• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.583-592
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• 2001

This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical effect of inhibiting plaque formation of Lactococcus lactis 1370, a acid producing bacterium residing in the mouth. 30 children were asked to use 10ml of control mouth-wash and mouthwash containing Lactococcus lactis 1370. The plaque index and plaque area rate at 24h and 48h after the use of the mouthwashes were measured. And the number of Lactococcus lactis 1370 was counted at 1h, 3h, and 6h in the mouth. The results are as follow. 1. The mean plaque index at 24h after the use of the control mouthwash and the mouthwash containing Lactococcus lactis 1370 were 2.43 and 2.06, respectively. The inhibiting rate of plaque formation was 15% (P<0.05). 2. The mean plaque index at 48h after the use of the control mouthwash and the mouthwash containing Lactococcus lactis 1370 were 2.95 and 2.17, respectively. The inhibiting rate of plaque formation was 26%, showing more decrease than at 24h(P<0.05). 3. The mean plaque area rate at 24h after the use of the control mouthwash and the mouthwash containing Lactococcus lactis 1370 were 21.2% and 15.6%, respectively. The inhibiting rate of plaque formation was 26% (P<0.05). 4. The mean plaque area rate at 48h after the use of the control mouthwash and the mouthwash containing Lactococcus lactis 1370 were 33.0% and 17.8%, respectively. The inhibiting rate of plaque formation was 46% (P<0.05). 5. The number of Lactococcus lactis 1370 in the mouth decreased significantly from mouthwashing to 3h, but increased slightly between 3h and 6h. As seen with the above results, we think that using the mouth wash with Lactococcus lactis 1370 would prevent the formation of plaque in the mouth and can be an effective method to prevent dental caries and periodontal disease.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1445-1451
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• 2017

Mitochondria play a central role in energy generation by using electron transport coupled with oxidative phosphorylation. They also participate in other important cellular functions including metabolism, apoptosis, signaling, and reactive oxygen species production. Therefore, mitochondrial dysfunction is known to contribute to a variety of human diseases. Furthermore, there are various inherited diseases of energy metabolism due to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. Unfortunately, therapeutic options for these inherited mtDNA diseases are extremely limited. In this regard, mitochondrial replacement techniques are taking on increased importance in developing a clinical approach to inherited mtDNA diseases. In this study, green fluorescence protein (GFP)-tagged mitochondria were isolated by differential centrifugation from a mammalian cell line. Using microinjection technique, the isolated GFP-tagged mitochondria were then transferred to bovine oocytes that were triggered for early development. During the early developmental period from bovine oocytes to blastocysts, the transferred mitochondria were observed using fluorescent microscopy. The microinjected mitochondria were dispersed rapidly into the cytoplasm of oocytes and were passed down to subsequent cells of 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, morula, and blastocyst stages. Together, these results demonstrate a successful in vitro transfer of isolated mitochondria to oocytes and provide a model for mitochondrial replacement implicated in inherited mtDNA diseases and animal cloning.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 1976

