• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.69-75
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• 2005

Objective : This study is designed to find out the effect of Bee Venom Acupuncture Therapy on the Post-stroke Pain. Methods : Bee venom solution was injected on Seven Points of CVA-GB2l(肩井), LI15(肩隅), Ll11(曲池), GB31(風市), ST36(足三里), GB39(絶骨), ect- every other day for 3 weeks, in twenty patients who were admitted in Dong-Seo Oriental Medical Hospital, as diagnosed by their typical pain characteristics of central pain from stroke. Result : After 3 weeks treatment, visual analogue scale of pain severity showed significant decrease.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 2009

Purpose : Craniospinal neurenteric (NE) cysts are rare developmental non-neoplastic cysts of the central nervous system with diverse MR imaging findings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate various MR imaging findings of intracranial and intraspinal NE cysts. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the MR imaging findings of six NE cysts that were confirmed by pathology. We evaluated anatomic location, signal intensity, size and enhancement pattern of NE cysts. Results : Two intracranial lesions were located extra-axially in the cerebellopontine angle and quadrigeminal cisterns. Three spinal lesions were intraduralextramedullary cysts, located ventral to the spinal cord, but one thoracic lesion was an intramedullary cyst. The signal intensity of the cysts was hyperintense on T1-weighted images as compared with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for two intracranial lesions and one cervical lesion. In addition, all intracranial lesions showed diffusion restriction. For the remaining three spinal lesions, the signal intensity was nearly the same as the signal intensity of the CSF as seen on both T1- and T2-weighted images. On contrast-enhanced studies, two intracranial cysts showed a small nodular enhancement and one thoracic spinal lesion showed rim enhancement. Conclusion : NE cysts have various locations, signal intensities, and possible focal nodular or rim enhancement. Therefore, NE cysts can be included in the differential diagnosis of various craniospinal cystic or tumorous cystic lesions.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.16-23
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• 2010

Since the interest of a brain science research is increased recently, various devices using brain waves have been developed in the field of brain training game, education application and brain computer interface. In this paper, we have developed a portable EEG measurement and a bluetooth based wireless transmission device measuring brain waves from the frontal lob simply and conveniently. The low brain signals about 10~100${\mu}V$ was amplified into several volts and low pass, high pass and notch filter were designed for eliminating unwanted noise and 60Hz power noise. Also, PIC24F192 microcontroller has been used to convert analog brain signal into digital signal and transmit the signal into personal computer wirelessly. The sampling rate of 1KHz and bluetooth based wireless transmission with 38,400bps were used. The LabVIEW programing was used to receive and monitor the brain signals. The power spectrum of commercial biopac MP100 and that of a developed EEG system was compared for performance verification after the simulation signals of sine waves of $1{\mu}V$, 0~200Hz was inputed and processed by FFT transformation. As a result of comparison, the developed system showed good performance because frequency response of a developed system was similar to that of a commercial biopac MP100 inside the range of 30Hz specially.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2003

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is the most common psychiatric disorder of childhood and among the most prevalent chronic health conditions affecting school-aged children. Children with ADHD experience significant functional problems, such as school difficulties, academic underachievement, troublesome interpersonal relationships with family members and peers, and low self-esteem. The most widely used pharmacological treatments for ADHD are psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine salts. These medications provide clinical efficacy by increasing the availability of catecholamines, primarily dopamine, in the frontal lobe of the brain. immediate-release(IR) formulations of sychostimulants were among the most effective psychotrophic medications in the psychopharmacological treatment. However, there are some limitations of IR formulations：the short half-life and duration of efficacy, which result in the need for multiple daily dosing and the poor compliance. These limitations have led to the development of once-daily, extended-release(ER) formulations of methylphenidate and amphetamine salts. However, these ER formulations may not be as immediately helpful to ADHD children due to delayed onset of action and the acute tolerance which is the failure to sustain the efficacy with the same concentration of drug as the initial stage of medication. OROS-methylphenidate(Concerta$^{\circledR}$) given once a day produces an ascending-pattern plasma drug level generated by the osmotically released, timed drug-delivery system. These new formulations of the psychostimulants have been shown to be a useful alternative to old stimulant medications through the evidence by the clinical trials.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1214-1223
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• 2012

