• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2000

The flora, vegetation structure and physico-chemical characteristics of surface sediment were investigated in Paksil-nup wetland of Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea in 1990~1998. Ranges of the surface sediment characteristics such as pH, conductivity, organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable K, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg, and exchangeable Na were 4.36~4.34, $19.0{\sim}1260.0\;{\mu}mho\;cm^{-1}$, 0.01~6.35%, 0.001~0.14%, 0.01~0.31 mg/l00g, 1.01~13.98 ppm, 16.75~143.80 ppm, 0.93~14.85 ppm and 0.21~3.86 ppm, respectively. Percentages of the particle size such as sand, silt, and clay were 13.0~93.3%, 5.4~71.7%, and 0.5~37.5%, respectively. The flora of the study area was composed of 72 families, 182 genera, 223 species, 36 varieties and 2 form or total 261 kinds, and those were 45 kinds of vascular hydrophytes and 216 kinds of vascular hygrophytes. The life form of vascular hydrophytes was classified as 27 kinds (60%) of emergent plants, 8 kinds (18%) of submerged plants, 6 kinds (13%) of free-floating plants and 4 kinds (9%) of floating-leaved plants, respectively. The importance value of Salix nipponica was highest as 123.78 in the shrub and tree layers, and that of Trapa japonica was highest as 16.69 in the herb layer. The vegetation type was divided into two groups according to the association analysis. The vegetation of the littoral zone was classified into 7 associations according to the cluster analysis based on the coverage data. These results showed significant differences with those of stand ordination by correspondence analysis based on the species composition and by PCA based on the sediment properties. Factors affecting the distribution of the vascular hydrophytes and hygrophytes were the gradient of particle size, altitude, and water depth.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal master apical file size with minimal transportation and optimal efficiency in removing infected dentin. We evaluated the transportation of the canal center and the change in untouched areas after sequential preparation with a #25 to #40 file using 3 different instruments: stainless steel K-type (SS K-file) hand file, ProFile and LightSpeed using microcomputed tomography (MCT). Materials and Methods: Thirty extracted human mandibular molars with separated orifices and apical foramens on mesial canals were used. Teeth were randomly divided into three groups: SS K-file, Profile, LightSpeed and the root canals were instrumented using corresponding instruments from #20 to #40. All teeth were scanned with MCT before and after instrumentation. Cross section images were used to evaluate canal transportation and untouched area at 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5- mm level from the apex. Data were statistically analyzed according to 'repeated nested design' and Mann-Whitney test (p = 0.05). Results: In SS K-file group, canal transportation was significantly increased over #30 instrument. In the ProFile group, canal transportation was significantly increased after preparation with the #40 instrument at the 1- and 2- mm levels. LightSpeed group showed better centering ability than ProFile group after preparation with the #40 instrument at the 1 and 2 mm levels. Conclusions: SS K-file, Profile, and LightSpeed showed differences in the degree of apical transportation depending on the size of the master apical file.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.173-181
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• 1969

Since 1959 ${\beta}-aminoethylphosphonic$ acid was discovered in the living organism, the biosynthesis and biological functions of aminophosphonic acids have been extensively studied. The author designed and carried out this study for 14 weeks to find out the metabolic function of Ethylaminophosphonic acid (AEP) and it's utilization in the living body. Sixty rats, thirty males and thirty females aged $40{\pm}5$ days were divided into two parts, one for alanine supplemented as control group and the other for AEP as experimental group to compare metabolic pathway of ordinary amino acid with that of AEP. Both alamine and AEP group were divived into two subgroups according to the level of supplements, 0.1% and 0.2% of the diet. The major components of the diet in this study were composed of 20% casein, 72% Sugar, 4% fat, 4% salt Mixture, and all kind of Uitamins in adeguate amount. For comparision of biological values between experimental and control group in terms of body weight, uninary nitrogen, creatinine excretion and final orgam weight, there were no statically significant difference in these respects. This meant AEP could be utilized in the body as much as alanine could. Urinary phosphorus excretion was determined by developing the blue color to read on the Spectronic 20. Statistically insignificance in the urinary phosphorus excretion between experimental and control group was observed in spite of the supplementation of phosphorus of AEP for experimental group in the diet. The level of blood phosphorus was higher in experimental group than that in control group this result supported above result. In the analysis of fat and nitrogen contents in the liver, AEP group showed slightly higher than control in both respects. But it was noteworthy 0.2% AEP group in both sex were higher than 0.1% AEP in liver fat content. Histological examinal of internal organs liiver, lung, spleen, heart, kindey, adrenal and sex organs showed no changes in all groups included in this study. The group supplemented higher level of diet. by alanine 0.2% and AEP 0.2% stayed on less body weight gain and lower liver weight. This result could be interpreted that amino acid imbalanced condition was arose in the body.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 1999

