• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.5
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• pp.409-412
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• 2009

Background: Several large outbreaks have demonstrated the threat of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in close-contact environments, such as occurs during training and quartering of military recruits training. In South Korea, which is a hospital or healthcare-associated MRSA prevalent area, military service is compulsory for all healthy young men. We surveyed and determined the extent of CA-MRSA colonization in the upper respiratory tracts of Korean military recruits. Methods: The Korean military recruits who were enrolled in a military training facility from November 2004 to March 2005 were eligible for this study. Sputum or nasopharyngeal swap was obtained from randomly selected subjects who displayed upper respiratory tract symptoms. Results: Of the 181 participants, 32 participants (17.7%) were colonized with S. aureus, and 12 participants (6.6%) were colonized with MRSA. Among the cases that were colonized with S. aureus, 37.5% (12/32) were colonized with MRSA. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed resistant patterns that were suggestive of the CA-MRSA strains for all of the MRSA isolates. Conclusion: This study of Korean military recruits found a great deal of showed MRSA colonization in them, and the antimicrobial resistant profile that was suggestive of a CA-MRSA strain. Further efforts to prevent the spread of MRSA infections and careful monitoring for CA-MRSA outbreaks are warranted, especially in a high risk group such as military recruits.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.269-276
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• 2019

Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) is a histologically identifiable pulmonary disease without a known cause that usually infiltrates the lung interstitium. IIP is largely classified into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic non-specific interstitial pneumonia, respiratory bronchiolitis-interstitial lung disease (ILD), cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, desquamative interstitial pneumonia, and acute interstitial pneumonia. Each of these diseases has a different prognosis and requires specific treatment, and a multidisciplinary approach that combines chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), histological findings, and clinical findings is necessary for their diagnosis. Diagnosis of IIP is made based on clinical presentation, chest HRCT findings, results of pulmonary function tests, and histological findings. For histological diagnosis, video-assisted thoracoscopic biopsy and transbronchial lung biopsy are used. In order to identify ILD associated with connective tissue disease, autoimmune antibody tests may also be necessary. Many biomarkers associated with disease prognosis have been recently discovered, and future research on their clinical significance is necessary. The diagnosis of ILD is difficult because patterns of ILD are both complicated and variable. Therefore, as with other diseases, accurate history taking and meticulous physical examination are crucial.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.77-84
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• 2024

Objectives : Lysimachia mauritiana Lam. is known as a medicinal plant native to Korea that has antioxidant, anticancer, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. However, until now, research on the cultivation technology of L. mauritiana is insufficient, and there are no research data on the systematic cultivation method and mass production of L. mauritiana. Therefore, this study aims to establish a cultivation system of L. mauritiana. Methods : The cultivation environment of open land and facilities according to the growth of L. mauritiana was compared and tested. In addition, the equivalence of the origin collection extract and the cultivation extract was evaluated through Ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) patterns analysis according to cultivation and comparison of the effect of inhibiting respiratory inflammation using BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells. Results : The cultivation technology system was established through cultivation research of L. mauritiana raw materials. In addition, as a result of comparing and evaluating the equivalence of cultivated plants and L. mauritiana raw materials for suppressing respiratory inflammation, the same results were confirmed, and the equivalence was confirmed as a result of analyzing the UHPLC pattern with L. mauritiana raw materials. Conclusions : This study suggests that extract from cultivation research of L. mauritiana plants, which are native to Korea, can be used as a health functional food or medicine to improve respiratory health.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.241-246
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• 2008

Patient's respiration can have an effect on movement of tumor range and peripheral organs. Therefore, the respiratory signal was acquired by relation between external markers and movement of patient's abdomen during radiational therapy in order to minimize the effect of respiration. Based on this technique, many studies of rational therapy to irradiate at particular part of stable respiratory signals have executed and they have been clinically applied. Nevertheless, the phase-based method is preferred to the amplitude-based method for the rational therapy related to respiration. Because stabilization of the respiratory signal are limited. In this study, a in-house respiratory signal analysis program was developed for the phase reassignment and the analysis of the irregular respiratory signals. Various irregular respiratory patterns was obtained from clinical experimental volunteers. After then, the in-house program analyzed the factors affecting to phase assignment which is directly related to irradiated sector. Subsequently, accuracy of phase assignment was improved with removement of irregular signals by self-developed algorithm. This study is considered to be useful for not only image reconstruction and elevation of irradiating accuracy through phase assignment of RPM system but also analysis of respiratory signals. Moreover, development of 4D CT image is planed with phantom researches or clinical experiments based on this program.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2011

