• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2004

Background : Pulmonary hypertension is a poor prognostic factor in patients with chronic respiratory disease. However, diagnosing pulmonary hypertension is a difficult procedure which often requires an invasive test. Thus new alternative biochemical markers would be useful in clinical field and are in search. We sought to assess the role of plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP) in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Method : We measured plasma NT-proBNP level in twenty nine patients suspected for pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension was defined as being right ventricular systolic pressure more than 35 mm Hg estimated by Doppler echocardiography. Plasma NT-proBNP level was measured by electrochemiluminescence sandwich immunoassay. Results : The log-transformed values for plasma NT-proBNP levels showed a linear correlation (correlation coefficiency: 0.783, p-value <0.001) with right ventricular systolic pressure. Plasma NT-proBNP levels closely correlated with right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, interventricular septal flattening and right ventricular dilatation. Conclusion : Our results suggest that the measurement of plasma NT-proBNP level is an useful marker of the presence of pulmonary hypertension.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2002

Purpose: The following study was performed to reveal the relationship between Clostridium difficile colitis in childhood and associated antibiotics. Methods: From January 2000 to June 2002 at Seoul National University Children's Hospital, 85 symptomatic pediatric patients who showed positive stool culture for Clostridium difficile were included. The implicated antibiotics within 2 months before stool culture were analyzed. Of the 85 patients, there were 50 males and 35 females, and their average age was 2.5 years. Results: There was a history of implicated antibiotics within 2 months in 55 cases (67%). Forty-three patients (78%) of them showed Clostridium difficile in stool culture during antibiotics treatment. The time interval between the initiation of antibiotics and stool culture ranged from one day to 7 weeks (mean 10 days) in these patients. In the remaining 12 patients, Clostridium difficile was detected after the discontinuation of antibiotics. The time interval between the discontinuation and stool culture ranged from one day to 7 weeks (mean 12 days). The associated antibiotics were cefotaxime (20 cases), amikacin(15 cases), ampicillin (13 cases), cefazolin (8 cases), vancomycin (8 cases), etc. In 31 cases, more than one antibiotics were prescribed. Conclusion: When diarrhea occurred in young children during antibiotic usage or with a past history of recent antibiotic usage, Clostridium difficile should be investigated as a cause of diarrhea for proper management.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2013

Purpose: Pediatric urolithiasis is uncommon in children but is a cause of significant morbidity and damage to the kidney. Although much information on adult urolithiasis is available in the literature, large studies on the pediatric population are still scarce. In this report, we review our experience with pediatric urolithiasis over 22 years at a tertiary referral center. Method: We retrospectively reviewed the records of children with newly diagnosed urolithiasis between January 1991 and May 2013. We assessed the age, sex, family history, initial symptoms, location of stones, underlying cause, stone analysis, treatment, and recurrence among the patients. Results: In total, 137 patients (96 male, 41 female) were assessed. The age range was 0-17 years (mean age, 6.0 years). Forty-three (31%) children were aged <1 year, and 37% (16/43) had a history of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Thirteen patients (9.5%) had a family history of stones. The most common symptoms at presentation among the patients were gross hematuria (56/137, 41%) and flank or abdominal pain (46/137, 34%). The stones were located in the kidney (85/137, 62%), ureter (29/137, 21%), bladder (2/137, 1.4%), and multiple locations (20/137, 15 %). Congenital abnormalities of the genitourinary (G-U) tract, with or without metabolic abnormality, or urinary tract infection (UTI) was detected in 26 children (19%). Ninety-one patients (66%) underwent metabolic examination, and 38% of these patients exhibited an abnormality. UTI, with or without abnormalities of the G-U tract, or metabolic abnormality was detected in 26 children (19%). Of the 35 stones analyzed, the majority were calcium stones (20/35, 57%), followed by infected stones (5/35, 14%), uric acid stones (4/35, 11%), carbonate apatite stones (3/35, 7%), cystine stones (2/35, 6%), and phosphate stones (1/35, 3%). Five patients (4%) required open procedures, with or without non-open procedures, whereas 77 patients (56%) were managed conservatively; the remaining 55 patients (40%) received some other form of intervention. Eighteen patients (13%) had stone recurrence during the follow-up period. Conclusions: Pediatric urolithiasis is commonly associated with abnormalities of the G-U tract and/or metabolic disorders and/or UTI. Half of the patients will pass their stones spontaneously, and all the techniques of minimally invasive surgery are applicable in the treatment of children with stones. As the recurrence rates are high among this population, long-term follow-up is recommended and the complete clearance of stones is important.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1660-1668
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• 2007

