• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.227-231
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• 2012

Background : The ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) is a simple, useful method for diagnosing peripheral artery disease (PAD). Although the ABI is an objective diagnostic method, it has limited reliability in certain scenarios. The aim of the present study was to determine the accuracy and reliability of the toe brachial index (TBI) as a diagnostic tool for detecting stenosis in PAD, associated with normal or low ABI values. Methods : ABI and TBI values were measured in 15 patients with diabetic gangrene who were suspected of having lower extremity arterial insufficiency. The ABI and TBI values were measured using a device that allowed the simultaneous measurement of systolic blood pressure in the upper and lower extremities. In addition, the ABI and TBI values were compared pre- and post-angiography. Results : Patients with an ABI of 0.9-1.3 showed almost no difference between the 2 measurements. The patients with TBI >0.6 had no arterial insufficiency. The patients with TBI <0.6 required vascular intervention with ballooning. After the angiography, the gangrenous wounds decreased in size more rapidly than they did prior to the intervention. Conclusions : Our findings suggest that TBI is the method of choice for evaluating lower limb perfusion disorders. This result requires further studies of TBI in a larger number of patients. Future long-term studies should therefore evaluate the utility of TBI as a means of screening for PAD and the present findings should be regarded as preliminary outcomes.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.56-59
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• 2016

Patients with pelvic bone fractures with gastrointestinal perforations are reported in 4.4% of the cases and in very rare cases jejunum (0.15) is involved. However, intestinal perforations are often undiagnosed on the first examination before peritonitis is evident. We are presenting a report where a patient with anteroposterior compression injury, who was expected to undergo an internal fixation procedure, did not show any jejunum perforations on abdominal CT or other physical exams but was found on abdominal CT 1 week after right before surgery, therefore excision and anastomosis surgery, pelvic open reduction and internal fixation was simultaneously done with favorable results. In our case, we present a 61 year old male patient with liver trauma, adhesion at the abdominal cavity, with a past history of gallbladder excision, but without abdominal pain, fever, or infection symptoms. Therefore, this was a case that was difficult to initially diagnose the patient with jejunum perforation and peritonitis. The diagnosis was further supported during laparotomy when peritonitis around the area of intestinal perforation was observed. Generally, it is understood that pelvic bone fracture surgery is not immediately done on patients with peritonitis. However, this kind of patient who had peritonitis with intestinal adhesion and other complications could undergo surgery immediately as infection or other related symptoms did not coexist and the patient was rather stable, and as a result the treatment was successful.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1094-1098
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• 2010

With the high prevalence of functional dyspepsia in the world, it was difficult to get objective diagnosis, treatment and assessment for the reason that there were many different symptoms and signs. The purpose of this study is to develop a standard instrument of pattern identification for functional dyspepsia which will be applied to clinical research. The items and structure of the instrument were based on review of published literature. The advisor committee on this study was organized by 11 oriental division of gastroenterology professors of oriental medical colleges nationwide. The experts discussed developing the instrument, and we also took professional advices by e-mail. We divided the symptoms and signs of functional dyspepsia into 6 pattern identification, such as disharmony of liver and stomach, retention of undigested food, damp-heat in the spleen and stomach, simultaneous occurrence of cold and heat syndromes, deficiency and cold of the spleen and the stomach, and insufficiency of stomach eum. We got the mean weights to each symptom of six pattern identification which had been scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 to 5 by the 11 experts. We made out the Korean instrument of the pattern identification composed of 45 questions for functional dyspepsia. Although there are some limitations in our study, the instrument is meaningful and certain worth of its own. We hope to improve the instrument through the further clinical studies and discussions.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2017

Peripheral ameloblastic odontoma is a rare variant of odontogenic tumor occurring in the extraosseous region. The present report describes a spontaneous tumor in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The clinically confirmed nodule in the right mandibular region was first observed when the rat was 42 weeks and remained until the terminal sacrifice date when the animal was 48 weeks of age. At necropsy, a well demarcated nodule, approximately $2.5{\times}2.0{\times}2.0cm$, protruded from the ventral area of the right mandible. The nodule was not attached to mandibular bone and was not continuous with the normal teeth. Histopathologically, the tumor was characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of an ameloblastomatous component and composite odontoma-like elements within the same tumor. The epithelial portion formed islands or cords resembling the follicle or plexiform pattern typical of ameloblastoma and was surrounded by mesenchymal tissue. Formation of eosinophilic and basophilic hard tissue matrix (dentin and enamel) resembling odontoma was observed in the center of the tumor. Mitotic figures were rare, and areas of cystic degeneration were present. Immunohistochemically, the epithelial component was positive for cytokeratin AE1/AE3 (CK AE1/AE3), and the mesenchymal component and odontoblast-like cells were positive for vimentin, in the same manner as in normal teeth. On the basis of these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as a peripheral ameloblastic odontoma in an extraosseous mandibular region in a SD rat. In the present study, we report the uncommon spontaneous peripheral ameloblastic odontoma in the SD rat. We also discuss here the morphological characteristics, origin, histochemical, and immunohistochemical features for the diagnosis of this tumor.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.505-509
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• 2020

A migraine was a headache disorder characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches. The diagnosis was based on clinical signs and symptoms. Medication, physical therapy, nerve block, and nerve stimulation could be applied for treatment. This report described a case of severe migraine without aura that lasted several weeks periodically in a 59-year-old woman. Periodic headache had lasted for more than 14 years, and although she took medicines and nerve blocks, severe pain (VAS 7) was persisted. We recommended her to use the thermo-spinal massage device (CGM MB-1401, CERAGEM Inc., Cheonan, South Korea) continuously three times a week applying in semi-automatic mode around the neck for 40 minutes. There was no change in the pain scale in the automatic mode for the first 4 weeks. Subsequently, the semi-automatic mode of the cervical area was treated for 2 weeks to relieve the pain scale, and it was confirmed that the relieved state maintained for 2 months. This case highlighted the importance in considering thermo-spinal massage devices for managing migraine without aura.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2020

