prediction model was developed using logistic regression, neural network, and decision tree. AUC (Area Under Curve) was used for model evaluation. The logistic regression model was selected as the final re-admission predictive model because the AUC was the best at 0.81. The main variables affecting the selected rehospitalization in the logistic regression model were Residental regions, Age, CCS, Charlson Index Score, Discharge Dept., Via ER, LOS, Operation, Sex, Total payment, and Insurance. The model developed in this study was limited to generalization because it was two years data of one hospital. It is necessary to develop a model that can collect and generalize long-term data from various hospitals in the future. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop a model that can predict the re-admission that was not planned.

• Journal of Korean Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.409-417
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• 2018

Background : Febrile neutropenia (FN) is one of the side effects in the patients treated with chemotherapy, and the patients who have FN generally need immediate treatment with extended-spectrum antibiotics and hospitalization. Pegfilgrastim and pegteograstim, which are used for the prevention of FN as a granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), have been granted insurance coverage in the Republic of Korea for certain breast cancer patients using doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) from September 2016. Methods : The data of the patients with breast cancer using AC regimen and G-CSF were collected retrospectively. This study involves cost-utility analysis of pegfilgrastim and pegteograstim. In this study, we constructed a simple decision tree model for short-term observation and calculated quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and the direct medical costs from the medical provider's perspective. Results : From September 2016 to May 2017, 15 patients were treated with pegfilgrastim and 15 patients were treated with pegteograstim. As a result of dividing the average cost by QALY for each treatment group, it was observed that pegfilgrastim and pegteograstim were consumed 24,923,384 won and 22,808,336 won per 1QALY, respectively. Consequently, incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) showed 2,115,048 won more per pegfilgrastim than pegteograstim per 1QALY, and the cost per 1QALY of both the drugs was lower than 30,500,000 won; the Koreans were willing to pay this amount. Conclusions : This study suggests that pegfilgrastim and pegteograstim can be used to improve the quality of life of breast cancer patients undergoing AC therapy. Among the two drugs, pegteograstim seems to be more cost-effective. However, since this study was conducted as a retrospective observation method on a small scale, it is associated with many limitations. Therefore, a long-term prospective cohort study is needed to supplement the present findings.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.198-206
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• 2008

Background: Tracheobronchial suctioning using the closed suctioning system has physiological benefits for critically ill patients. Despite these benefits, there are concerns about increased colonization of tracheobronchial tree by pathogenic organisms. The cost is another hinder to the introduction of closed suction system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of colonization and ventilator associated pneumonia and the cost-effectiveness of closed suction compared with open suction. Methods: During separated one month period, patients admitted MICU were cared by multiple-use, open suction, single-use, open suction and multiple-use, closed suction method, consecutively. Costs, colonization of tracheobronchial tree by MRSA and the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) were analyzed. Results: One-hundred and six patients were enrolled. Twenty patients were treated with multiple-use, open suction, while 42 and 44 patients were cared with single-use, open catheter and multiple-use, closed catheter, respectively. Colonization by MRSA and the incidence of VAP were not different among three ways of suctioning. The overall costs per patient per day for suctioning were $10.58 for multiple-use, open suction, $28.27 for single-use, open suction and $23.76 for multiple-use, closed suction. Conclusion: Multiple-use, closed suctioning, when suction catheters were changed every 48 hrs, has the similar incidence of colonization of MRSA and occurrence of VAP and is a cost-efficient way of endotracheal suction.

• Mycobiology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2012

This research is concerned with the fungicidal properties of nano-size silver colloidal solution used as an agent for antifungal treatment of various plant pathogens. We used WA-CV-WA13B, WA-AT-WB13R, and WA-PR-WB13R silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) at concentrations of 10, 25, 50, and 100 ppm. Eighteen different plant pathogenic fungi were treated with these AgNPs on potato dextrose agar (PDA), malt extract agar, and corn meal agar plates. We calculated fungal inhibition in order to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of silver nanoparticles against pathogens. The results indicated that AgNPs possess antifungal properties against these plant pathogens at various levels. Treatment with WA-CV-WB13R AgNPs resulted in maximum inhibition of most fungi. Results also showed that the most significant inhibition of plant pathogenic fungi was observed on PDA and 100 ppm of AgNPs.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2011

