• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2011

This systematic review was conducted to assess the clinical effect of ocular fluoroquinolones used for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis. A literature search for randomized controlled clinical trials registered up to January 2010 based on PubMed database, using the following search terms: conjunctivitis and fluoroquinolones (besifloxacin, moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, levofloxacin, lomefloxacin, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin) were performed. Pooled data on the clinical resolution and bacterial eradication rates derived from selected 16 studies were reported as the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) compared with placebo. Early clinical resolution and microbiological eradication rates in placebo were 28% and 62% respectively. Fluoroquinolones were significantly effective comparing to placebo: early RR 1.94 (95% CI 1.60~2.34) and late RR 1.30 (1.19~1.43) in clinical resolution rates, and early RR 1.75 (1.58~1.94) and late RR 1.28 (1.18~1.39) in microbiological eradication rates. Besifloxacin, ciprofloaxain and moxifloxacin in clinical resolution, and besifloxacin and levofloxacin in microbiological eradication showed higher RRs than pooled overall fluoroquinolones' RRs. New quinolones had higher antibacterial potencies for all pathogens isolated from bacterial conjunctivitis and resistant isolates than old generation quinolones. In conclusion, ocular 7 fluoroquinolones were all effective than placebo for bacterial conjunctivitis and there were differences between quinolones in early and late clinical resolutions and microbiological eradications, and no differences in safety comparing to placebo.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.843-850
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• 1999

We investigated whether endothelium-derived NO and endothelin-1 might result enhanced vasoconstriction induced by administration of norepinephrien (NE) at the early stage of one-kidney, one-clip (1K1C) renal hypertensive rats. We also studied the relation ship of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) using rat aorta in this hypothesis. L-NMMA (30$\mu$M) and L-NAME(30${\mu}M$) enhanced vasoconstriction induced by NE in thoracic aorta of control rats. However angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor didn't. The aorta of 1KIC rats showed a singnificantly exaggerated contractile response to NE as compared with control rats. Rub-bing the endothelium abolished this difference. Ach and SNP-induced vasorelaxation show no significant difference between 1KIC and control rats. The treatment of phosphoramidon (10${\mu}M$) and oral administration of captopril (0.05, w/v%) abolished the exaggerated contractile response to NE at early stage of 1KIC rats. These results suggest that the increase of contractile response at the early phase in 1KIC rat is partially involved in the activation of ACE.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2011

Background: The optimal timing of treatment with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) in NSCLC patients has not yet been determined. Methods: We separated 228 patients with advanced /metastatic NSCLC treated with gefitinib into an early gefitinib group (patients who received gefitinib as first- or second-line treatment) and a delayed gefitinib group (patients who received gefitinib as third or fourth-line treatment) and attempted to determine whether the timing of gefitinib treatment affected clinical outcomes. Results: Median overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), and median OS from first-line treatment of advanced/metastatic disease (OSt) for 111 patients in the early gefitinib group were 6.2 months, 3.3 months, and 11.6 months. However, median OS, PFS, and OSt for 84 patients in the delayed gefitinib group were 7.8 months, 2.3 months, and 22.7 months. No differences in OS and PFS were observed between the 2 groups. However, OSt was significantly longer in the delayed gefitnib group. Timing of gefitinib therapy was one of the independent predictors of OSt. Hb ${\geq}$ 10 g/dl, and having never smoked, and ECOG performance status ${\leq}1$ were independent predictors of better PFS. Conclusion：Deferral of gefitinib therapy in patientswith advanced ormetastatic NSCLC may be preferable if they are able to tolerate chemotherapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.176-184
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• 2019