Background : Pleural effusion is a common clinical problem and many clinical and laboratory evaluations, such as tumor marks, have been studied to discriminate malignant pleural fluid from benign pleural fluid. However their usefulness in the diagnosis of pleural effusion is still not established fully. We studied the diagnostic value of cyfra 21-1 in diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. Methods: Pleural fluid was obtained from 45 patients with malignant diseases(32 lung cancer patients, 13 metastatic malignant diseases) and 47 patients with benign diseases. The level of cyfra 21-1 in the pleural fluid and serum were determined using a CYFRA 21-1 enzyme immunoassay kit(Cis-Bio International Co.). The t-test was used for comparison between two diseases groups and receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves were constructed by calculating the sensitivities and specificities of the cyfra 21-1 at several points to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the cyfra 21-1. Results: In patients with primary lung cancer, the level of cyfra 21-1 in the pleural fluid was significantly higher than those of patients with benign diseases and had positive correlations between the level of cyfra 21-1 in the pleural fluid and serum levels. In the ROC curve analysis of the pleural fluid, the curve for primary lung cancer group was located closer to the left upper comer and the cut off value, sensitivity and specificity of the cyfra 21-1 of the primary lung cancer group was determined as 22.25ng/ml, 81.8% and 78.7% respectively. Conclusions: Our data indicates that the measurement of cyfra 21-1 level in pleural effusion has useful diagnostic value to discriminate malignant pleural effusion in primary lung cancer from benign pleural effusion.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.507-512
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• 2006

Purpose : Early detection and intervention of hearing impairment is believed to improve speech and language development and behavior of children. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine the prevalence of hearing impairments, and to identify the association of risk factors relating to refer response in high risk neonates who were screened using distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE). Methods : The subjects included 871 neonates who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the Pediatric Department in Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital from May, 2001 to December, 2004. They were screened using DPOAE. Based on DPOAE, we divided the neonates in two groups : 'Pass' and 'Refer'. The differences in risk factors between the pass group and the refer group were analyzed. Results : The incidence of the refer group was 12.1 percent(106 out of 871). The bilateral refer rate was 5.4 percent(47 out of 871). And the unilateral refer rate was 6.7 percent(59 out of 871). Gender, birth place, family history of hearing loss, small/large for gestational age, obstetrical factor, hyperbilirubinemia and use of gentamicin were not statistically related to the refer rate. Statistically related to refer rate were birth weight, resuscitated neonates, Apgar score, craniofacial anomaly, mechanical ventilator application, sepsis, using of vancomycin(P<0.05). The prevalence of hearing impairment (${\geq}60dB$) in this study was 2 percent(18 out of 871). Conclusion : This study showed a higher prevalence of hearing impairment in high-risk neonates. Thus neonatal hearing screening should be carried out in high-risk neonates.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.11
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• pp.1225-1231
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• 2005

