Utilization of Laboratory Tests for Tuberculosis and Mycobacterial Disease in Korea

AbstractObjectivesIn Korea, a large portion of tuberculosis (TB) patients are diagnosed and treated in private institutes. Laboratory tests are crucial for TB control. There are many possible problems using laboratory tests in the private sector. In this study, we aimed to investigate the characteristics and trends of utilizing laboratory tests for TB and mycobacterial diseases in the private sector by analyzing the National Health Insurance (NHI) database.MethodsAfter selecting TB or other mycobacteria-related test items, we searched the number and cost of each item on the website of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service using the code of each test from 2007 to 2012.ResultsOur data revealed that the number and cost of tests drastically increased between 2007 and 2012. Culture and molecular tests primarily contributed to the tremendous increases. For each year, concentrated smearing and fluorochrome staining were more commonly used. The number of serologic tests for latent TB infection stagnated, despite the expansion of contact investigation.ConclusionThe NHI data could be considerably useful for understanding the utilization trends of laboratory tests for TB and mycobacterial diseases in Korea. Our data showed that TB laboratory systems have recently improved. In this study, many issues were noticed. Therefore, solutions to these issues are required and the continued monitoring of NHI data regarding laboratory diagnosis

Numerical analysis of dielectric micro-particle motion in a fluid and electric field

We present numerical analysis of a coupled problem composed of fluidics, electromagnetic and particle dynamics. The forces acting on the dielectric micro-particle consist of a dielectrophoretic(DEP) force, drag force and gravitational force in the proposed analysis model. DEP force and drag force are calculated using the distribution of the electric field and fluid velocity field to analyze the characteristic of the micro-particle motion. The forces exerted by each field are driving terms in the Newton’s equation for particle motion. The designed particle separating device, which has the one inlet and the two outlets, is simulated to validate proposed numerical scheme. The analysis results show the trace of the micro-particles can be analyzed using the proposed numerical approach

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BALL VELOCITY AND UPPER EXTREMITY KINEMATICS DURING AN OVERARM THROWING SELF-PRACTICE PROGRAM

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the ball velocity and upper extremity kinematics in inexperienced individuals during a 5 weeks selfpractice overarm throwing. Seven women participated in this study. Participants performed 15 overarm throwing 3 days in a week for 5 weeks. The relationship between the ball velocity and the first-last week overarm throwing upper extremity kinematics data (maximum angles and angular velocities) were statistically analyzed using Spearman’s rho. Results showed there was weak to moderate relationship for both maximum angles and angular velocities of trunk, shoulder, and elbow. Rotational movements of upper extremities should be prioritized at the early stages of throwing skills acquisitions

Improving the prediction accuracy in classification using the combined data sets by ranks of gene expressions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The information from different data sets experimented under different conditions may be inconsistent even though they are performed with the same research objectives. More than that, even when the data sets were generated from the same platform, the data agreement may be affected by the technical variation among the laboratories. In this case, it is necessary to use the combined data set after adjusting the differences between such data sets, for detecting the more reliable information.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proposed method combines data sets posterior to the discretization of data sets based on the ranks of the gene expression ratios, and the statistical method is applied to the combined data set for predictive gene selection. The efficiency of the proposed method was evaluated using five colon cancer related data sets, which were experimented using cDNA microarrays with different RNA sources, and one experiment utilized oligonucleotide arrays. NCI-60 cell lines data sets were used, which were performed with two different platforms of cDNA microarrays and Affymetrix HU6800 oligonucleotide arrays. The combined data set by the proposed method predicted the test data sets more accurately than the separated data sets did. The biological significant genes were detected from the combined data set, which were missed on the separated data sets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>By transforming gene expressions using ranks, the proposed method is not influenced by systematic bias among chips and normalization method. The method may be especially more useful to find predictive genes from data sets which have different scale in gene expressions.</p

Comparison of ethnic variations in skin physiological conditions and stratum corneum lipid compositions among Malaysians, Koreans, and Vietnamese