Purpose: It is unclear whether adding concurrent chemotherapy (CT) to definitive radiotherapy (RT) following induction CT is a tolerable and cost effective treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients aged 70 years or older with comorbidities. This study evaluated the actual clinical outcomes between concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and RT alone following induction CT or not in patients (≥70 years) in a single institution's clinical practice. Materials and Methods: A total of 82 patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC between 2004 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Their treatment tolerance and clinical outcomes such as overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence (LRR), treatment toxicities and distant metastasis (DM) were evaluated. Early mortality rates were also evaluated as 4-month mortality after RT. Results: Fifty-four patients received CCRT and 28 patients received RT alone. Induction CT before RT was performed for 68.5% and 50.0% in CCRT and RT alone groups. Treatment tolerance was significantly worse in CCRT (p = 0.046). The median survival was 21.1 and 18.1 months for CCRT and RT alone, which was not statistically significant. LRR and DM were also not different. Most early deaths after CCRT were attributed to non-cancer-related mortality. Acute esophagitis of grade ≥2 occurred more following CCRT (p = 0.017). In multivariate analysis, a Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of ≥5 and a weight loss of ≥5% after RT were associated with poor OS. The factors adversely affecting 4-month survival were a CCI of ≥5 and CCRT. Conclusion: There were no significant differences in OS, LRR, and DM between CCRT and RT alone treatment in elderly patients. However, there was a poorer tolerance and higher incidence of acute esophagitis in the CCRT group. Specifically, when the patients had a CCI of ≥5, RT alone seems to be reasonable with a low probability of early death.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.115-123
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• 2013

Objectives : This study was performed to confirm the usefulness of EMG and early-performed ENoG as predicting factor for facial palsy by clinical outcome. Methods : We gathered patients who visited the Facial Palsy Center in Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong between January 2010 and September 2012. We used inclusion/exclusion criteria and reviewed 231 patients' medical records including gender, age, HB grade and EMG & ENoG axonal loss. We compared the relation between EMG axonal loss and improvement degree at 4 & 6 weeks after treatment, and between ENoG axonal loss at 3-5 & 6-8 days after onset and EMG axnoal loss using regression analysis. Results : Each analysis had statistical significance, but EMG & improvement degree at 6 weeks after treatment showed statistically higher correlation than that at 4 weeks after treatment, and ENoG at 6~8 days after onset & EMG showed statistically higher correlation than that at 3~5 day after onset. Conclusions : We could get the evidence of the validity of EMG and early-performed ENoG as predicting factor for facial palsy based on collaborative treatment between Korean and western medicine.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.424-433
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• 2023

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of balloon dilatation under dual guidance using fluoroscopy and bronchoscopy for treating bronchial stenosis following lung transplantation (LT), and to elucidate the factors associated with patency after the procedure. Materials and Methods: From September, 2012, to April, 2021, 50 patients (mean age ± standard deviation, 54.4 ± 12.2 years) with bronchial stenosis among 361 recipients of LT were retrospectively analyzed. The safety of balloon dilatation was assessed by evaluating procedure-related complications. Efficacy was assessed by evaluating the technical success, primary patency, and secondary patency. Primary and secondary cumulative patency rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The factors associated with patency after the procedure were evaluated using multivariable Cox hazard proportional regression analysis. Results: In total, 65 bronchi were treated with balloon dilatation in 50 patients. The total number of treatment sessions was 277 and the technical success rate was 99.3% (275/277 sessions). No major procedure-related complications were noted. During the mean follow-up period of 34.6 ± 30.8 months, primary patency was achieved in 12 of 65 bronchi (18.5%). However, the patency rate improved to 76.9% (50 of 65 bronchi) after repeated balloon dilatation (secondary patency). The 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year secondary patency rates were 95.4%, 90.8%, 83.1%, and 78.5%, respectively. The presence of clinical symptoms was a significant prognostic factor associated with reduced primary patency (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.465; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.220-0.987). Early-stage treatment ≤ 6 months (adjusted HR, 3.588; 95% CI, 1.093-11.780) and prolonged balloon dilatation > 5 min (adjusted HR, 3.285; 95% CI, 1.018-10.598) were associated with significantly higher secondary patency. Conclusion: Repeated balloon dilatation was determined to be safe and effective for treating bronchial stenosis following LT. Early-stage treatment and prolonged balloon dilatation could significantly promote long-term patency.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1657-1663
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• 2015

