• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.69 no.5
• /
• pp.337-347
• /
• 2010

Background: Transglutaminase-2 (TG-2) has been reported to play an important role in the process of fibrosis. However, TG-2 studies on fibroproliferation of acute lung injury (ALI) are absent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of TG-2 in the fibroproliferation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. Methods: The male C57BL/6 mice of 5 weeks age were divided into 3 groups; control group (n=30) in which $50{\mu}L$ of saline was given intratracheally (IT), LPS group (n=30) in which LPS 0.5 mg/kg/$50{\mu}L$ of saline was given IT, and LPS+Cyst group treated with intraperitoneal 200 mg/kg of cystamine, competitive inhibitor of TG-2, after induction of ALI by LPS. TG-2 activity and nuclear factor $(NF)-{\kappa}B$ were measured in lung tissue homogenate. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and transforming growth factor (TGF)-${\beta}1$ were measured using bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. Histopathologic ALI score and Mallory's phosphotunistic acid hematoxylin (PTAH) for collagen and fibronectin deposition were performed. Results: The TG-2 activities in the LPS group were significantly higher than the control and LPS+Cyst groups (p<0.05). The TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ concentrations and $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity were lower in the LPS+Cyst group than the LPS group (p<0.05). The LPS+Cyst group showed lower MPO, ALI score, TGF-${\beta}1$ concentration, and Mallory's PTAH stain than the LPS group, but the differences were not significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Inhibition of TG-2 activity in the LPS-induced ALI prevented early inflammatory parameters, but had limited effects on late ALI and fibroproliferative parameters.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.174-183
• /
• 2000

This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of soft tissue profile of the class III malocclusion and to test the yardstick far differential diagnosis between surgical and orthodontic patients. Initial lateral cephalograms of orthodontic group(30 patients) that have acceptable occlusion and profile by orthodontic treatment alone and surgical group(30 patients) that have favorable occlusion and profile by combined surgical-orthodontic treatment were selected in Ajou university hospital. Powell and Burstone II analysis were made on the tracing. Descriptive, comparative, factor, cluster, and discriminant analysis were carried out with computer program. The results were as followings : 1. Patients who received surgery had a more concave profile and a longer lower facial height than patients who received orthodontic treatment alone. 2. Nasolabial angle, ratio of vertical height, and mentolabial sulcus were significantly different at the 5% level. And facial protuberance, upper lip protuberance, mentocervical angle, nasofrontal angle, nasomental angle, mandibular vertical height, angle between cervix and lower face, ratio of mandibular vertical height divided by cervical depth, ratio of vertical height between upper and lower lip, and maxillary protuberance were significantly different at the 1% level. 3. 8 factors were extracted and factor 2, 3, and 8 showed significant differences by factor analysis. 4. Orthodontic group (25) and surgical group (35) were classified by cluster analysis. 5. Discriminant function was D = 0.079Nasomental angle + 0.081Sn-Gn + 3.343Sn-Gn/C-Gn + 1.734Sn-St/St-Me' -26.460, and cutting score was 0, so we can discriminate that orthodontic group has the score above 0, and surgery group below 0. And 91.7% of original grouped cases were correctly classified.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.49-66
• /
• 1986

