Kim Young-jin

In Brief Study Design. Pedicle screw fixation (PSF) has been used for the setting of a lumbar interbody fusion. Objective. To investigate analytically the effects of additional PSF to the anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) with the cylindrical cages (Ray TFC) in the immediate postoperative state. Summary of Background Data. An addition of PSF to the stand-alone ALIF increases segmental stiffness. Methods. A finite element model of ALIF (L4,–L5) was constructed. Finite element analyses were

Abstract Melt blends of ABS and PMMA were prepared using three types of ABS having different acrylonitrile (AN) content, and PMMAs with different MW. From TEM micrographs, it was found that ABSs containing 24 and 27 wt % AN were miscible, and the one containing 35 wt % AN was immiscible with PMMA. Morphologically miscible blends showed welldefined semicircles in Cole—Cole plots, whereas immiscible ones showed immiscible drifts from the semicircle. In addition, as the compounding temperature incr

Background and Objectives: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections are increasing worldwide. We evaluated the annual trends of NTM isolation on acid-fast bacillus (AFB) culture, compared to that of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the distribution of NTM species nationwide in South Korea. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a diagnostic center that is a major referral laboratory for the diagnosis of tuberculosis and NTM in South Korea. All laboratory results of AFB culture from

Clonorchis sinensis is still a common parasite in South Korea. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to replace the usual intradermal test, and its performance in an area of endemicity was evaluated. From 2004 to 2006, 182 adults were included. The patient group consisted of 51 adults; 43 patients showed fluke eggs by microscopy, and 8 had their disease diagnosed clinically. The negative-control group included 131 adults: 98 at low risk and 33 at high risk of infestation. Bo

BACKGROUND: PCR is a widely used method for rapid and accurate diagnosis of mycobacteriosis. The sensitivity and specificity of a real time PCR kit newly developed in Korea were evaluated for detecting mycobacteria in respiratory specimens. METHODS: One hundred twenty nine Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) culture positive respiratory specimens (82 AFB stain positive and 47 stain negative specimens) were used for evaluation of the sensitivity. Nine non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) culture positi

BACKGROUND: Conventional acid-fast bacilli (AFB) staining cannot differentiate viable from dead cells. Propidium monoazide (PMA) is a photoreactive DNA-binding dye that inhibits PCR amplification by DNA modification. We evaluated whether PMA real-time PCR is suitable for the early detection of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in clinical respiratory specimens. METHODS: A total of 15 diluted suspensions from 5 clinical MTB isolates were quadruplicated and subjected to PMA treatment and/or

BACKGROUND: The number of patients with diabetes and impaired fasting blood glucose in Korea is rapidly increasing compared to the past, and other metabolic indicators of population are also changed in recent years. To clarify the mechanism more clearly, we investigated the association between fasting blood glucose and incidence of pancreatic cancer in this retrospective cohort study. METHODS: In Korea National Health Information Database, 19,050 participants without pancreatic cancer in 2009 we

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease affecting people of all ages globally. The airway hosts diverse microbial communities increasingly recognized as influential in the development and disease course of asthma. Here, we review recent findings on the airway microbiome in asthma. As relationships between the airway microbiome and respiratory health take root early in life, we first provide an overview of the early-life airway microbiome and asthma development, where multiple cohort studi