The non-ionic surfactant (NIS) Tween 80 was evaluated for its ability to influence invitro cumulative gas production, dry matter digestibility, cellulolytic enzyme activities, anaerobic microbial growth rates, and adhesion to substrates by mixed rumen microorganisms on rice straw, alfalfa hay, cellulose filter paper and tall fescue hay. The addition of NIS Tween 80 at a level of 0.05% increased significantly (P<0.05) in vitro DM digestibility, cumulative gas production, microbial growth rate and cellulolytic enzyme activity from all of substrates used in this study. In vitro cumulative gas production from the NIS-treated substrates; rice straw, alfalfa hay, filter paper and tall fescue hay was significantly (P<0.05) improved by 274.8, 235.2, 231.1 and 719.5% compared with the control, when substrates were incubated for 48 hr in vitro. The addition of 0.05% NIS Tween 80 to cultures growing on alfalfa hay resulted in a significant increase in CMCase (38.1%), xylanase (121.4%), Avicelase (not changed) and amylase (38.2%) activities after 36 h incubation. These results indicated that the addition of 0.05% Tween 80 could greatly stimulate the release of some kinds of cellulolytic enzymes without decreasing cell growth rate in contrast to trends reported with aerobic microorganism. Our SEM observation showed that NIS Tween. 80 did not influence the microbial adhesion to substrates used in the study. Present data clearly show that improved gas production, DM digestibility and cellulolytic enzyme activity by Tween 80 is not due to increased bacterial adhesion on the substrates.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.515-521
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• 2008

This experiment was conducted to investigate effects of non-ionic or zwitterionic (+/-) surfactants on digestibility of rice straw, and changes of growth of rumen mixed microbes, pH, and gas production during in vitro fermentation. Also, during in vitro ruminal fermentation, microbial attachment on rice straw was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Tween 80 or SOLFA-850 for non-ionic surfactant (NIS), and 3-(Dodecyldimethylammonio) propanesulfanate (DDAP) for zwitterionic surfactant (ZIS) was supplemented by 0.05% and 0.1% in Dehority's artificial medium containing Holtein rumen fluid, respectively, and the substrate for fermentation was rice straw passed through 1 mm screen. The experiment was composed of 7 treatments (two levels of two NISs, two levels of a ZIS) including the control, and 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hr of fermentation time with 3 replications per treatment. Treatment of Tween 80 increased in vitro DM digestibilities during 48 hr and 72 h post fermentations compared to the other treatments, whereas treatment of DDAP as a ZIS resulted in decreased DM digestibility than that of the control from 24 hr post fermentation (P<0.05). Gas production in vitro was greater (P<0.05) with addition of NIS than the control or ZIS, and increased as fermentation time elapsed. Rumen mixed microbial growth was greatest with addition of Tween 80 as NIS, and lowest when DDAP as ZIS was supplemented to the fermentation tube (P<0.05). In SEM observation, rumen microbial population attached on rice straw particle was greater with addition of NIS, but was less with addition ZIS compared with the control. In conclusion we could not found any positive effects of ZIS surfactants on rumunal fermentation characteristics and rumen microbial growth rates.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.153-167
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• 2015

In order to understand the relationship between the distribution of epilithic diatoms and the habitual environments, land-use, water qualities, and epilithic diatoms were studied at 141 sampling sites in the midwestern stream of Korean peninsula (Geum river, Mangyeong river, Dongjin river, and Sapgyo river). The total 183 diatom taxa was appeared in the study, while the dominant species were found to be Nitzschia palea (10.9%) and Achnanthes convergens (8.4%). Based on the abundance of epilithic diatoms, a cluster analysis results indicate that the sampling sites divided the sampling sites into 4 groups (G) at the 25% level. In term of geographic and aquatic environments, G-I and -II accounted for the upper and mid streams of the Geum river, and had large forest areas and good in water quality. G-III accounted for farmland and urban, and high concentration nutrient levels (TN and TP) and electric conductivity. G-IV accounted for mostly farmland, and high levels in turbidity, BOD, nutrient and electric conductivity. CCA results showed that the saproxenous taxa Meridion circulare was the indicator species of G-I, which strongly influenced by altitude and forests. In G-II, the indifferent taxa Navicula cryptocephala was influenced by Chl-a, AFDM, and DO. In G-III and -IV, the indifferent taxa Fragilaria elliptica and saprophilous taxa Aulacoseira ambigua were influenced by electric conductivity, turbidity, and nutrient counts. Meanwhile, random forest results showed that the predicting factor of indicator species appearance in G-I, -II, and -III was found to be electric conductivity whereas in G-IV it was found to be turbidity. Collectively, the distribution of diatoms in the midwestern of Korean peninsula was found to depend more on the land-use and its subsequent water qualities than the inherent characteristics of the aquatic environment.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2016