This study analyzed the in vitro physiological activity of Aconitum pseudolaeve var erectum Nakai (AP) and its effect on perfume on an electroencephalogram (EEG). The results indicated that the absolute alpha power spectrum (AA) and the absolute theta power spectrum (AT) decreased significantly during more than before the inhalation of the AP perfume and its reconstruction perfume. Although there were a little different pattern in the induced part of the wave generated by the inhalation of the AP perfume and its reconstruction perfume, alpha- and theta- were shown equally. In addition, there was the same pattern in which the rate of increase reduced. The results suggest that the perfume of the AP and its reconstruction perfume have a stimulating effect on the brain. In terms of the physiological activity of AP, the activity of AP ethanol extract was significantly higher than that of water extract in DPPH, collagenase, and nitric oxide, except for an astringent effect. The AP ethanol extract was about 80% at 500 ppm in collagenase inhibition activity. In addition, the AP water and ethanol extracts were 50% at 100 ppm in the NO inhibition activity. Based on these results, we conclude that this natural substance could be used in cosmetics and in the development of perfumes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1608-1613
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• 2012

A conventional kinesin, KIF5/Kinesin-I, transports various cargoes along the microtubule through interaction between its light chain subunit and the cargoes. Kinesin light chains (KLCs) interact with many different cargoes using their tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain, but the mechanism underlying recognition and binding of a specific cargo has not yet been completely elucidated. We used the yeast two-hybrid assay to identify proteins that interact with the TPR domain of KLC1. We found an interaction between the TPR domain of KLC1 and an amyloid precursor protein (APP)-binding protein PAT1 (protein interacting with APP tail 1). The yeast two-hybrid assay demonstrated that the TPR domain-containing region of KLC1 mediated binding to the C-terminal tail region of PAT1. PAT1 also bound to KLC2 but not to kinesin heavy chains (KIF5A, KIF5B, and KIF5C) in the yeast two-hybrid assay. These protein-protein interactions were also observed in the glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assay and by co-immunoprecipitation. Anti-PAT1 antibody as well as anti-APP anti-body co-immunoprecipitated KLC and KHCs associated with PAT1 from mouse brain extracts. These results suggest that PAT1 could mediate interactions between Kinesin-I and APP containing vesicles.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.20 no.1 s.90
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• pp.21-25
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• 2005

Paraquat, a widely used herbicide, has been suggested as a potential risk factor for Parkinson's disease. Heme oxygenase-1(HO-1), a marker for oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum(ER) stress, is known to catalyze heme to biliverdin, carbon monoxide and free iron in response to various stimuli. Here we show that paraquat activates HO-1 expression in a time-and dose-dependent manner in substantia nigra(SN) dopaminergic neuronal cells. Activation of Ho-1 by paraquat was regulated primarily at the level of gene transcription. Deletion analysis of the promoter and the 5' distal enhancers, E1 and E2, of the HO-1 gene revealed that the E2 enhancer is a potent inducer of the paraquat-dependent Ho-1 gene expression in dopamninergic neuronal cells. Mutational analysis of the E2 enhacer further demonstrated that the transcription factor activator protein-1(AP-1) plays an important role in mediating paraquat-induced HO-1 gene transcription. Moreover, using specific inhibitors of the mitogen-activated protein kinases(MAPKs), we investigated the role of paraquat and MAPKs for HO-1 gene regulation in dopaminergic cells. The c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK) inhibitor SP600125 significantly suppressed the expression of HO-1 by paraquat. All these results demonstrate that induction of HO-1 by paraquat requies the activation of the AP-1 and JNK pathway.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.439-445
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• 2004