This paper presents the results of a survey for the causes of sensori-neural hearing impairment in Korea, The subjects were 1,676 children of total 2,928 enrolled in 16 Deaf Schools; two schools in each area of Seoul, Busan, Kyoungbook, Kyoungnam, Kyounggi and Chunbug, and each one in Chungnam, Chungbug, Chunnam and Jaeju. The data were collected by questionaire with 28 items distributed to their parents. The filling in the check lists were performed by their class teachers, interviewer, for 18 months from September, 1975 to february, 1976. The questionable or missed problems were reaffirmed. The results obtained were as follows. Most of the reasons, 78.5% were acquired characters that could be developed during pregnant period, the time of delivery and the time of after birth. The pure hereditary reasons except the cases complexed with one or two were only 11.3%. Those who could not be defined with any reasons were 10.2%. Among the acquired causes, 5.8% of total subjects were developed for pregnancy: 3.3%, during delivery; and 69.7%, after birth. In the pregnant period, the drug intoxications were 2.4% of total subjects, several diseases such as influenja, bleeding, surgical operation, venereal diseases and rubella etc. were about one percent, and the accompanied with some symptoms of pregnancy intoxication and traumatic events were 2.4%, During time, the cases with delayed rhythmical pain were 16 persons, the immaturities were 11, the asphyxial cases were nine, the errors of forceps delivery were seven, the cases of low body weight inspite of full term were four, the cases with cesarian section were three, the head injuries were two, and the accompanied with three kinds of above reasons were three. During after birth, the cases with acute communicable diseases were 35.4% of total subjects, the fever unknown origin were 16.1%, the chronic otitis media were 3.7%, the meningitis were 3.5%, the gastric and nutritional diseases were 3.5%, the drug intoxications were 4.8%, the blood diseases were 0.3% and the other causes were 2.2%. Here by acute communicable diseases, some importants were measle, 10.1% of total subjects; meningitis, 7.3%; convulsion with some reasons, 4.9%; poliomyelitis. 3.2%; encephalitis, 2.4%; and mumps, rubella, pertusis, scarlet fever, and small pox were somewhat played a role in. Among 59 cases with train diseases, 53 were concussion by the accidents, such as traffic and falling or sliping down etc., the cerebral paralysis and hydrocephalus were two, respectively. And the blood diseases were severe newjaundice in all five cases. If we were summarized with the above mentioned, most of the hearing impairments were introduced by the combined reasons with familial or hereditary factors and the acquired, than by a simple disease. Among the congenital or hereditary hearing impairments classified to now a day, we suppose that the many cases with the acquired causes during pregnancy, delivery and after birth were complexed. Subsequently, the maternal and child health should be more and more developed in our country, also.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.223-230
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to utilize Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) to analyze intracerebral regional distributions (hot spot) of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases which were characterized by stenosis and occlusion cerebral vasculature, except for cerebrovascular diseases induced by rupture of cerebral vasculature in terms of Korean people's cerebrovascular diseases, so that it could apply the findings of analysis to clinical practices. This study focused only on analyzing intracerebral regional distributions of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases that are characterized by stenosis and occlusion cerebral vasculature, because there are different etiologic mechanisms of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases like hemorrhagic cerebrovascular diseases (caused by rupture of cerebral vasculature) and cerebral infarction (induced by atheromatous arteriosclerosis). As a result, this study could come to the following findings of analysis: 1. According to sex ratio analysis, it was found that male group comprised larger portion of total 626 subjects in this study than female one (55.0% > 45.0%). 2. According to analysis on actual intracerebral regional distributions of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, it was found that most subjects (37.5 %) were attacked by such diseases on the right side of cerebral vasculature, which was followed by left side of cerebral vasculature (35.1%) and bilateral cerebral vasculature (27.3%) respectively. 3. According to analysis on actual intracerebral regional distributions of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, it was found that internal carotid artery (ICA) comprised the largest portion (38.9%) of those distributions, which was followed by middle cerebral artery (MCA, 35.7%), posterior cerebral artery (PCA, 13.4%), anterior cerebral artery (ACA, 6.0%) and vertebral artery (VA, 3.3%) respectively. 4. It was found that there was no subject attacked by any disease on A-com region, and there was only one male subject attacked by cerebrovascular diseases on P-com region. 5. It was found that female group was more susceptible to the attack of cerebrovascular diseases on MCA region than male one (54.6% > 42.2%), which means significant differences depending upon sex on statistical basis ($x^2$ = 9.64, p < .01). 6. It was found that male group was more susceptible to the attack of cerebrovascular diseases on ICA region (56.4% > 46.8%), which means significant differences depending upon sex on statistical basis ($x^2$ = 5.71, p < .05). 7. Moreover, it was also found that male group was more susceptible to the attack of cerebrovascular diseases on BA region (2.3% > 0.4%), which means significant differences depending upon sex on statistical basis ($x^2$ = 4.25, p < .05). 8. However, it was found that there was not any significant difference in intracerebral vasculature-specific distributions of cerebrovascular diseases depending on age of subjects, and stenosis comprised larger portion of cerebrovascular diseases than occlusion.

