Diagnostic usefulness of the QuantiFERON-TB gold in-tube test (QFT-GIT) for tuberculous vertebral osteomyelitis

Choi, Sungim,Jung, Kyung Hwa,Son, Hyo-Ju,Lee, Seung Hyun,Hong, Jung Min,Kim, Min Chul,Kim, Min Jae,Chong, Yong Pil,Sung, Heungsup,Lee, Sang-Oh,Choi, Sang-Ho,Kim, Yang Soo,Woo, Jun Hee,Kim, Sung-Han Informa UK (TaylorFrancis) 2018 Infectious diseases Vol.50 No.5

<P>Conclusion: The QFT-GIT appears to be a useful adjunct test for diagnosing TB vertebral osteomyelitis because the negative test results may be useful for excluding a diagnosis of active TB vertebral osteomyelitis.</P>

Diagnostic Usefulness of Varicella Zoster Virus-Specific Immunoglobulin (Ig) A and IgG in Patients With Herpes Zoster

Choi Sungim,문송미,권지수,김성한,박승윤 대한의학회 2023 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.38 No.2

Background: Whether varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibody titer could discriminate patients with herpes zoster (HZ) from healthy controls (HCs) is unclear. We evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of VZV-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in patients with confirmed HZ. Methods: Study subjects comprised patients with confirmed HZ by salivary VZV DNA positivity and control age- and sex-matched HCs. Saliva was collected and concurrent blood samples were obtained on the first visit day (acute phase) and after 4 weeks (convalescent phase) from 44 HZ patients. All 44 healthy volunteers provided blood and saliva samples once. Results: The median VZV IgA titers in acute-phase (5.2 mIU/mL, P < 0.001) and convalescentphase (15.8 mIU/mL, P < 0.001) serum samples from HZ patients were significantly higher than those in HCs (1.35 mIU/mL). VZV IgA positivity was detected in about 20% of acute phase serum and convalescent-phase serum of HZ patients. The median VZV IgG antibody titers of HZ patients during acute (1,471.0 mIU/mL, P < 0.001) and convalescent (4,934.7 mIU/mL, P < 0.001) phases were significantly higher than the median titer reported for HCs (591.6 mIU/mL). A four-fold or higher increase in VZV IgG antibody titer was observed in 36.4% of HZ patients. Conclusion: VZV IgA positivity or four-fold or higher increase in VZV IgG antibody titers were not detected in a satisfactory proportion of HZ-infected patients. However, the titer of VZV IgA or IgG antibody particularly in convalescent-phase sera may discriminate HZ patients from HCs.

TIME EVOLUTIONS OF THE STATIONARY SOLUTIONS OF KORTEWEG-DE VRIES EQUATION WITH A POSITIVE FORCING

Sungim Whang,Jeongwhan Choi 한국산업응용수학회 2007 한국산업응용수학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.2 No.1

We study the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation with a positive forcing for a flow of an inviscid and incompressible fluid. The fluid is of a constant density. Steady solutions of FKDV equation are found and numerical stabilities are studied. Moreover, we present the traveling wave solutions and time evolutions of these.

Optimal treatment strategies of Tuberculosis in South Korea

Eunok Jung,Sungim Whang,Sunwha Choi 한국산업응용수학회 2010 한국산업응용수학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.5 No.1

We have developed a tuberculosis (TB) model in South Korea using the SEIR model with the time-dependent parameters. South Korea ranked the highest TB incidence among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2004. The observed data from the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) shows a certain rise of the incidence people after 2001 yr because of increasing foreign workers with active-TB and starting the operation of the Korean Tuberculosis Surveillance System. The least-square curve fitting has been used for fitting the parameters in our model to the observed data. In this work, we also propose the optimal treatment strategies of TB model in South Korea using optimal control theory based on our TB model from 2001 yr to 2008 yr.

Volatile Compounds in Korean native Lilium

Sung-Hee Choi,Sungim Im,Eun-Young Jang,Kiu-Weon Kim 한국생명과학회 2004 한국생명과학회 심포지움 Vol.43 No.-

Varicella zoster virus (VZV)-specific immunity and subclinical VZV reactivation in patients with autoimmune diseases

( Kwang-hoon Lee ),( Sungim Choi ),( Ji-soo Kwon ),( Sung-han Kim ),( Seong Yeon Park ) 대한내과학회 2021 The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine Vol.36 No.4