The purpose of this study was to investigate nutrition intake of high school girls related to food habit, physical status, family environmental factor. The survey of 216 high school girls, aged 15 to 17 years old in Seoul area was conducted from April, 21 to 30, 1986. Food habit and family environmental factor were researched by means of questionnaires and nutrition intake was surveyed. by recording the kinds, amounts and ingredients of foods taken by the girls for two days, and height and weight were also measured during the period. The findings are summarized as follows: 1. Mean value of height and weight of the girls were 157.6cm and 50.9kg. 2. Number of family members per household was 5.2. Mean value of father's age was 47.1 and mean value of mother's age was 43.6. 44.9% of the girls had fathers who graduated the college, 41.6% of the girls had mothers who graduated the high school and 29.2% of the girls had mothers who had the job. 3. Breakfast missing rate was high, most of the reason for breakfast missing was 'have no time to eat' and time for breakfast was short. 64.4% of the girls had meal irregularly. 4. Mean daily intake of all nutrients except vitamin A and riboflavin was higher than Recommended Dietary Allowances. Mean caloric intake was 89.8% of R.D.A.. Breakfast intake of energy and most of nutrients was less than snack. Mean meal balance score was 47.9 and mean food diversity score was 13.4. 5. Mother's education level was related to intake of protein and calcium and height. Breakfast and lunch missing and number of snack intake were related with nutrition intake.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.8
• /
• pp.4859-4864
• /
• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a recombinant human epidermal growth factor (EGF)-based cream for the prevention of acute radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT). Materials and Methods: Between December 2012 and April 2013, 40 breast cancer patients who received postoperative RT were prospectively enrolled in this study and randomly assigned to receive human recombinant EGF-based cream (intervention group) or general supportive skin care (control group). The grade of radiation dermatitis and pain score were examined at weekly intervals during RT and 6 weeks after RT completion. Results: All patients completed the planned RT and complied well with instructions for applying the study cream and general supportive skin care. In the intervention group, radiation dermatitis of maximum grade 3, 2, and 1 developed in 3 (15%), 11 (55%), and 6 patients (30%), respectively. In comparison, in the control group, radiation dermatitis of maximum grade 3, 2, and 1 developed in 8 (40%), 10 (50%), and 2 patients (10%), respectively. The intervention group showed lower incidence of grade 3 radiation dermatitis than the control group (p=0.068 in univariate analysis and p=0.035 in multivariate analysis). There was no statistically significant difference in the maximal pain score between the two groups (p=0.934). Conclusions: This single-blind randomized preliminary study showed that recombinant human EGF-based cream can have a beneficial role in preventing or minimizing radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients. To confirm the results of our study, additional studies with a large sample size are required.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.167-174
• /
• 2010

The objectives of this study were to quantify the combination values of the principal components and factors calculated using body measurements of Hanwoo (Korean Cattle) and estimate their heritabilities. The technique of multivariate analysis was used to reduce a large number of variables to a smaller number of new variables and characterize cattle according to body shape. The analyses were performed using 1,979 cattle at 12 months of age and 936 cattle at 24 months of age. The data for the analyses was obtained from progeny tests performed on Korean Cattle for 6 years from 2003 to 2008. The phenotypic correlations among these traits were estimated to range from 0.32 to 0.90 at 12 months of age and from 0.21 to 0.82 at 24 months of age. The first principal components (PC1s) indicated a weighed average of overall body measurements, accounting for 99.91% of the total variation for both periods of test. The two first PCs had positive coefficients for all body measurements. The major sources of PC, such as chest girth (CG), body length (BL), rump height (RH), and wither height (WH) were similar for both test periods. The heritabilities for PC1, the first factor score (FS1), and the second factor score (FS2) were estimated by multivariate REML method. The estimated heritabilities for PC1, FS1, and FS2 were 0.33, 0.38, and 0.40, respectively, at 12 months of age and 0.26, 0.76, and 0.58 at 24 months of age. Further studies are needed to determine whether the heritabilities of FS1 and FS2 at 24 months of age were overestimated.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.22 no.6 s.72
• /
• pp.13-26
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of personal, familial, educational, internet factor on adolescent's self-esteem according to the age and gender. The participants were 2,229 male and female students attending to middle and high schools. The results of this study were as follows: First, the self-esteem score of middle school students was higher than the score of high school students. Second, there were differences between females and males in several aspects. In order to explore and identify patterns of these differences, hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted with separate groups (male middle school students, female middle school students, male high school students, and female high school students). Third, female middle school students' self esteem was affected by familial and educational factors. Male middle school students' self esteem was affected by familial factor, particularly by parental marital conflict. In the case of female high school students, self esteem was associated with economic variables (spending money and subjective economic level). Male high school students' self esteem was affected b? the level of use of the internet.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2017

Improving efficiency of the telecommunication is crucial to the development and growth of Korean economy. Recently, it has become important with the huge development of information technology and its greater potential for extensive impact on the rest of the economy. Hence, it is useful to determine the factors that help enhance efficiency in telecommunication and consider them in improving the evaluation model. This study applies DEA (data envelopment analysis) to evaluate the relative efficiency of 51 branches of a Korean telecommunication company. Using the super-efficiency approach, we tested outliers which may affect the results and ranked the efficient branches. A method of deriving key variables applied to business operation is proposed to identify the key performance indicators for evaluation that takes environmental (non-discretionary) factors into account. We used the extended CCR model proposed by Banker and Morey to investigate the influence of non-discretionary factor. The information provided by the model (slacks, weights) and the sensitivity analysis shows that the most important indicator that affects the branch performance is operating cost. The results of sensitivity analysis show that average efficient score decreases from 0.972 (base case) to 0.863 for CASE2-COST. The average score of the data proves the priority of operating cost over other indicators. The effect of environmental (non-discretionary) variable was found to be significant. The population effect was positive and improved overall efficiency by 0.91% on average. Non-discretionary factor plays a meaningful role explaining the performance of branches. The performance optimization report can help a manager of an inefficient branch to develop branch strategies. Managers can identify the top-performing units, study best practices and adopt the strategy to the organization.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.67 no.5
• /
• pp.402-408
• /
• 2009