The understanding of ethnic variations in permeability barrier characteristic of the skin is important for the development of cosmetic product with a specialized formulation that fits well to the skin of the respective ethnic group. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in skin physiological conditions and stratum corneum (SC) lipid properties in healthy three Asian ethnic groups (Malaysians, Koreans, and Vietnamese) that living in the same environment. Epidermal thickness was measured by confocal reflectance microscopy (CRM), and other skin conditions (transepidermal water loss (TEWL), skin pigmentation, SC hydration and sebum content) were analyzed using a multifunctional skin physiology monitor. SC lipids were extracted from the inner forearms by a cup method. Malaysians had the thickest epidermis, followed by Koreanand Vietnamese. The analysis of skin barrier function expressed in TEWL showed that Malaysian had the weakest skin barrier function compared to that of Vietnamese and Koreans. In addition, Malaysian skin was found to have high sebum content, but lowest SC lipid content than those of Koreans and Vietnamese. The HPTLC densitometry analysis also revealed that Malaysian having the lowest value of ceramide/cholesterol ratio ascompared with both Korean and Vietnamese. These differences were found to correlate with the higher TEWL in Malaysian skin. Higher amount of CER [NS]and [EOP], and lower amount of CER [NP], [ADS] and [AH] were also observed in Malaysian than that of Korean and Vietnamese. These find ings illustrate variations in skin physiological conditions and stratum corneum lipid properties among three Asian ethnic groups. Therefore, the present study contributes to a better understanding and diversity of Asian skin differences

Molecular characterization of the Tobacco rattle virus RNA2 genome isolated from Gladiolus

Tobacco rattle virus (TRV-K) was first identified in a symptomatic Gladiolus plant cultivated in Korea. We analyzed the TRV-K genome and compared its phylogeny with other TRV isolates. After constructing of a full-length genomic RNA2 strand clone, a complete sequence was generated from several overlapping clones. The cloned genome was 3261 bases in length, identical to TRV-K, and had three open reading frames. TRV-K had the highest sequence identity with the American isolate TRV-ORY. Sequence analysis of the RNA2 genome showed that TRV-K contains an intact 2a, 2b, and 2c coding sequence and an RNA1-related 3′ terminus, which is typical of TRV RNA2. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that TRV-K is in the same cluster as the American isolates and another Korean isolate, TRV-SK; however, it was in a different cluster than the European isolates

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking of Population between Two Dynamic Attractors in a Driven Atomic Trap: Ising-class Phase Transition

We have observed spontaneous symmetry breaking of atomic populations in the dynamic phase-space double-potential system, which is produced in the parametrically driven magneto-optical trap of atoms. We find that the system exhibits similar characteristics of the Ising-class phase transition and the critical value of the control parameter, which is the total atomic number, can be calculated. In particular, the collective effect of the laser shadow becomes dominant at large atomic number, which is responsible for the population asymmetry of the dynamic two-state system. This study may be useful for investigation of dynamic phase transition and temporal behaviour of critical phenomena.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Localizing Gravitational Wave Sources with Single-Baseline Atom Interferometers

Localizing sources on the sky is crucial for realizing the full potential of gravitational waves for astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. We show that the mid-frequency band, roughly 0.03 to 10 Hz, has significant potential for angular localization. The angular location is measured through the changing Doppler shift as the detector orbits the Sun. This band maximizes the effect since these are the highest frequencies in which sources live several months. Atom interferometer detectors can observe in the mid-frequency band, and even with just a single baseline can exploit this effect for sensitive angular localization. The single baseline orbits around the Earth and the Sun, causing it to reorient and change position significantly during the lifetime of the source, and making it similar to having multiple baselines/detectors. For example, atomic detectors could predict the location of upcoming black hole or neutron star merger events with sufficient accuracy to allow optical and other electromagnetic telescopes to observe these events simultaneously. Thus, mid-band atomic detectors are complementary to other gravitational wave detectors and will help complete the observation of a broad range of the gravitational spectrum.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 2 table