Background/Aims: The risk of herpes zoster (HZ) is increased in patients with autoimmune diseases (AID), probably due to immunosuppressive therapy. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study investigated varicella zoster virus (VZV)-specific immunity in relation to subclinical VZV reactivation in 48 AID patients and 48 healthy controls (HCs). We assessed humoral immunity (serum VZV immunoglobulin g [IgG], IgA, and IgM) and cell-mediated immunity (interferon-γ [IFNγ]-releasing assay) to VZV as well as salivary VZV DNA status. Subclinical VZV reactivation was confirmed by detecting VZV DNA in saliva or VZV IgM in serum in the absence of typical HZ symptoms. Results: Median IgA levels were higher in the AID group than in the HC group, while VZV IgG and IgM levels were comparable between the groups. AID patients showed fewer IFNγ spot-forming cells (SFCs) upon VZV stimulation than HCs (58.2 vs. 122.0 SFCs/10⁶ peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs], p < 0.0001). Subclinical VZV reactivation was more frequent in AID patients than in HCs (12.5% vs. 0%, p = 0.01). AID patients with VZV reactivation received prednisolone more frequently and at a higher dose than AID patients without reactivation. VZV-specific IFNγ SFCs were significantly lower in patients with VZV reactivation among AID patients (26.3 vs. 62.6 SFCs/10⁶ PBMCs, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Results suggest that poor cellular response against VZV might cause clinical and subclinical reactivation of VZV in AID patients.

한국 자생나리의 휘발성 향기성분

최성희,임성임,장은영,김규원,Choi Sung-Hee,Im Sungim,Jang Eun-Young,Kim Kiu-Weon 한국생명과학회 2005 생명과학회지 Vol.15 No.4

향이 은은하며 향장류의 원료로 이용 가능한 한국의 자생나리인 중나리, 하늘나리, 하늘말나리, 섬말나리 및 털중나리를 중심으로 분화용 자생나리의 개발 및 방향제 개발의 이용 가능성을 위한 기초 자료를 위해 휘발성 향기성분을 연속수증기증류법을 이용하여 추출하고 GC 및 GC-MS로 분석하였다. 그 결과, 자생나리류의 휘발성 향기성분으로는 hexanal, nonanal 등의 aldehyde류 28종, $\beta-ionone$ 등의 ketone류 9종, linalool 등의 alcohol류 8종, methyl hexanoate 등의 ester류 5종, 2-furoic acid 등의 acid류 5종, 2-pentyl furan 등의 furan류 3종 및 기타 2종 등 총 60종의 화합물을 추정 또는 동정하였다. 한국 자생나리의 관능적 특성으로, 중나리는 은은한 향과 분쇄한 토마토의 신선향, 하늘나리는 가열한 호박의 달콤함, 섬말나리는 감흥시의 달콤한 향과 신선한 풀향등을 느낄 수 있었다. 휘발성 성분으로는 중나리는 hexanal, hexanol 및 (E)-2-hexenal의 함량이 많았으며, 하늘나리는 풋풋한 풀냄새에 기인하는 (E)-2-hexenal과 hexanal의 함량이 많았으나 꽃향이나 산뜻한 과일향을 갖는 linalool의 함량도 많았다. 또한 꽃향을 나타내는 phenylacetaldehyde와 꿀향, 머스크향으로 알려져 있는 methyl phenylacetate의 함량도 많았다. 하늘말나리는 하늘나리와 유사한 성분이 함유되어 있었지만, 특징으로 linalool의 함량이 많고 장미꽃향을 띄는 phenylethyl alcohol이 동정되었다. 섬말나리의 경우 풀냄새에 기여하는 (E)-2- hexenal의 함량이 나리시료 중 가장 많이 함유되어 있었고, 강한 풀냄새를 갖는 2,6- nonadienal도 함유되어 있었다. 털중나리의 경우 (E)-2-octenal과 phenylethyl alcohol의 함량이 특히 많은 것이 특징이었다. Volatile fragrance components in 5 kinds of Korean native Lilium were investigated and compared. The volatile components were extracted by SDE (simultaneous steam distillation and extraction) and identified by CC and GC-MS. As a result of the analysis of volatile aromatic ingredient of L. leichtlinii var. tigrinum Nickels., L. concolor var. parthneion Bak., L. tsingtauense Gilg., L. hansonii Leichtl., and L. amabile Palibin., using frozen materials, 60 kinds of volatile compound were identified, which were 28 aldehydes, 9 ketones, 8 alcohols, 5 esters, 5 acids, 3 furans and 2 others. The GC patterns of the aroma components of all samples resembled but the peak areas were different according to species, though all of them are Korean native Liliums.

