Analysis of Problems in Cut Slope Survey and Design Based on Case Studies

In construction of roads or large residential complexes, the formation of large scale cut slopes is inevitable due to the large proportion of mountains in Korea. The problems involving the slope stability has emerged as a major concern. Inaccurate subsurface exploration can result in slope failure during or after the construction, thereby increasing the construction cost and delaying the construction duration. This study reviews problems involving the cut slope survey methods, design criteria, and examining the collapse mechanisms through various case studies. This study suggests the optimum survey methods and design criteria based on the possible failure mechanisms

Could Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide Test be Useful in Predicting Inhaled Corticosteroid Responsiveness in Chronic Cough? A Systematic Review

© 2016 Background Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a safe and convenient test for assessing T H 2 airway inflammation, which is potentially useful in the management of patients with chronic cough. Objective To summarize the current evidence on the diagnostic usefulness of FENO for predicting inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) responsiveness in patients with chronic cough. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted to identify articles published in peer-reviewed journals up to February 2015, without language restriction. We included studies that reported the usefulness of FENO (index test) for predicting ICS responsiveness (reference standard) in patients with chronic cough (target condition). The data were extracted to construct a 2 × 2 accuracy table. Study quality was assessed with Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2. Results We identified 5 original studies (2 prospective and 3 retrospective studies). We identified considerable heterogeneities in study design and outcome definitions, and thus were unable to perform a meta-analysis. The proportion of ICS responders ranged from 44% to 59%. Sensitivity and specificity ranged from 53% to 90%, and from 63% to 97%, respectively. The reported area under the curve ranged from abou t 0.60 to 0.87; however, studies with a prospective design and a lower prevalence of asthma had lower area under the curve values. None measured placebo effects or objective cough frequency. Conclusions We did not find strong evidence to support the use of FENO tests for predicting ICS responsiveness in chronic cough. Further studies need to have a randomized, placebo-controlled design, and should use validated measurement tools for cough. Standardization would facilitate the development of clinical evidence

Detection of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in patients with Early Stage Cervical Cancer

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of identifying the sentinel lymph nodes (SNs) as well as to evaluate factors that might influence the SN detection rate in patients with cervical cancer of the uterus. Eighty nine patients underwent intracervical injection of 1% isosulfan blue dye at the time of planned radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy between January 2003 and December 2003. With the visual detection of lymph nodes that stained blue, SNs were identified and removed separately. Then all patients underwent complete pelvic lymph node dissection and/or para-aortic lymph node dissection. SNs were identified in 51 of 89 (57.3%) patients. The most common site for SN detection was the external iliac area. Metastatic nodes were detected in 21 of 89 (23.5%) patients. One false negative SN was obtained. Successful SN detection was more likely in patients younger than 50 yr (p=0.02) and with a history of preoperative conization (p=0.05). However, stage, histological type, surgical procedure and neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed no significant difference for SN detection rate. Therefore, the identification of SNs with isosulfan blue dye is feasible and safe. The SN detection rate was high in patients younger than 50 yr or with a history of preoperative conization

Interaction of Veratrum nigrum

Obesity has become a major health threat in developed countries. However, current medications for obesity are limited because of their adverse effects. Interest in natural products for the treatment of obesity is thus rapidly growing. Korean Medicine (KM) is characterized by the wide use of herbal formulas. However, the combination rule of herbal formulas in KM lacks experimental evidence. According to Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica, the earliest book of herbal medicine, Veratrum nigrum (VN) has antagonistic features against Panax ginseng (PG), and the PG-VN pair is strictly forbidden. In this study, we have shown the effects of PG, VN, and their combination on obesity in high-fat (HF) diet-induced obese mice and in 3T3-L1 cells. PG, VN, and PG-VN combination significantly reduced weight gain and the fat pad weight in HF diet-induced obese mice. They also significantly decreased lipid accumulation and the expressions of two major adipogenesis factors, PPARγ and C/EBPα, in 3T3-L1 cells. In addition, the PG-VN combination had synergistic effects compared with the mixture of extracts of PG and VN on inhibition of PPARγ and C/EBPα expressions at lower doses. These results indicate a new potential anti-obese pharmacotherapy and also provide scientific evidence supporting the usage of herbal combinations instead of mixtures in KM

