• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.150-156
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• 2019

Purpose: To determine whether a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) meets the goals of a low infection rate and long-term use in trauma patients. Methods: From January 2016 to June 2018, the medical records of patients who underwent central venous catheterization at a level I trauma center were retrospectively reviewed. Data collected included age, sex, injury severity score, site of catheterization, place of catheterization (intensive care unit [ICU], emergency department, or general ward), type of catheter, length of hospital stay during catheterization, types of cultured bacteria, time to development of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), and complications. Results: During the study period, 333 central vein catheters (CVC) were inserted with a total of 2,626 catheter-days and 97 PICCs were placed with a total of 2,227 catheter-days. The CLABSI rate was significantly lower in the PICC group when the analysis was limited to patients for whom the catheter was changed for the first time in the ICU after CVC insertion in the ER with similar indication and catheter insertion times (18.6 vs. 10.3/1,000 catheter-days, respectively, p<0.05). The median duration of catheter use was significantly longer in the PICC group than in the CVC group (16 vs. 6 days, respectively, p<0.05). Conclusions: The study results showed that the duration of catheter use was longer and the infection rate were lower in the PICC group than in the CVC group, suggesting that PICC is a safe and reliable alternative to conventional CVC.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2015

Juvenile banded catfish(Pseudobagurus fulvidraco, mean length $10.4{\pm}0.37cm$ and mean weight $14.5{\pm}0.46g$) were exposed to several nitrite(${NO_2}^-$) concentrations for 96h at pH levels of $6.18{\pm}0.54$, $6.5{\pm}0.30$ and $7.07{\pm}0.22$. The result showed that cumulative mortalities of fish to ${NO_2}^-$ levels of 12.4, 19.8, 33.9 and 53.6 mg/L at pH levels of $6.18{\pm}0.54$ were 20, 25, 40 and 85%, respectively. At pH $6.5{\pm}0.54$, mortalities to ${NO_2}^-$ 22.4, 36.4, 45.3 and 63.2 mg/L were 25, 35, 50 and 100%, respectively. At pH $7.07{\pm}0.22$, mortalities to ${NO_2}^-$ 25.5, 45.7, 56.3 and 66.4 mg/L were 0, 55, 70 and 100%, respectively. The 96h-$LC_{50}$(median lethal concentration, $LC_{50}$) of fish to several ${NO_2}^-$ concentrations at pH levels of $6.18{\pm}0.54$, $6.5{\pm}0.30$ and $7.07{\pm}0.22$ were assessed in these experiments. 96h-$LC_{50}$ at pH levels of $6.18{\pm}0.54$, $6.5{\pm}0.30$ and $7.07{\pm}0.22$ were 32.68, 40.49 and 45.85 mg/L, respectively. It indicated that acute toxicity of ${NO_2}^-$ to juvenile banded catfish increased with low levels of pH and lengthening of exposure time to ${NO_2}^-$. In particular, smaller fish(mean weight $14.5{\pm}0.46g$) were more sensitive to ${NO_2}^-$ than larger fish(mean weight $81.7{\pm}1.42g$; not published). The 96h-$LC_{50}$ of juvenile banded catfish to ${NO_2}^-$ would be primary guideline for water quality management in the intensive culture system such as RAS and BFT.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2008

Recently, the survival rates of extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants have improved with the development of neonatal intensive care. However, these infants were susceptible to intestinal perforation due to prematurity, fluid restriction, and injection of indomethacin, etc. Because of the risks of transportation, anesthesia and surgery itself, peritoneal drainage has been compared with laparotomy. Through our experience, we investigate the usefulness of peritoneal drainage retrospectively. From 1997 to 2007, six ELBW (M:F=5:1) underwent primary peritoneal drainage for intestinal perforation. Their median birth weight was 685g (405~870) and gestational age was $25^{+1}$ weeks ($24^{+3}{\sim}27^{+0}$). We noticed the intestinal perforation at median 10.5 days (8~18) after birth, and placed Penrose drain or Jackson-Pratt drain through right lower quadrant incision under local anesthesia. The cause of intestinal perforation was necrotizing enterocolitis in one patient, but that of the others was not clear. Three patients who showed normal platelet count and stable vital signs recovered uneventfully. Two patients (birth weight less than 500g) who showed unstable vital signs and low platelet count (12,000 / $mm^3$ to 30,000 / $mm^3$)expired despite aggressive resuscitation. One patient required laparotomy due to persistent intestinal obstruction after drain removal and survived. Our experience shows that peritoneal drainage was an acceptable treatment for ELBW infants and the prognosis was related to vital sign and platelet count at the time of intestinal perforation, and birth weight.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1047-1056
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• 2022