The growth of Italian ryegrass (IRG) after wintering was very low in 2015 when IRG was broadcasted under growing rice in fall of 2014. To determine growth inhibitory factors of IRG, we examined the growth conditions of IRG in Nonsan region and meteorological conditions in Daejeon nearby Nonsan. Minimum temperature and maximum instantaneous wind speed on Feb. $8^{th}$ and $9^{th}$ of 2015 after wintering of IRG were $8.8^{\circ}C$, 10.7 m/s and $12.4^{\circ}C$, 9.6m/s, respectively. Air temperature was suddenly dropped due to strong wind with snow showers, which had unfavorable effect on root growth of IRG exposed at the soil surface. The minimum temperature and maximum instantaneous wind speed on Feb. $12^{th}$, $13^{th}$, and $14^{th}$ of 2015 were $4.1^{\circ}C$, 11.6 m/s, $-5.6^{\circ}C$, 10.3 m/s, and $-4.7^{\circ}C$, 7.5 m/s, respectively. The growth circumstance of IRG was not good because soil was dried due to drought continued from January. The minimum temperature and maximum instantaneous wind speed on Feb. $26^{th}$, $27^{th}$, and $28^{th}$ of 2015 were $1.8^{\circ}C$, 13.7 m/s, $-3.5^{\circ}C$, 10.6 m/s, and $4.1^{\circ}C$, 6.8 m/s, respectively. The number of wilting of IRG was more than 59% until Mar. $3^{rd}$ of 2015. IRG faced irreparable environment (low minimum temperatures and extreme instantaneous wind speeds) for 9 days from Mar. $4^{th}$ to Mar. $12^{th}$ of 2015. The main reason for the decrease of IRG productivity was collection delay of rice straw after rice harvest because there was continuous rain between Oct. and Nov. of 2014. For this reason, weakly grown IRG under rice straw was withered after wintering. IRG was withered by frost heaving, drought, and instantaneous wind speed in the spring. Furthermore, the root of IRG was damaged while growing in excess moisture in the surface of paddy soil during the winter season due to rain.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.297-303
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• 2018

With the changing trend of the building construction to high rising and large scaling, the underground structure has been increased, and its usage also increased and variety. Hence, to protect the underground structure against underground water, various water proofing methods has been developed. Among the many water proofing methods, the combined water proofing method using both asphalt seal and sheet has been widely used to secure the sufficient performance and decrease the construction failure. However, during the summer period of extremely high temperature conditions, the asphalt sealing materials were separated and leaked into the structure. Therefore, the aim of the research is to provide the quality standard of asphalt sealing material based on the various temperature changes depending on seasons. According to the experimental results, the temperature of the sealing materials applied on the slab was increased up to $54^{\circ}C$ which was $3^{\circ}C$ higher than the structure temperature of $51^{\circ}C$. Based on the melting test for asphalt sealing materials applied on the outside wall of the structure, in the case of water-dispersing typed materials showed significant melting down due to its slow evaporation and low viscosity. Furthermore, from the accelerated test conducted indoor conditions, a solvent-type and water-dispersing typed materials showed significant melting down due to their low viscosity and melting point in ambient conditions. Based on these results, viscosity and melting point are found as the important factors on asphalt sealing materials' quality, and it is necessary to designate the quantitative level of the viscosity and melting point for quality control.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.260-267
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: In this study, shoots of Aralia elata and Kalopanax pictus which belong to the Araliaceae family were analyzed using UPLC-DAD-ESI(+)-QToF/MS to characterize of individual phenolic acids. METHODS AND RESULTS: Total thirteen phenolic acids were identified, and nine hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives have been identified for the first time in shoots of Aralia elata and Kalopanax pictus. For total phenolic acid content (mg/100g dry weight), shoots of Aralia elata and Kalopanax pictus showed 754.8 and 845.3 mg/100g, respectively. 5-O-Caffeoylquinic acid (49%) and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (44%) were found as major phenolic acids in Aralia elata, while 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (91%) was a major component in Kalopanax pictus. CONCLUSION: On comparing the two plants, it was considered that the biosynthesis of 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid can be affected by 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid in Aralia elata.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.1627-1642
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• 2021

This study aims to evaluate physical fitness according to the bone age of youth, and ultimately provide basic data for balanced development of youth through physical fitness standard indicators according to the bone age. A total of 730 youth aged 11 to 13 years in bone age and 11 to 13 years in chronological age were selected as subjects; and after taking X-ray films to calculate the bone age, they were evaluated by using the TW3 method. A total of 2 components in physique, which were stature and weight, were measured using a stadiometer(Hanebio, Korea, 2021) and Inbody 270(Biospace, Korea, 2019). A total of 7 components in physical fitness were measured as well, which included muscular strength (Hand Grip Strength), balance (Bass Stick Test), agility (Plate Tapping), power (Standing Long Jump), flexibility (Sit&Reach), muscular endurance (Sit-Up), and cardiovascular endurance (Shuttle Run). Descriptive statistics and independent t-test were conducted for data processing using the SPSS PC/Program(Version 26.0), and it was considered significant at the level of p< .05. The results of this study may be summarized as follow. First, the result of comparing the bone age and the chronological age of 11 to 13 years old in physical fitness, males showed significant difference in muscular strength, power, muscular endurance, and cardiovasular endurance. In females, muscular strength, balance, agility, power, flexibility, muscular endurance, and cardiovascular endurance showed significant difference. Second, physical fitness standard indicators were presented for each gender and age (11-13 years old) of youth according to the bone age; and based on this, physical fitness standard indicators, which are basic data for physical fitness evaluation according to the bone age of youth, were presented.