Clinical Outcomes of Patients treated for Cervical Pregnancy with or without Methotrexate

The objective of this study is to describe the clinical outcomes of patients treated for cervical pregnancy with or without methotrexate (MTX) and to evaluate the effects of MTX in the treatment of cervical pregnancy. Between January 1993 and February 2000, 31 patients were diagnosed with cervical pregnancy. Twenty-two patients were treated with MTX chemotherapy and nine patients were treated with surgical procedures without MTX treatment. In the non-MTX treatment group, three patients underwent total abdominal hysterectomy, five required adjuvant procedures to control the bleeding during dilatation and curettage (D&C) and only one patient was treated with a simple D&C. In the MTX treatment group, fourteen (63.6%) patients were treated with only MTX and eight (36.4%) cases underwent concomitant procedures (simple curettage, curettage and Foley catheter tamponade, cervical cerclage, ligation of the descending branches of uterine arteries, or ligation of hypogastric arteries). The uterus was preserved in all cases and three women delivered healthy babies in their subsequent pregnancy. In conclusion, early diagnosis, appropriate MTX regimen in combination of necessary adjuvant conservative procedures could contribute to successful treatment with preservation of the uterus and future reproductive ability

Impact of insulin therapy on the mortality of acute heart failure patients with diabetes mellitus

Background Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have a higher prevalence of heart failure (HF) than those without it. Approximately 40 % of HF patients have DM and they tend to have poorer outcomes than those without DM. This study evaluated the impact of insulin therapy on mortality among acute HF patients. Methods A total of 1740 patients from the Korean Acute Heart Failure registry with DM were included in this study. The risk of all-cause mortality according to insulin therapy was assessed using the Cox proportional hazard models with inverse probability of treatment weighting to balance the clinical characteristics (pretreatment covariates) between the groups. Results DM patients had been treated with either oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) alone (n = 620), insulin alone (n = 682), or insulin combined with OHAs (n = 438). The insulin alone group was associated with an increased mortality risk compared with the OHA alone group (HR = 1.41, 95 % CI 1.21–1.66]). Insulin therapy combined with OHAs also showed an increased mortality risk (HR = 1.29, 95 % CI 1.14–1.46) compared with the OHA alone group. Insulin therapy was consistently associated with increased mortality risk, regardless of the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) or HF etiology. A significant increase in mortality was observed in patients with good glycemic control (HbA1c < 7.0 %) receiving insulin, whereas there was no significant association in patients with poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥ 7.0%). Conclusions Insulin therapy was found to be associated with increased mortality compared to OHAs. The insulin therapy was harmful especially in patients with low HbA1c levels which may suggest the necessity of specific management strategies and blood sugar targets when using insulin in patients with HF.This study was supported by the Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010-E63003-00, 2011-E63002-00, 2012-E63005-00, 2013E63003-00, 2013-E63003-01, 2013-E63003-02, and 2016-ER6303-00

ZnWO4 Nanoparticle Scintillators for High Resolution X-ray Imaging

The effect of scintillator particle size on high-resolution X-ray imaging was studied using zinc tungstate (ZnWO4) particles. The ZnWO4 particles were fabricated through a solid-state reaction between zinc oxide and tungsten oxide at various temperatures, producing particles with average sizes of 176.4 nm, 626.7 nm, and 2.127 &mu;m; the zinc oxide and tungsten oxide were created using anodization. The spatial resolutions of high-resolution X-ray images, obtained from utilizing the fabricated particles, were determined: particles with the average size of 176.4 nm produced the highest spatial resolution. The results demonstrate that high spatial resolution can be obtained from ZnWO4 nanoparticle scintillators that minimize optical diffusion by having a particle size that is smaller than the emission wavelength