• 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.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.38C no.9
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• pp.822-829
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• 2013

Hypertension is one of the most common clinical diseases, with an increasing prevalence globally. Hypertension triggers various harmful consequences and affects multiple organs. Life-long care may be required in some cases. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of hypertension is gradually increasing. A 2011 survey revealed that 28.9% of Korean adults had hypertension. The prevalence rates were slightly higher among men than women. Accurate measurement of blood pressure(BP) is crucial to classify patients, to identify BP-related risks, and to inform correct treatment. For accurate blood pressure measurement, the use of a cuff bladder size appropriate for the mid-upper arm circumference(MUAC) is essential. Incorrect sized cuff bladder is one of the main causes of equipment error affecting sphygmomanometer accuracy. When commercial sphygmomanometers were examined, the cuff bladders differed from the dimensions specified in the ISO 81060-1:2007 standards. Undercuffing is responsible for a spurious overestimation of BP in patients with large arms leading to overdiagnosis of hypertension, whereas overcuffing (that is, use of relatively large cuffs with small arms), may be responsible for an opposite problem, leading to erroneous underestimation of BP levels. The cuff bladder sizes recommended by the American Heart Association(AHA) are an arm circumference(AC) of 17-25 cm for small-sized adults, AC of 24-32 cm for adults, AC of 32-42 cm for normal-sized adults, and AC of 42-50 cm for obese adults. In contrast, the AC of Korean adults ranges from 23-31 cm, belonging to a single type of adult bladder. Three types of bladders are necessary for Korean adults with an AC of 23-31cm. Hospitals often use one or two differently-sized Western cuffs for adult patients, which can yield inaccurate BP determinations. Cuff bladders with dimensions based on anthropometric reference data obtained from Koreans will aid hospitals to measure BP more accurately.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.1378-1386
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• 2013

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease characterized by chronic and relapsing inflammatory dermatitis with immunological disturbances. In spite of the continuous increase in the incidence of AD, it is regrettable that till date there is no effective treatment to treat the same. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the possible anti-atopic effects of Castanea crenata inner shell extracts fermented by Lactobacillus bifermentans (FCS) in 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) induced AD in NC/Nga mice. Based on the results of HPLC analysis, we found that FCS contains anti-inflammatory factors such as gallic acid (10.18 mg/g) and ellagic acid (2.14 mg/g). The groups that we have used in this study included 0.1%, 1%, 5% fermented Castanea crenata inner shell extracts (FCS 0.1, FCS 1, FCS 5), 1,3-butylene glycol treated control (AD), and normal mice. After topical FCS treatment, we observed that the clinical severity score for AD was lower in both the FCS 1 and FCS 5 groups than the AD group. We also proved beyond doubt that there was improvement of melanin, erythema and skin moisture indices in the FCS 5 group. Spleen index and gene expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-$1{\beta}$ and TNF-${\alpha}$ were significantly decreased in the FCS 5 group compared to the AD group (P<0.05). Further, we also found that the level of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the FCS-treated group was decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. The results of our study suggest that FCS can be effectively used as a cosmeceutical ingredient for both the prevention and improvement of AD.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.117-123
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• 2007