Sea ice, frozen sea water, in the Artic is a primary indicator of global warming. Due to its importance to the climate system, shipping-route navigation, and fisheries, Arctic sea ice prediction has gained increased attention in various disciplines. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), motivated by a desire to develop more autonomous and efficient future predictions, have led to the development of new sea ice prediction models as alternatives to conventional numerical and statistical prediction models. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the two-stream convolutional long-and short-term memory (TS-ConvLSTM) AI model, which is designed for learning both global and local characteristics of the Arctic sea ice changes, for the minimum September Arctic sea ice from 2001 to 2021, and to show the possibility for an operational prediction system. Although the TS-ConvLSTM model generally increased the prediction performance as training data increased, predictability for the marginal ice zone, 5-50% concentration, showed a negative trend due to increasing first-year sea ice and warming. Additionally, a comparison of sea ice extent predicted by the TS-ConvLSTM with the median Sea Ice Outlooks (SIOs) submitted to the Sea Ice Prediction Network has been carried out. Unlike the TS-ConvLSTM, the median SIOs did not show notable improvements as time passed (i.e., the amount of training data increased). Although the TS-ConvLSTM model has shown the potential for the operational sea ice prediction system, learning more spatio-temporal patterns in the difficult-to-predict natural environment for the robust prediction system should be considered in future work.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.167-176
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• 2022

Adaptive optics (AO) systems compensate for atmospheric disturbance, especially phase distortion, by introducing counter-wavefront deformation calculated from real-time wavefront sensing or prediction. Because AO system implementations are time-consuming and costly, it is highly desirable to estimate the system's performance during the development of the AO system or its parts. Among several techniques, we mostly apply statistical analysis, computational simulation, and optical-bench tests. Statistical analysis estimates performance based on the sum of performance variances due to all design parameters, but ignores any correlation between them. Computational simulation models every part of an adaptive optics system, including atmospheric disturbance and a closed loop between wavefront sensor and deformable mirror, as close as possible to reality, but there are still some differences between simulation models and reality. The optical-bench test implements an almost identical AO system on an optical bench, to confirm the predictions of the previous methods. We are currently developing an AO system for a 1.6-m ground telescope using a deformable mirror that was recently developed in South Korea. This paper reports the results of the statistical analysis and computer simulation for the system's design and confirmation. For the analysis, we apply the Strehl ratio as the performance criterion, and the median seeing conditions at the Bohyun observatory in Korea. The statistical analysis predicts a Strehl ratio of 0.31. The simulation method similarly reports a slightly larger value of 0.32. During the study, the simulation method exhibits run-to-run variation due to the random nature of atmospheric disturbance, which converges when the simulation time is longer than 0.9 seconds, i.e., approximately 240 times the critical time constant of the applied atmospheric disturbance.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.78-83
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• 2012

Purpose: The aim of this nested case-control study was to investigate the association between hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) concentrations in maternal plasma and the risk of developing preeclampsia. Materials and Methods: Plasma HGF concentration were measured in 52 women who subsequently developed preeclampsia and 104 normal pregnant women at the time of genetic amniocentesis (15-20 weeks) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Maternal plasma HGF concentrations were significantly higher in women with subsequent preeclampsia (median: 737.8 ng/mL vs. 670.4 ng/mL, P=0.003) than in normal controls. However, HGF concentrations were not significantly different between subgroups by preeclamptic complications. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, women with HGF concentrations ${\geq}702.5ng/mL$ had a 3.2-fold increased risk (95% CI 2.7-5.4, P<0.001) of subsequent development of preeclampsia compared with women with HGF concentrations <702.5 ng/mL. Conclusion: Elevated maternal plasma HGF concentrations in the early second-trimester are associated with an increased risk of developing preeclampsia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4577-4581
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• 2016