Background: Pre-B-cell colony enhancing factor (PBEF) has been suggested as a novel biomarker in sepsis and acute lung injury. We measured the PBEF in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of acute critically ill patients with lung infiltrates in order to evaluate the clinical utility of measuring PBEF in BAL fluid. Methods: BAL fluid was collected by bronchoscope from 185 adult patients with lung infiltrates. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was then performed on the collected fluids to measure the PBEF. Results: Mean patient age was 59.9 ${\pm}$14.5 years and 63.8% of patients were males. The mean concentration of PBEF in BAL fluid was 17.5 ${\pm}$88.3 ng/mL, and patients with more than 9 ng/mL of PBEF concentration (n=26, 14.1%) had higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores on the BAL exam day. However, there were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between survivors and non-survivors. In patients with leukocytosis (n=93) seen on the BAL exam day, the linear regression analysis revealed a significant, positive relationship between PBEF and APACHE II ($r^2$=0.06), SOFA score ($r^2$=0.08), Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score ($r^2$=0.05), and plateau pressure in patients on ventilators ($r^2$=0.07) (p<0.05, respectively). In addition, multivariate regression analysis with PBEF as a dependent variable showed that the plateau pressure ($r^2$=0.177, p<0.05) was correlated positively with PBEF. Conclusion: The PBEF level in the BAL fluid may be a useful, new biomarker for predicting the severity of illness and ventilator-induced lung injury in critically ill patients with lung infiltates and leukocytosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.31 no.4 s.163
• /
• pp.507-518
• /
• 2007

This study aimed to investigate the competitive advantages of Chinese fashion industry and firms to Korean fashion industry by applying the generalized double-diamond theory. Data collection was done by internet and fax survey. Questionnaires were distributed to the Korean textiles and apparel firms who entered China for production anuor distribution. List of firms were provided by KOFOTI, KOTRA, and Korea Apparel Industry Association. Total 198 questionnaires were distributed, and 77 questionnaires were used for final analysis. The results were follows. Korea's competitiveness scores of double-diamond model were higher in every aspects, such as demand condition, infra/supportive industry, firms's strategy and competition except factor condition. Glottalization score in double diamond model measured by the degree of glottalization which was determined by international diamond factors which make firm's multinational/international activities possible. Chinese fashion industry's globalization score of factor condition was significantly higher than Korea, but for the rest of aspects, Korean fashion industry showed higher scores. Therefore, Korean fashion firms can overcome comparative disadvantage of factor condition by utilizing Chinese fashion industry no matter what type of entry. In addition, considering the growth rate of Chinese fashion industry and its power of influence in the world market, the entry to the global market of the Korean fashion industry can be possible.

• Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.822-832
• /
• 2018

Objective To determine the socio-demographic, psychologic, hematologic, or other relevant factors associated with hand grip strength in Korean farmers. Methods A total of 528 healthy Korean farmers were enrolled. Hand grip strength was measured in both hands using a hydraulic dynamometer. Socio-demographic characteristics were assessed and anthropometric measurements were obtained. Psycho-cognitive measurements such as sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and Go/No-Go test response time were conducted. In addition to physical measurements, serologic parameters including insulin-like growth factor 1 were measured. The factors associated with hand grip strength were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis after adjusting for age, height, and weight. Results The mean hand grip strength was associated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index total score (${\beta}=-0.12$, p=0.01), the Go/No-Go test response time (${\beta}=-0.18$, p=0.001), vitamin D (${\beta}=0.12$, p=0.02), and insulin-like growth factor 1 levels (${\beta}=0.1$, p=0.045). In female farmers, hand grip strength was only associated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index total score (${\beta}=-0.32$, p<0.001). Conclusion The results of this study demonstrate that hand grip strength was associated with sleep quality and attention in Korean farmers.