관리도를 활용한 국민청원 토픽 모니터링 연구

이희연,최지은,이성임,손원,Lee, Heeyeon,Choi, Jieun,Lee, Sungim,Son, Won 한국통계학회 2021 응용통계연구 Vol.34 No.5

Recently, as text data through online channels have become vast, there is a growing interest in research that summarizes and analyzes them. One of the fundamental analyses of text data is to extract potential topics. Although the researcher may read all the data and summarize the contents one by one, it is not easy to deal with large amounts of data. Blei and Lafferty (2007) and Blei et al. (2003) proposed topic modeling methods for extracting topics using a statistical model. Since the text data is generally collected over time, it is worthwhile to monitor the topic's changes. In this study, we propose a topic index based on the results of the topic model. In addition, a control chart, a representative tool for statistical process management, is applied to monitor the topic index over time. As a practical example, we use text data collected from Blue House National Petition boards between March 5, 2018, and March 5, 2020. 최근 온라인 채널을 통한 텍스트 자료가 방대해 지면서 이를 요약하고 분석하는 연구에 관한 관심이 커지고 있는 추세이다. 먼저 텍스트 자료에 대한 기본적인 분석 중 하나는 어떤 주제나 내용을 포함하고 있는지 잠재된 토픽을 추출하는 것이다. 연구자가 일일이 모든 자료를 읽고 내용을 요약할 수도 있겠지만, 대용량 데이터를 다루는 경우에는 결코 쉽지 않기 때문에, 통계적 모형을 사용하여 토픽을 추출하는 토픽모형 방법들이 제안되어 왔다 (Blei와 Lafferty, 2007; Blei 등, 2003). 시간에 따라 수집된 텍스트 데이터로부터 토픽의 변화를 모니터링하기 위하여, 본 연구에서는 잠재적 디리슈레 할당(latent Dirichlet allocation) 모형을 통해 토픽을 분류하고 그 결과를 바탕으로 한 토픽 지수를 제안하였다. 또한, 이를 통계적 공정관리의 대표적 도구인 관리도에 적용하여 시간 경과에 따른 토픽의 변화를 모니터링하는 데 적용해 보았다. 실제 데이터로 2018년 3월 5일부터 2020년 3월 5일 사이에 청와대 국민청원 온라인 게시판에 접수된 텍스트 데이터를 사용하였으며, 토픽 지수를 모니터링함으로써 토픽에 대한 이상변화를 탐지할 수 있음을 살펴 보았다.

산지가 다른 상황버섯의 휘발성성분

장은영(Eun-Young Jang),임성임(Sungim Im),정영기(Yong-Kee Jeong),최성희(Sung-Hee Choi) 한국식품과학회 2006 한국식품과학회지 Vol.38 No.2

Antibiotics use patterns in end-of-life cancer patients and medical staff’s perception of antimicrobial stewardship programs

( Min Kwan Kwon ),( Kyung Hwa Jung ),( Sungim Choi ),( Hyeonjeong Kim ),( Chang-yun Woo ),( Mingee Lee ),( Jeong Geun Ji ),( Hyo-ju Son ) 대한내과학회 2023 The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine Vol.38 No.5

Background/Aims: While most cancer patients with end-of-life (EOL) care receive antibiotic treatments, antibiotic use should be decided appropriately considering the benefits, side effects, resistance, and cost effects. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) are important for patients with EOL care, but there is limited study analyzing actual antibiotic use in EOL care and the perceptions of Korean medical staff. Methods: Electronic medical records of 149 deceased cancer patients hospitalized in the medical hospitalist units at Asan Medical Center in Seoul from May 2019 to September 2021 were reviewed. Basic information, antibiotic use, duration, and changes were investigated. We surveyed medical staff’s perceptions of antibiotics in cancer patients with EOL. Results: Of the 149 cancer patients with EOL care, 146 (98.0%) agreed with physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST). In total, 143 (95.9%) received antibiotics, 110 (76.9%) received combination antibiotic treatment, and 116 (81.1%) were given antibiotics until the day of death. In a survey of 60 medical staff, 42 (70.0%) did not know about ASP, and 24 (40.0%) thought ASP was important in EOL care. Nineteen doctors (31.7%) discussed the use or discontinuation of antibiotics with patients or caregivers when writing POLST, but only 8 patients (5.6%) stopped antibiotics after POLST. Conclusions: Most cancer patients with EOL care continue to receive antibiotics until just before their death. A careful approach is needed, considering the benefits and side effects of antibiotic use, and the patient’s right to self-decision. It is necessary to actively improve awareness of ASP and its importance for medical staff.