The family of bile acids belongs to a group of molecular species of acidic steroids with very peculiar biological characteristics. They are synthesized by the liver from cholesterol through several complementary pathways and secreted into small intestine for the participation in the digestion and absorption of fat. The bile acids are mostly confined to the territories of the so-called enterohepatic circulation, which includes the liver, the biliary tree, the intestine and the portal blood with which bile acids are returned to the liver. In patients with bile acid malabsorption, the amount of primary bile acids in the colon is increased compared to healthy controls. Although the increase in the secondary bile acids including deoxycholic acid, is reported to have the potency to affect tumorigenesis in gastrointestinal tracts, there is no firm evidence that clinically relevant concentrations of the bile acids induce cancer. The list of their physiological roles, as well as that of the pathological processes is long and still not complete. There is no doubt that many new concepts, pharmaceutical tools and pharmacological uses of bile acids and their derivatives will emerge in the near future.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.508-513
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• 2002

Human endogenous retroviral long terminal repeats (LTRs) have been found to be coexpressed with sequences of genes located nearby. It has been suggested that the LTR elements have contributed to the structural change or genetic variation of human genome connected to various diseases. The HERV-W family has been identified in the cerebrospinal fluids and brains of individuals with schizophrenia. Using a cDNA library derived from a human brain, the HERV-W LTR elements were examined and five new LTR elements were identified. These elements were examined using a YAC clone panel from the Xq21.3 region linked to psychosis that was replicated on the Y chromosome after the separation of the chimpanzee and human lineages. Fourteen elements of the HERV-W LTR were identified in that region. Those LTR elements showed a high degree of sequence similarity ($91.8-99.5\%$) with previously reported HERV-W LTR. A phylogenetic tree obtained from the neighbor-joining method revealed that new HERV-W LTR elements were closely related to the AXt000960, AF072504, and AF072506 from the GenBank database. The data indicates that several copy numbers of the HERV-W LTR elements exist on the Xq21.3 region and are also expressed in the human brain. These LTR elements need to be further investigated as potential leads to neuropsychiatric diseases.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.238-243
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• 1996

Aspiration of foreign bodies into the tracheobronchial tree is unusual in adults and it may result in Proximal airway obstruction and acute life-threatening asphyxia. It can be diagnosed by history of aspiration or visualizing the foreign body by chest roentgenogram or bronchoscopy. But it is rarely considered in adults with subacute or chronic respiratory symptoms without a definite history which suggests an aspiration. A 70-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital due to productive cough for two months and dyspnea which aggravated since the day before admission. Chest X-ray showed Pneumonic infiltration on left upper lobe and right lower lobe. Despite several days of conventional therapy, the patient complained of severe dyspnea and wheezing. We performed chest CT to rule out endobronchial stenosis, and it revealed the narrowing of left main stem bronchus compatible with endobronchial tuberculosis. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy for confirmation disclosed a $3.2{\times}0.7{\times}0.2$cm sized foreign body located longitudinally at the left main stem bronchus. We removed it with alligator forcep and it proved In be a piece of artificial denture. The patient remembered losing it while severe coughing on the day before admission. The microscopic examination of bronchial washing fluid revealed numerous acid fast bacilli. After removal of the foreign body, the patient showed marked improvement in symptom and pulmonary function test. Here we report a case of Pulmonary aspiration of foreign body which is confused with endobronchial tuberculosis with a review of the literature.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.136-148
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• 2015

Hyangro-bong is located on the northern side of the civilian access control line and therefore has gone through natural ecological succession without human interference. Currently, it forms a distinctive natural ecosystem in which rare wild animals and plants are various. It is located in the Baekdudaegan mountain system and plays an ecologically important role as a bridge that connects the Geumgang mountain and Seorak mountain. This study investigated the flora of the eastern parts, Forest Genetic Resources Reserve Area, of Hyangro-bong. A total of 363 vascular plants that belonged to 77 families, 206 genera, 310 species, 3 subspecies, and 47 varieties were found in the study area. Rare and endangered plants identified in this study included the critically endangered Swertia wilfordii and endangered Irisuniflora var. caricina. Furthermore, 4 vulnerable species, Hanabusaya asiatica, Codonopsis pilosula, Leontopodium japonicum, and Taxus cuspidata, were found. A total of 7 families and 14 taxa including Aconitum pseudolaeve and Clematis fusca var. coreana were confirmed as endemic plants. Naturalized plants belonging to 4 families, 11 genera, and 13 species were distributed along the Hyangro-bong forest roads.