• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.550-558
• /
• 2021

Fructus Corni, the fruit of Cornus officinalis, has long been used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. We recently suggested that it was effective against benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Corni Fructus (CF) water extract on BPH induced by testosterone propionate (TP) in noncastrated and castrated animal models. BPH was induced in Sprague Dawley rats by an intramuscular injection of TP in castrated or noncastrated rats. Finasteride (FINA) treatment was used as a positive control for inhibition of BPH. According to our results, CF administration inhibited excessive enlargement of development of the prostate in both the noncastrated and castrated groups compared to the control and FINA-treated groups. The inhibitory effect of CF on BPH was associated with inhibition of expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, 5α-reductase type 2, steroid receptor coactivator-1, androgen receptor (AR), and prostate-specific antigen. Serum levels of the stress hormone cortisol increased during BPH induction by TP in both the noncastrated and castrated groups, but they were attenuated significantly by CF administration. However, insulin and IGF-1 levels were not increased in the BPH-induced groups and CF, and no effective results were found by CF administration. These results point to a beneficial effect of CF on BPH through inhibition of AR signaling pathway activity and imply that CF shows excellent potential as a therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of BPH.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.60 no.2
• /
• pp.135-142
• /
• 2022

Purpose. This study aims to evaluate the combined effect of reduced thickness in different regions on the fracture resistance of monolithic zirconia crowns. Materials and methods. Seven nickel-chromium dies were generated from a 3D model of mandibular first molar using the digital scanner with the following geometries: 1.5 mm occlusal reduction, 1.0 mm deep chamfer. Based on the abutment model, Zirconia blocks (Luxen Zirconia) were selected to fabricate Sixty-three zirconia crowns with occlusal thicknesses of 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, and 1.5 mm, and different axial thicknesses of 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, and 1.0 mm. All crowns were cemented by resin cement. Next, the crowns were subjected to load-to-fracture test until fracture using an electronic universal testing machine. In addition, fracture patterns were observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Two-way ANOVA and the Tuckey HSD test for post hoc analysis were used for statistical analysis (P < .05). Results. The mean values of fracture resistancerecorded was higher than the average biting force in the posterior region. The two-way ANOVA showed that the occlusal and axial thickness affected the fracture resistance significantly (P < .05). However, the effect of axial thickness on fracture resistance did not show a statistical difference when thicker than 0.5 mm. The observed failure modes were partial or complete fracture depending on the severity of crack propagation. Conclusion. Within the limitations of the present study, the CAD-CAM monolithic zirconia crown with extremely reduced thickness showed adequate fracture resistance to withstand occlusal load in molar regions. In addition, both occlusal and axial thickness affected the fracture resistance of the zirconia crown and showed different results as combined.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.13-34
• /
• 2022

Soil moisture data have been collected at 11 agrometeorological stations operated by The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). This study aimed to verify the accuracy of soil moisture data of KMA and develop a correction formula to be applied to improve their quality. The soil of the observation field was sampled to analyze its physical properties that affect soil water content. Soil texture was classified to be sandy loam and loamy sand at most sites. The bulk density of the soil samples was about 1.5 g/cm³ on average. The content of silt and clay was also closely related to bulk density and water holding capacity. The EnviroSCAN model, which was used as a reference sensor, was calibrated using the self-manufactured "reference soil moisture observation system". Comparison between the calibrated reference sensor and the field sensor of KMA was conducted at least three times at each of the 11 sites. Overall, the trend of fluctuations over time in the measured values of the two sensors appeared similar. Still, there were sites where the latter had relatively lower soil moisture values than the former. A linear correction formula was derived for each site and depth using the range and average of the observed data for the given period. This correction formula resulted in an improvement in agreement between sensor values at the Suwon site. In addition, the detailed approach was developed to estimate the correction value for the period in which a correction formula was not calculated. In summary, the correction of soil moisture data at a regular time interval, e.g., twice a year, would be recommended for all observation sites to improve the quality of soil moisture observation data.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.376-383
• /
• 2022