Diffusion tensor image(DTI) exploits the random diffusional motion of water molecules. This method is useful for the characterization of the architecture of tissues. In some tissues, such as muscle or cerebral white matter, cellular arrangement shows a strongly preferred direction of water diffusion, i.e., the diffusion is anisotropic. The degree of anisotropy is often represented using diffusion anisotropy indices (relative anisotropy(RA), fractional anisotropy(FA), volume ratio(VR)). In this study, FA images were obtained using different gradient schemes(N=6, 11, 23, 35. 47). Mean values and the standard deviations of FA were then measured at several anatomic locations for each scheme. The results showed that both mean values and the standard deviations of FA were decreased as the number of gradient directions were increased. Also, the standard error of ADC measurement decreased as the number of diffusion gradient directions increased. In conclusion, different gradient schemes showed a significantly different noise performance and the schem with more gradient directions clearly improved the quality of the FA images. But considering acquisition time of image and standard deviation of FA, 23 gradient directions is clinically optimal.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.87-92
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• 2009

The antioxidant properties and protective effects of Inula britannica on ${H_2}{O_2}$-induced SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell damage were investigated. A series of solvent fractions, including hexane(Fr.H), petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate(Fr.EA), and water fraction(Fr.W), were prepared from the 70% methanol extracts of Inula britannica. Fr.W had the highest total contents of phenolics and flavonoids, followed by Fr.EA. The antioxidant properties of the fractions were also evaluated by analyzing their scavenging activities on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) radicals, 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radicals, and nitric oxide. Fr.W showed the strongest activities in all assays. The concentrations of Fr.W that resulted in 50% reductions of the DPPH and ABTS radicals were 20.7 ${\mu}g$/mL and 39.4 ${\mu}g$/mL, respectively. Fr.W showed the weakest cytotoxic activities on the SH-SY5Y cells, whereas it effectively protected ${H_2}{O_2}$-induced cell death, increasing cell survival by 35.0-77.0% at a concentration range of 62.5-250 ${\mu}g$/mL. In this range, Fr.W also significantly decreased intracellular ROS levels by 34-39%. Overall, the antioxidant properties of Inula britannica can contribute to rescuring neuronal cells from oxidative stress-induced cell injury.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.416-425
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• 2005

This study demonstrated neuroprotective and anti-oxidative effects of Puerariae Radix for cerebral ischemia. Neuroprotective effects were studied by using oxygen/glucous deprivation of the organotypic hippocampal slice cultures to complement limitations of in vivo and in vitro models for cerebral ischemia study. Anti-oxidative effects were studied on BV-2 microglia cells damaged by $H_2O_2$ and nitric oxide. The results obtained are as follows; The groups treated with 0.5 and $5{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix revealed significant decreases of neuronal cell death area and cell death area percentages in CA1 region of ischemic damaged hippocampus cultures during whole 48 hours of the experiment. The groups treated with 0.5 and $5{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix revealed significant decreases of neuronal cell death area and cell death area percentages in DG region of ischemic damaged hippocampus cultures during whole 48 hours of the experiment. The groups treated with 0.5 and $5{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix revealed significant decreases of TUNEL-positive cells in both CA1 region and DG region of ischemic damaged hippocampus cultures. The group treated with $50\;{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix demonstrated significant decrease of TUNEL-positive cells in CA1 region. The groups treated with 0.5 and $5{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix revealed significant decreases of LDH concentrations in culture media of ischemic damaged hippocampus cultures. The groups treated with 0.5 and $5{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix revealed significant increases of cell viabilities of BV-2 microglia cells damaged by $H_2O_2$. The group treated with $5{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ of Puerariae Radix revealed significant increase of cell viability of BV-2 microglia cells damaged by nitric oxide. These results suggested that Puerariae Radix of cerebral ischemic revealed neuroprotective effects through the control effect of apoptosis and oxidative damages.