Purpose: The surgical treatment of gastric cancer that invades adjacent organs is a radical gastrectomy with combined resection including the adjacent organs or a palliative operation by performing either a gastrojejunostomy or gastrectomy. However, since it is impossible to determine the exact stage of the cancer, either T or N, in the case of palliative surgery, it is inappropriate to predict patient prognosis. This study analyzes the prognoses for patients whose final TNM stages are determined by a combined resection performed due to macroscopical infiltration into the adjacent organs. Materials and Methods: Of 2,452 patients that underwent surgery for gastric cancer at our hospital from 1983 to 2002, we evaluated 102 patients where a combined resection was performed because direct infiltration into the adjacent organs was discovered. Results: Univariate analysis showed that the survival rate differed by the depth of invasion into the gastric walls, the degree of lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, pathological TNM stage, surgical curability, the location of tumor, and histological differentiation. By multivariate analysis, it was found that the surgical curability, the location of the tumor and the degree of lymph node metastasis were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: It is suggested that even when infiltration into adjacent organs is suspected, radical surgery should be performed as to allow a prediction of prognosis through an exact determination of disease stage, and to improve the survival rate.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2006

Background: Although airway hyper-responsiveness is one of the characteristics of asthma. bronchial hyper-responsiveness has also been observed to some degree in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Moreover, several reports have demonstrated that a number of patients have both COPD and asthma. The methacholine bronchial challenge test (MCT) is a widely used method for the detecting and quantifying the airway hyper- responsiveness, and is one of the diagnostic tools in asthma. However, the significance of MCT in differentiating asthma or COPD combined with asthma from pure COPD has not been defined. The aim of this study was to determine the role of MCT in differentiating asthma from pure COPD. Method: This study was performed prospectively and was composed of one hundred eleven patients who had undergone MCT at Chonbuk National University Hospital. Sixty-five asthma patients and 23 COPD patients were enrolled and their MCT data were analyzed and compared with the results of a control group. Result: The positive rates of MCT were 65%, 30%, and 9% in the asthma, COPD, and control groups, respectively. The mean $PC_{20}$ values of the asthma, COPD, and control groups were $8.1{\pm}1.16mg/mL$, $16.9{\pm}2.21mg/mL$, and $22.0{\pm}1.47mg/mL$, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of MCT for diagnosing asthma were 65%, 84%, 81%, and 69%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of MCT (ed note: please check this as I believe that these values correspond to the one $PC_{20}$ value. Please check my changes.) at the new cut-off points of$PC_{20}{\leq}16mg/ml$, were 80%, 75%, 78%, and 78%, respectively. Conclusion: MCT using the new cut-off point can be used as a more precise and useful diagnostic tool for distinguishing asthma from pure COPD.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.2 s.247
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• pp.123-131
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• 2005

Background: The number of elderly patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is increasing. Elderly patients are at increased risk for a variety of perioperative complications and mortality. We identified determinants of operative complications and mortality in elderly patients undergoing CABG. Material and Method: Between January 1995 and July 2003, 91 patients older than 75 years underwent isolated CABG at Asan Medical Center. There were 67 men and 24 women with mean age of $77.0\pm2.4$ years. Thirty clinical or hemodynamic variables hypothesized as predictors of operative mortality were evaluated. Result: CABG was performed under emergency conditions in 5 patients. The internal thoracic artery was used in 85 patients and 10 patients received both internal thoracic arteries. The mean number of distal anastomosis was 3.7 per patient. Operative mortality was $3.3\%$. Twenty-two patients had at least one major postoperative complication. Low cardiac output syndrome was the most common complication, followed by reoperation for bleeding, pulmonary dysfunction, perioperative myocardial infarction, stroke, acute renal failure, ventricular arrhythmia, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, infection, and delayed sternal closure. None were the predictors of mortality. Renal failure, peripheral vascular disease, emergency operation, recent myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, New York Heart Association (HYHA) class III or IV, Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) angina scale III or IV, and low left ventricle ejection fraction below $40\%$ were univariate predictors of overall complications. Actuarial probability of survival was $94.9\%,\;89.8\%,\;and\;83.5\%$ at postoperative 1, 3 and 5 years respectively. During the follow-up period $93.3\%$ of patients were in NYHA class I, or II and $91.1\%$ were free from angina. Conclusion: Although operative complication is increased, CABG can be performed with an acceptable operative mortality and excellent late results in patients older than 75 years.