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess thyroid function in breast cancer patients exposed to therapeutic external beam radiation. The focus was on possible progressive changes and any relationships between the incidence of primary hypothyroidism, the time required to become hypothyroid, and factors such as chemotherapy, hormonotherapy and immunotherapy. Materials and Methods: Seventy females undergoing 3D conformal and IMRT radiation therapy for breast cancers were enrolled in a non-randomized prospective study. The patients was divided into two groups: those after mastectomy or breast conserving surgery (BCS) were irradiated to a scar of the chest wall/breast and the ipsilateral supraclavicular and the axillary areas (supraclavicular radiotherapy group - SC-RT group - 32 patients) and the control group receiving adjuvant chest wall/breast RT only (BCT group - 38 patients).The total doses were 50.0 to 70 Gy in 5 to 7 weeks. The median follow-up term was 24 months (range, 1-40 months). Thyroid function was evaluated by measuring thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4), and free triiodothyronine (fT3) levels. The minimum, maximum and mean thyroid gland doses for 20 Gy (V20) were calculated for all patients. Results: Statistically significant results were obtained for the SC-RT group. Two yearsa fter the end of RT the chance of an event was increased in 6% of the population (p=0.009) in the SC-RT group. In the BCT group no significance was noted. No statistically significant differences were found for V20, chemio-, immunotherapy and hormonotherapy or Ki67 values (p=0.12). No significant results were obtained for development of hypothyroidism and clinical factors (age, thyroid volume, treatment modalities). Conclusion: Radiotherapy is associated with a higher incidence of thyroid toxicity in breast cancer patients. Routine thyroid function monitoring should be recommended in such cases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1152-1159
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• 1998

In order to develop more rapid and reproducible analysis of biotin known as vitamin H, attempts were made to establish the condition for enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) compared with traditional microbiological assay(MBA). Antibiotin and antiserum were obtained from the immunized rabbits injected with emulsion of biotin KLH conjugate and Freund's adjuvant. The antiserum showed cross reactivity on biocytin, a derivative of biotin, which is converted to biotin in intestine, at the rate of 177%(median inhibitory concentration(IC50)=12.58ppb), but not on other derivatives such as desthiobiotin, diaminobiotin and 2 imino biotin. Specific antibody for biotin was purified from the antiserum through protein A column and desalting column. The conditions of competitive direct ELISA (cdELISA) were established. Detection range of biotin concentration by cdELISA was 0.01∼300ng/ ml(ppb). In the spike test with milk, fruit flake and pine carrot juice, the correlation coefficient between two methods of MBA and ELISA was reliably consistent at the value of r=0.992. But detection of biotin by microbiological assay(MBA) was rather restricted in range and nonspecific. Detection range of biotin by MBA was 0.1∼0.5ng/ml(ppb). It showed cross reactivities on biocytin and desthiobiotin at the rate of 80.1% and 66.7%, respectively. In conclusion, ELISA revealed a significant improvement compared with MBA for the biotin detection in terms of sensitivity, detection range and cross reactivity. In addition, a variety of samples could be analyzed rapidly and conveniently at one time by using ELISA. These results strongly suggest that the ELISA is very promising for the practical application to detect biotin contents in a wide range of food stuffs.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.396-403
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• 2012

Objective : The predictors of cranioplasty infection after decompressive craniectomy have not yet been fully characterized. The objective of the current study was to compare the long-term incidences of surgical site infection according to the graft material and cranioplasty timing after craniectomy, and to determine the associated factors of cranioplasty infection. Methods : A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess graft infection in patients who underwent cranioplasty after decompressive craniectomy between 2001 and 2011 at a single-center. From a total of 197 eligible patients, 131 patients undergoing 134 cranioplasties were assessed for event-free survival according to graft material and cranioplasty timing after craniectomy. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression methods were employed, with cranioplasty infection identified as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were also evaluated, including autogenous bone resorption, epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma and brain contusion. Results : The median follow-up duration was 454 days (range 10 to 3900 days), during which 14 (10.7%) patients suffered cranioplasty infection. There was no significant difference between the two groups for event-free survival rate for cranioplasty infection with either a cryopreserved or artificial bone graft (p=0.074). Intergroup differences according to cranioplasty time after craniectomy were also not observed (p=0.083). Poor neurologic outcome at cranioplasty significantly affected the development of cranioplasty infection (hazard ratio 5.203, 95% CI 1.075 to 25.193, p=0.04). Conclusion : Neurologic status may influence cranioplasty infection after decompressive craniectomy. A further prospective study about predictors of cranioplasty infection including graft material and cranioplasty timing is necessary.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.630-632
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• 2008

Minimally invasive cardiac surgery using AESOP (Automated Endoscope System for Optimal Positioning) offers certain advantages such as better a cosmetic outcome, a shortened post operative recovery time and a shorten hospital stay, and these advantages are not achieved by conventional cardiac surgery. We report here on our first robot-assisted (AESOP) left minithoracotomy surgery in a 26 year-old female with a subarteral ventricular septal defect, and this might have been treated by median sternotomy before the development of AESOP.