Purpose : This study compares the first epileptic seizures between preterm and term-born children with periventricular leukomalacia and epilepsy. Methods : From 108 cases having lesions of high signal intensity around the ventricles in T2 weighted imaging of a brain magnetic resonance study, we selected 37 cases that showed epileptic seizures two times or more and divided them into the group of preterm-born(27 cases) and term-born children(10 cases). A retrospective study was made by comparing the two groups with regard to age, type of the first epileptic seizures, EEG findings and responsiveness to anticonvulsants. Results : The age of the first epileptic seizure was $22.2{\pm}18.3$ months in the preterm-born group and $26.9{\pm}21.1$ months in the term-born group(P=0.505). As for the first epileptic seizure, 11 out of the 27 cases in the preterm-born group had infantile spasms. Out of the 10 cases in the term-born group, 7 had complex partial seizures. In the preterm group, hypsarrhythmias were found in 11 cases, focal epileptiform discharges in 6 cases. In term-born group, focal epileptiform discharges were found in 5 cases but no epileptiform discharge was found in 3 cases. Intractable epilepsies were diagnosed in 6 cases and all of them belonged to the preterm-born group. Conclusion : More severe epilepsies such as infantile spasm and intractable epilepsies seem to be more common in preterm-born epileptic children with PVL as well as more severely abnormal EEG finding compared to term-born epileptic children.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.306-313
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• 2002

Purpose: Diuretic renography (DR) can be false negative in patients with upper urinary tract obstruction due to low compliance of the renal pelvis. Delayed parenchymal transit (DPT) may be a valuable sign in case of false negative DR. We compared the diagnostic values of DR and DPT during Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan in adults with suspected unilateral obstructive uropathy. Materials and Methods: Fifty-four patients(male:female=30:24, age: $40.7{\pm}15.5$ yrs) who underwent Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan due to suspicious unilateral obstructive uropathy were analyzed. DR with a $T_{1/2}\;of\;>\;15min$ was considered as positive for obstruction. DPT was considered to be present when there was delayed appearance of radioactivity in the renal pelvis and prolonged retention of radioactivity in the renal parenchyma. The renal area ratio was defined as the ratio of pixel number of hydronephrotic kidney over that of normal contralateral at $1{\sim}2min$ images. Definition of obstruction was improved hydronephrosis after intervention, or aggravated hydronephrosis without intervention. Non-obstruction was defined as unchanged hydronephrosis over 6 months. Results: Twenty-six renal units had obstruction and 28 no obstruction. The sensitivities of DR and DPT were 69% (18/26) and 50% (13/26) respectively. Two renal units with DPT but negative DR showed the renal area ratio of <1.1. Among the 20 obstructive renal units with DPT or positive DR, 13 with DPT had lower renal area ratio than 7 renal units without DPT ($0.97{\pm}0.20\;vs\;1.30{\pm}0.41,\;p<0.05$). Differential renal function was not significantly different between these groups. DPT correctly diagnosed all renal units with non-obstruction (specificity 100%), while the specificity of DR was 89% (25/28). Conclusion: DPT during Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan may be a valuable sign in diagnosing urinary obstruction especially in patients with false negative DR and early HN.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2002

Purpose: Thin glomerular basement membrane nephropathy (TGBMN) is recognized as the leading cause of microscopic hematuria in both children and adults. However thinning of glomerular basement membrane (TCBM) has been found in healthy adult and also is known to be associated with various renal diseases such as Alport syndronh, IgA nephropathy and mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis. The association of TGBM with minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) has been very rare so that the present study was undertaken to determine the relationship between TGBM and MCNS. Methods: The study population consisted of 49 children with biopsy- proven MCNS who have been admitted to the pediatric department of Kyungpook University Hospital during the past 5 years from 1997 to 2001. Group I consisted of 8 children associated with TGBM and Group II 41 children without TCBM. Various parameters such as age of illness, duration from discovery of illness to the time of biopsy, family history of hematuria and other laboratory tests were compared between these two groups and the following results were obtained. Results: Age distribution showed slightly older age in Group I ($7.1{\pm}3.5$ years) compared to Group II ($4.8{\pm}2.9$ years). However this was not statistically different (P=0.056). Family history of hematuria was noted in 2 cases in Group II. Though statistically not significant, hematuria was seen in 2 out of 8 cases ($25\%$) in MCNS children with TGBM, compared to 7 out of 41 cases ($17\%$) with MCNS children without TGBM. Other parameters such as BUN, creatinine, 24 hours urine protein excretion, serum protein, albumin, cholesterol, and T4/T8 ratio, showed no difference. Also renal biopsy finding showed no significant difference and the thickness of glomerular basement membrane in Croup I was $188{\pm}30nm$. Conclusion: TGBM was found in 8 out of 49 children with MCNS ($16.3\%$). And this high frequency of occurrence indicates that these association is not an incidental findings. Typical clinical findings of TCBMN was not noted in all of the 8 children with MCNS associated with TGBM, suggesting that thinning of glomerular basement membrane (TCBN) is secondary to rather than the cause of MCNS. (J Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2002;6: 48-55)