Background: Early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most important step in successful treatment. However, it is usually rare due to the lack of a highly sensitive specific biomarker so that the HCC is usually fatal within few months after diagnosis. The aim of this work was to study the role of plasma nuclear factor kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) and serum peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3) as diagnostic biomarkers for early detection of HCC in a high-risk population. Materials and Methods: Plasma nuclear factor kappa B level (NF-${\kappa}B$) and serum peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3) levels were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in addition to alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in 72 cirrhotic patients, 64 patients with HCC and 29 healthy controls. Results: NF-${\kappa}B$ and PRDX3 were significantly elevated in the HCC group in relation to the others. Higher area under curve (AUC) of 0.854 (for PRDX3) and 0.825 (for NF-${\kappa}B$) with sensitivity of 86.3% and 84.4% and specificity of 75.8% and 75.4% respectively, were found compared to AUC of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (0.65) with sensitivity of 72.4% and specificity of 64.3%. Conclusions: NF-${\kappa}B$ and PRDX3 may serve as early and sensitive biomarkers for early detection of HCC facilitating improved management. The role of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$) as a target for treatment of liver fibrosis and HCC must be widely evaluated.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2017

In addition to its typical use for skin rejuvenation, fractional laser irradiation of early cancerous lesions may reduce the risk of tumor development as a byproduct of wound healing in the stroma after the controlled injury. While fractional ablative lasers are commonly used for cosmetic/aesthetic purposes (e.g., photorejuvenation, hair removal, and scar reduction), we propose a novel use of such laser treatments as a stromal treatment to delay tumorigenesis and suppress carcinogenesis. In this study, we found that non-ablative fractional laser (NAFL) irradiation may have a possible suppressive effect on early tumor growth in syngeneic mouse tumor models. We included two syngeneic mouse tumor models in irradiation groups and control groups. In the irradiation group, a thulium fiber based NAFL at 1927 nm was used to irradiate the skin area including the tumor injection region with 70 mJ/spot, while no laser irradiation was applied to the control group. Numerical simulation with the same experimental condition showed that thermal damage was confined only to the irradiation spots, sparing the adjacent tissue area. The irradiation groups of both tumor models showed smaller tumor volumes than the control group at an early tumor growth stage. We also detected elevated inflammatory cytokine levels a day after the NAFL irradiation. NAFL treatment of the stromal tissue could potentially be an alternative anticancer therapeutic modality for early tumorigenesis in a minimally invasive manner.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.158-168
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• 2005

In this study, the discharging effluents from have been 9 municipal wastewater treatment plants surveyed for 1 year-period. Statistics including probability distribution, cumulative occurrence concentration and other statistical parameters were presented. In addition, treatment performance and its stability were also discussed. Most of the plants, have an operational problem of high soluble organic content in the secondary effluent which may be associated with the integrated treatment of human and livestock manures. Nitrogen concentration in the effluents were usually higher during the period of summer and winter. It was found that this is mainly due to lack of the proper C/N ratio during the summer, or/and the effects of low temperature and less dilution by dry weather during the winter. Phosphorus concentration is sharply increased in June. Discussion with plant operators told that it is due to the dissolution of phosphate from the sludge accumulated in the primary settling tanks from the early spring to june. During this period, usually, sludge treatment line is highly overloaded with flush-outs of the sediments also stored in the bottom of combined sewer due to the low flow during winter season. Most of the plants can meet new effluent discharge limits of the nitrogen and phosphorus, and total coliform without further treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 1994

This study was conducted to investigate and make comparison between treatment which was reduced the reducing sugar content from Chinese cabbage using salting and desalting processes prior to Kimchi fermentation , and control for the effect of reducing sugar content on Kimchi fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$. In the early stage of Kimchi fermentation , the amount of reducing sugar (5.7mg/ml) in treatment was much smaller than that (15.1mg/ml) in control. Reducing sugar content of treatment decreased drastically during the first two days and then levelled off . Whereas, that of control dropped significantly up to the first four days of fermentation. pHs of treatment and control decreased significantly during the first two days and then showed gentle slopes. Acidities of treatment and control were increased continuously during the entire range of fermentation . The acidity of control reached to 0.75% in 3 days of fermentation, while that of treatment was shown after 6 days. Hardnesses of treatment and control using a puncture test were almost constant and the hardness value of treatment was higher than that of control during whole fermentation period. The total bacteria and lactic acid bacteria counts increased drastically during the first day of fermentation and the increase of total bacteria counts was mainly caused by that of lactic acid bacteria counts.