Background: Adaptive support ventilation (ASV), an automated closed-loop ventilation mode, adapts to the mechanical characteristics of the respiratory system by continuous measurement and adjustment of the respiratory parameters. The adequacy of ASV was evaluated in the patients with acute lung injury (ALI). Methods: A total of 36 patients (19 normal lungs and 17 ALIs) were enrolled. The patients' breathing patterns and respiratory mechanics parameters were recorded under the passive ventilation using the ASV mode. Results: The ALI patients showed lower tidal volumes and higher respiratory rates (RR) compared to patients with normal lungs ($7.1{\pm}0.9$ mL/kg vs. $8.6{\pm}1.3$ mL/kg IBW; $19.7{\pm}4.8$ b/min vs. $14.6{\pm}4.6$ b/min; p<0.05, respectively). The expiratory time constant (RCe) was lower in ALI patients than in those with normal lungs, and the expiratory time/RCe was maintained above 3 in both groups. In all patients, RR was correlated with RCe and peak inspiratory flow ($r_s$=-0.40; $r_s$=0.43; p<0.05, respectively). In ALI patients, significant correlations were found between RR and RCe ($r_s$=-0.76, p<0.01), peak inspiratory flow and RR ($r_s$=-0.53, p<0.05), and RCe and peak inspiratory flow ($r_s$=-0.53, p<0.05). Conclusion: ASV was found to operate adequately according to the respiratory mechanical characteristics in the ALI patients. Discrepancies with the ARDS Network recommendations, such as a somewhat higher tidal volume, have yet to be addressed in further studies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.190-199
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this case study is to assess the current airflow and find the ideal ventilation conditions in tank reactors for minimizing the possibility of exposure respiratory dusts(size of $2.5{\mu}m$, $10{\mu}m$) when workers exchange catalysts in the tank reactors. Methods: A Numerical study was performed to determine ideal ventilation conditions, We considered two sizes of airborne respiratory particles($2.5{\mu}m$, $10{\mu}m$) at 12points from the bottom of tank reactor. We changed input & output ventilation conditions and analyzed the particle motion in the tank reactor. The star-ccm+, computational fluid dynamics tool was used to predict air & particle flow patterns in the tank reactor and a numerical simulation was achieved by applying the realized ${\kappa}-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model and the Lagrangian particle tracking method. Results: From the results, the increase of recirculation air had a significant impact on removing dusts because they are removed by HEPA filter. To the contrary, Increasing the clean air quantity or changing the input position of clean air is not good for workers because it causes the exit of respiratory dusts through workers' entrance or cause it to remail suspended in the air in the workplace tank.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2019

PURPOSE: To prevent secondary complications from decreased pulmonary functions and promote neurological recovery, identification of respiratory capacity change patterns depending on different postures of stroke patients and investigation of their properties are needed for active rehabilitation. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the changes in vital capacity in response to different positions and to implement the results as clinical data. METHODS: A respiratory function test was administered to 52 patients with stroke in the sitting, supine, paretic side lying, and non-paretic side lying positions. Pulmonary function indexes used for comparison were forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow 25-75% (FEF 25-75%), and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV). One-way repeated ANOVA was used for analysis, and post hoc analysis was conducted using least significant difference (LSD). RESULTS: All pulmonary function indexes were measured in the order of sitting, paretic side lying, supine, and non-paretic side lying positions. Excluding the FEF25-75% and MVV of the supine compared with the paretic side lying position, all other pulmonary function indexes differed significantly (p<.05). CONCLUSION: There are differences in pulmonary function indexes depending on different postures of stroke patients, and the study showed that the non-paretic side lying position yielded the greatest effect on lung ventilation mechanisms. Based on these results, appropriate postures need to be considered during physical therapy interventions for stroke patients.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.249-254
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• 2021

The study of the impact of weather on viral respiratory infections enables the assignment of causality to disease outbreaks caused by climatic factors. A better understanding of the seasonal distribution of viruses may facilitate the development of potential treatment approaches and effective preventive strategies for respiratory viral infections. We analyzed the incidence of human mastadenovirus infection using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 9,010 test samples obtained from Cheonan, South Korea, and simultaneously collected the weather data from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2018. We used the data collected on the infection frequency to detect seasonal patterns of human mastadenovirus prevalence, which were directly compared with local weather data obtained over the same period. Descriptive statistical analysis, frequency analysis, t-test, and binomial logistic regression analysis were performed to examine the relationship between weather, particulate matter, and human mastadenovirus infections. Patients under 10 years of age showed the highest mastadenovirus infection rates (89.78%) at an average monthly temperature of 18.2℃. Moreover, we observed a negative correlation between human mastadenovirus infection and temperature, wind chill, and air pressure. The obtained results indicate that climatic factors affect the rate of human mastadenovirus infection. Therefore, it may be possible to predict the instance when preventive strategies would yield the most effective results.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.77 no.6
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• pp.258-261
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• 2014

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement, is a kind of driver mutation, accounts for 3%-5% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC patients harboring ALK fusion genes have distinct clinical features and good response to ALK inhibitors. Metastasis from lung cancer to the ovary has rarely been known. We report a case of a 54-year-old woman with bilateral ovarian metastases from ALK rearranged NSCLC. She underwent bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for ovary masses, which were progressed after cytotoxic chemotherapy although primary lung mass was decreased. Histopathological examination of the ovary tumor showed characteristic adenocarcinoma patterns of the lung and ALK rearrangement.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.9-16
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• 1991

Personal NO$_{2}$ expousre and time activity patterns were measured during March, 1991 for 46 taxi drivers in the Seoul area. Badge-type personal samplers were worn for 24 hours by taxidrivers for monitoring personal expousre to NO$_{2}$. A standard respiratory questionnaire was administered and pulmonary function test was performed using a protable spirometry. The mean concentrations of personal NO$_{2}$ expousres of taxi drivers were 0.55ppm. Personal NO$_{2}$ exposures of taxi drivers were seemed to be higher in longer period of driving, smokers, and use of LP gas in homes. Prevalence rate of respiratory symptoms and the level of pulmonary function(FEV$_{1.0}$ and FVC) seemed to be related to higher personal NO$_{2}$ concentrations. It is concluded that persoanl NO$_{2}$ expousres of taxi drivers are probably affected by indoor NO$_{2}$ levels of a tax/and their common activities.