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2015

Acute phase patients who are unconscious and are suffering from cerebral infarction, cranial nerve disorders, or cerebral apoplexy are susceptible to aspiration pneumonia due to dysphagia. In these cases, a nasogastric tube is inserted to supply nutrients. Although bedside screening tests are administered during recovery after rehabilitation, clinical examinations may not be able to ascertain asymptomatic aspiration. Therefore, a video fluoroscopy swallowing study (VFSS) was performed in 10 patients with dysphagia after rehabilitation therapy; these patients had nasogastric tubes inserted, and a rehabilitation specialist assessed the degree of swallowing based on the patients' diet and posture. If aspiration or swallowing difficulties were observed, dysphagia rehabilitation therapy was administered. The patients were reassessed approximately 30-50 days after administration of therapy, based on the patients' condition. If aspiration is not observed, the nasogastric tube was removed. A functional dysphagia scale was used to analyze the VFSS images, and the scores were statistically calculated. The mean score of patients with nasogastric tubes was $49.79{\pm}9.431$, thereby indicating aspiration risk, whereas the group without nasogastric tubes showed a mean score of $11.20{\pm}1.932$, which indicated low risk of aspiration. These results demonstrated that a significantly low score was associated with nasogastric tube removal. Mann-Whitney's test was performed to assess the significance of both the groups, and the results were statistically significant with a P value <0.001. In conclusion, VFSS can effectively assess the movements and structural abnormalities in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus. It can also be used to determine the aspiration status and ascertain the appropriate diet or swallowing posture for the patient. Therefore, VFSS can potentially be used as a reliable standard test to assess swallowing in order to determine nasogastric tube removal.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.511-516
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• 2004

Background: One of the theoretical advantages of skeletonized internal mammary artery harvesting in coronary artery bypass surgery is to minimize the interruption of the sternal blood flow inevitably accompanied by internal mammary harvesting. A study using bone scan is designed to determine the effects of internal mammary artery harvesting technique on the sternal blood flow. Material and Method: From April 2002 to March 2003, 27 patients out of 48 patients who underwent the isolated coronary bypass surgery were enrolled into the study. The enrolled patients underwent bone scan in the preoperative period and postoperative period respectively. Bilateral internal mammary artery was used in 8 patients (BIMA group) and single left internal mammary artery in 19 patients (LIMA group). The patients in LIMA group were divided into two groups: LlMA_skel group, in whom left internal mammary artery was harvested in skeletonized fashion (n=12), and LlMA_ped group, in whom left internal mammary artery was harvested in pedicled fashion (n=7). After the bone scan, the region of interest (ROI) was created on the left of the sternum and the mirror image with the same pixel numbers was placed on the right half of the sternum. The mean counts per pixel on the left side of the sternum was compared with those on the right side and expressed as left to right ratio (L/R ratio). Result: In LIMA group, the L/R ratio decreased from 94.6$\pm$4.1% to 87.9$\pm$6.9% (p=0.003) after the operation as compared to BIMA group, in which no change of the L/R ratio was observed. The changed of the L/R ratio in LlMA_skel group and LlMA_ped group were from 95.3$\pm$4.2% to 88.3$\pm$7.7% and from 93.4$\pm$3.9% to 87.4$\pm$5.8% respectively. The % changes in L/R ratio were -7.44 $\pm$7.08 in LIMA_skel group and -6.17$\pm$9.08 in LiMA_ped group, which did not reach the statistical difference. Conclusion: Ipsilateral sternal blood flow is interrupted by internal mammary artery harvesting as evidenced by the decrease in L/R ratio after left internal mammary artery harvesting irrespective of the harvesting techniques. Skeletonized harvesting did not show superiority in respect to sternal blood flow as compared to pedicled harvesting.