The gold standard method for diagnosis of tuberculosis is the isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis through culture, but there is a probability of cross-contamination in simultaneous cultures of samples causing false-positives. This can result in delayed treatment of the underlying disease and drug side effects. In this paper, we reviewed studies on false-positive cultures of M. tuberculosis. Rate of occurrence, effective factors, and extent of false-positives were analyzed. Ways to identify and reduce the false-positives and management of them are critical for all laboratories. In most cases, false-positive is occurring in cases with only one positive culture but negative direct smear. The three most crucial factors in this regard are inappropriate technician function, contamination of reagents, and aerosol production. Thus, to reduce false-positives, good laboratory practice, as well as use of whole-genome sequencing or genotyping of all positive culture samples with a robust, extra pure method and rapid response, are essential for minimizing the rate of false-positives. Indeed, molecular approaches and epidemiological surveillance can provide a valuable tool besides culture to identify possible false positives.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.691-697
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• 2021

Vibrio parahaemolyticus associated with acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (Vp_AHPND) and Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) are the two most important pathogens in shrimp aquaculture and they have caused enormous losses to the shrimp industry worldwide. In ponds, the major target organ for the two pathogens is the hepatopancreas, and infection with EHP is a known potential risk factor for Vp_AHPND infection. This study aimed to develop a PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-based diagnostic method for simultaneously detecting Vp_AHPND and EHP. The newly developed PCR diagnostic method could be used to test various samples, such as seawater, shrimp, and feces. The diagnostic method exhibited high sensitivity and specificity for both pathogens. This will help reduce the potential economic losses that may have been caused by the two major shrimp pathogens, Vp_AHPND and EHP, and will allow for the efforts and time spent combatting them to be dedicated elsewhere.

• Biomedical Engineering Letters
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.365-371
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• 2018

Uninterrupted monitoring of multiple subjects is required for mass causality events, in hospital environment or for sports by medical technicians or physicians. Movement of subjects under monitoring requires such system to be wireless, sometimes demands multiple transmitters and a receiver as a base station and monitored parameter must not be corrupted by any noise before further diagnosis. A Bluetooth Piconet network is visualized, where each subject carries a Bluetooth transmitter module that acquires vital sign continuously and relays to Bluetooth enabled device where, further signal processing is done. In this paper, a wireless network is realized to capture ECG of two subjects performing different activities like cycling, jogging, staircase climbing at 100 Hz frequency using prototyped Bluetooth module. The paper demonstrates removal of baseline drift using Fast Fourier Transform and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform and removal of high frequency noise using moving average and S-Golay algorithm. Experimental results highlight the efficacy of the proposed work to monitor any vital sign parameters of multiple subjects simultaneously. The importance of removing baseline drift before high frequency noise removal is shown using experimental results. It is possible to use Bluetooth Piconet frame work to capture ECG simultaneously for more than two subjects. For the applications where there will be larger body movement, baseline drift removal is a major concern and hence along with wireless transmission issues, baseline drift removal before high frequency noise removal is necessary for further feature extraction.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.451-458
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• 2022

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are optical probes with excellent fluorescence properties. Therefore, they have been applied to various bio-medical imaging techniques and biosensors. Due to the unique optical characteristics of wide absorption and narrow fluorescence energy bands, multiple types of signals can be generated by the combination of fluorescence wavelengths from different QDs, which enables the simultaneous detection of more than two biomarkers. In this review, the advantages and applications of QDs and QD nanobeads (QBs) in multiple biomarker assays were described, and new developments or improvements in multiplexed biomarker detection techniques were summarized. In particular, recent reports were summarized, focusing on the design strategies in immunoassay construction and signal transducing materials for fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assays using QDs and immunochromatographic assays using QBs. New detection platforms will be developed for early diagnosis of diseases and other fields if multiplexed detection technologies of excellent accuracy and sensitivity are combined with artificial intelligence algorithms.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2024

A 3-year-old, 20.6 kg, neutered male German Shepherd dog was referred to Kyungpook National University Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital. Clinical examination revealed chronic diarrhea for 6 weeks and a non-tender, distended abdomen without lethargy, anorexia, and vomiting. Diarrhea was watery and had a waxing and waning course despite symptomatic treatment. A complete blood count identified mild leukocytosis and mild anemia. Serum biochemistry analysis showed elevated alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels, and mild hypoalbuminemia. Abdominal ultrasound examination revealed mixed echogenicity with absent blood flow at the caudate process of the caudate liver lobe and a small amount of ascites. Computed tomography revealed torsion of the caudate process of the caudate liver lobe and spleen and gas dilatation of the intestine. After establishing a diagnosis of organ torsion on imaging, we deemed the condition an emergency and immediately performed surgery. Given that laparotomy confirmed organ torsion, liver lobectomy, total splenectomy, and prophylactic gastropexy were conducted. The patient was discharged 11 days after surgery without complications. In general, liver lobe torsion and splenic torsion are uncommon in dogs and present with nonspecific clinical signs, such as abdominal pain, lethargy, anorexia, and vomiting. In the current case, torsion of the caudate liver lobe and spleen occurred without other clinical signs except for a distended abdomen. Moreover, no reports in dogs have demonstrated the simultaneous occurrence of both diseases.