A Hosta cultivar ‘Neulpureum 1’ was bred at the Korea National Arboretum, which produces new cultivars using vegetative propagation techniques. The new cultivar ‘Neulpureum 1’ was derived by crossing Hosta minor with Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’. Among the induced leaf-color- and shape-modified hosta plants, the plants that exhibited deep-green color and small-bended leaves were selected. ‘Neulpureum 1’ maintained the deep-green leaves for longer than Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’. Additionally, the plant height of ‘Neulpureum 1’ was shorter than that of Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’ and several leaves were observed on the new cultivar; therefore, it is likely to be used as a pot plant. The botanical characteristics were investigated for three years beginning 2012. A Hosta ‘Neulpureum 1’ can prove to be useful as a material for a pot plant or as ground cover plant at half-shadow place.

Tiarella polyphylla D. Don is a native plant distributed only in Ulleung Island in Korea and has been traditionally used for medicinal purposes, although it is also used ornamentally. This study was conducted to determine the requirements for dormancy break and germination and to classify the type of seed dormancy. The experiments were performed with cold stratification (0 or 12 weeks at 5℃), warm stratification (0, 4, 8, or 12 weeks at 23℃, followed by 8 weeks at 5℃, and then incubation at 23℃), and GA3 treatments (0, 10, 100, or 1000 ㎎/L). The treated seeds were incubated on aseptic media at room chamber (23℃, a 16h photoperiod of fluorescent lamps with 40 μmol ․ m-2 ․ s-1). The seeds were dispersed in nature as underdeveloped embryos with no physical barrier to absorb water to prevent water absorption. However, the seeds did not germinate for 30 days after sowing without any pre-treatments. Thus, the seeds had morphological dormancy (MD) and physiological dormancy (PD). The final germination percentage following cold stratification (0 or 12 weeks) was 66.7% and 45.6%, respectively. The cold stratification delayed seed germination by about 3 weeks. In the warm stratification experiment (0, 4, 8, or 12 weeks), the final germination percentage was 21.1%, 27.8%, 41.1%, and 57.8%, respectively, 20 weeks after sowing. The embryos of the T. polyphylla seed grew in relatively warm temperatures (23℃). GA3 application overcame seed dormancy and promoted germination. Following GA3 treatment (0, 10, 100, or 1000 ㎎/L), the final germination percentage was 33.3%, 45.0%, 42.5%, and 72.5%, respectively. These results suggest that the T. polyphylla seeds had non-deep simple morphophysiological dormancy (MPD) and GA3 treatment could be used as a substitute for warm stratification for breaking seed dormancy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of seed dormancy characteristics of the genus Tiarella native to Korea.

Surgery for thyroid disease is becoming much more common, but in some specialized institutions, ENT surgeons have difficulty obtaining experience of parathyroid surgery. Parathyroid disease can be divided into parathyroid adenoma with hyperparathyroidism and secondary hyperparathyroidism due to chronic kidney disease. Parathyroid adenoma with hyperparathyroidism is the most common cause of hypercalcemia and usually presents as nonspecific symptoms, such as, general weakness, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal disorder, kidney stones, and/or neurological symptoms, and thus, diagnosis is often delayed. Patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism due to chronic kidney disease require parathyroidectomy 10 years after the onset of dialysis in 6-10% of cases even when continuously treated in a nephrology department. Here, the authors share their experiences of parathyroid surgery.

Benign thyroid nodule is a common disease. However, little is known about the natural course of it. The objective of the study was to evaluate the changes of ultrasonographic (US) findings and the fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology. During 2 years, most of them have been in a benign natural course. However, we should note that malignant US findings is strongly associated with papillary thryoid carcinoma, though FNA revealed benign. Among them, our results would suggest that taller than wide feature in US finding is associated with malignancy

The objective of this study is to access the prevalence of diffuse thyroid disorders by using ultrasonography in healthy adults. Among 1535 adults who underwent thyroid ultrasonography, thyroid disorders were detected in 191 subjects (12.4%). There was a rapid increase of thyroid functional abnormalities in addition to subclinical thyroid disease with more than 3 features of diffuse thyroid disorder. Therefore we suggest that the thyroid function test and thyroid auto-antibodies should be checked when there are more than 3 features of the diffuse thyroid disorder in ultrasonographic examination, even if the patient does not have any symptoms.

최근 도심지 건축공사에서는 주변건물이나 시설물의 안전을 확인하기 위해 실시하는 기존 계측관리의 문제점을 극복하고, 안전성을 파악하여 위험요소로부터 신속히 대처하기 위한 실시간 계측 시스템의 도입이 필수적이다. 특히 건설현장에 인접한 지하철 시설은 가장 주요한 계측관리 대상으로 조사되었으며, 진동과 균열, 기울기의 실시간 계측을 통한 현장 안전 관리가 필요한 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 인접 시설물의 안전성을 계측관리하기 위한 실시간 계측시스템 구축에 대한 연구는 미흡한 실정이며, 특히 최근 보편화 된 스마트폰과 연동할 수 있는 시스템의 구축에 대한 연구는 전무한 실정이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 인접 지하철 시설물의 계측관리에 모바일 기술 적용한 실시간 자동계측시스템을 구축하여 주변시설물의 안전성을 실시간으로 확인 하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 본 시스템에 이용되는 계측장비는 진동 측정기, EL-BEAM, 균열계, 자동계측기로 구성하였으며, 계측 결과값의 장거리 송수신을 위한 CDMA모뎀, 서버 PC, 모니터링 PC, 스마트폰으로 구성하였다. 실시간 자동계측 시스템과 기존 수동적 계측관리 시스템 대비 효과를 분석할 뿐만 아니라 현장 관리자의 신속한 의사결정 수단이 될 것으로 사료된다. 본 연구를 토대로 최근 산업 전반에 걸쳐 활성화되고 있는 모바일 기술을 현장계측에 적용함으로서 건설기술과 모바일 기술의 융합발전에 기여할 수 있을 것이다.

Demacort® is mixture of betamethasone (high-potency corticosteroid) and clotrimazole (antifungal agent), an inhibitor of CYP3A4, which can inhibit the metabolism of betamethasone. Interaction of these drugs may result in decreased clearance of betamethasone and increased risk for adverse events such as iatrogenic Cushing’s syndrome. A 26-year-old female was admitted to the hospital due to rapid weight gain after application of Demacort®. During a period of one month, she showed weight gain of 30 kg and developed several Cushingoid appearances. The result of an overnight dexamethasone suppression test was negative, thus, endogenous Cushing’s syndrome was ruled out. A negative cortisol response was observed for the rapid ACTH stimulation test; therefore, we made a diagnosis of iatrogenic Cushing’s syndrome combined with additional secondary adrenal insufficiency.