The current study, which consisted of two independent studies (laboratory and greenhouse), was carried out to project the hypothesis fungi-spray scheduling for leaf mold and gray leaf spot in tomato, as well as to evaluate the effect of temperature and leaf wet duration on the effectiveness of different fungicides against these diseases. In the first experiment, tomato leaves were infected with 1 × 10⁴ conidia·mL^-1 and put in a dew chamber for 0 to 18 hours at 10 to 25℃ (Fulvia fulva) and 10 to 30℃ (Stemphylium lycopersici). In farm study, tomato plants were treated for 240 hours with diluted (1,000 times) 30% trimidazole, 50% polyoxin B, and 40% iminoctadine tris (Belkut) for protection of leaf mold, and 10% etridiazole + 55% thiophanate-methyl (Gajiran), and 15% tribasic copper sulfate (Sebinna) for protection of gray leaf spot. In laboratory test, leaf condensation on the leaves of tomato plants were emerged after 9 hrs. of incubation. In conclusion, the incidence degree of leaf mold and gray leaf spot disease on tomato plants shows that it is very closely related to formation of leaf condensation, therefore the incidence of leaf mold was greater at 20 and 15℃, while 25 and 20℃ enhanced the incidence of gray leaf spot. The incidence of leaf mold and gray leaf spot developed 20 days after inoculation, and the latency period was estimated to be 14-15 days. Trihumin fungicide had the maximum effectiveness up to 168 hours of fungicides at 12 hours of wet duration in leaf mold, whereas Gajiran fungicide had the highest control (93%) against gray leaf spot up to 144 hours. All the chemicals showed an around 30-50% decrease in effectiveness after 240 hours of treatment. The model predictions in present study could be help in timely, effective and ecofriendly management of leaf mold disease in tomato.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.127-144
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to derive service factors based on the "Rail Statistical Yearbook" data of railroad service providers from 1990 to 2019, and to analyze the effect of the service factors on the operating profit ratio(OPR), a representative management performance variable of railroad transport service providers. In particular, it has academic significance in terms of empirical research to evaluate whether the management innovation of the KoRail has changed in line with the purpose of establishing the corporation by dividing the research period into the first period (1990-2003) and the latter (2004-2019). The contents of this study investigated previous studies on the quality of railway passenger transportation service and analyzed the contents of government presentation data related to the management performance evaluation of the KoRail. As an empirical analysis model, a research model was constructed using OPR as a dependent variable and service factor variables of infrastructure, economy, safety, connectivity, and business diversity as explanatory variables based on the operation and management activity information during the analysis period 30 years. On the results of research analysis, OPR is that the infrastructure factor is improved by structural reform or efficiency improvement. And economic factors are the fact that operating profit ratio improves by reducing costs. The safety factor did not reveal the significant explanatory power of the regression coefficient, but the sign of influence was the same as the prediction. Connectivity factor reveals a influence on differences between first period and latter, but OPR impact direction is changed from negative in before to positive in late. This is an evironment in which connectivity is actually realized in later period. On diversity factor, there is no effect of investment share in subsidiaries and government subsidies on OPR.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.528-536
• /
• 2021

The purpose of the study was to investigate the content of sinigrin, an index component, in Brassica juncea extract and to evaluate the differentiation of lipocytes, inhibition of production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduction of protein production by lipogenic factors (PPARγ, C/EBPα, aP2) in the processing of Brassica juncea extract and sinigrin in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes which induces Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting environmental hormone. From the investigation, the content of sinigrin in Brassica juncea extract, measured by HPLC, is found to be 21.27±0.2 mg/g. The XTT assay result on BPA-derived 3T3-L1 adipocytes shows there is no cytotoxicity found from 180 µM of sinigrin and 300 ㎍/mL of Brassica juncea extract. Moreover, both intracellular lipid accumulation and ROS production during differentiation of lipocyte are significantly reduced in cells processed with Brassica juncea extract and sinigrin. Lastly, it was also found that the production of transcription factors of lipocyte differentiation, PPARγ, C/EBPα and aP2, were found to be suppressed by the application of Brassica juncea extract and sinigrin. Such results reveals that Brassica juncea is effective in not only suppressing lipid accumulation in the environmental hormone bisphenol A-derived lipocyte, but also in reducing the ROS. The sinigrin-containing Brassica juncea is highly expected to be used in natural functional supplements that prevents the lipid metabolism disorders caused by BPA. There are necessities for additional clinical research and follow-up studies on the in vivo model to verify the relevant mechanisms.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.27 no.9
• /
• pp.191-203
• /
• 2022

In this paper, we developed a system that intelligently identifies skin image data from big data collected from social media Instagram and extracts standardized skin sample data for skin condition diagnosis and management. The system proposed in this paper consists of big data collection and analysis stage, skin image analysis stage, training data preparation stage, artificial neural network training stage, and skin image identification stage. In the big data collection and analysis stage, big data is collected from Instagram and image information for skin condition diagnosis and management is stored as an analysis result. In the skin image analysis stage, the evaluation and analysis results of the skin image are obtained using a traditional image processing technique. In the training data preparation stage, the training data were prepared by extracting the skin sample data from the skin image analysis result. And in the artificial neural network training stage, an artificial neural network AnnSampleSkin that intelligently predicts the skin image type using this training data was built up, and the model was completed through training. In the skin image identification step, skin samples are extracted from images collected from social media, and the image type prediction results of the trained artificial neural network AnnSampleSkin are integrated to intelligently identify the final skin image type. The skin image identification method proposed in this paper shows explain high skin image identification accuracy of about 92% or more, and can provide standardized skin sample image big data. The extracted skin sample set is expected to be used as standardized skin image data that is very efficient and useful for diagnosing and managing skin conditions.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.256-266
• /
• 2022

Empirical models including the Angstrom-Prescott (AP) model have been used to estimate solar radiation at sites, which would support a wide use of crop models. The objective of this study was to estimate two sets of solar radiation estimates using the AP coefficients derived for climate zone (AP_Frere) and specific site (AP_Choi), respectively. The daily solar radiation was estimated at 18 sites in Korea where long-term measurements of solar radiation were available. In the present study, daily solar radiation and sunshine duration were collected for the period from 2012 to 2021. Daily weather data including maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall were also obtained to prepare input data to a process-based crop model, CERES-Rice model included in Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT). It was found that the daily estimates of solar radiation using the climate zone specific coefficient, SFrere, had significantly less error than those using site-specific coefficients S_Choi (p<0.05). The cumulative values of S_Frere for the period from march to September also had less error at 55% of study sites than those of S_Choi. Still, the use of S_Frere and S_Choi as inputs to the CERES-Rice model resulted in slight differences between the outcomes of crop growth simulations, which had no significant difference between these outputs. These results suggested that the AP coefficients for the temperate climate zone would be preferable for the estimation of solar radiation. This merits further evaluation studies to compare the AP model with other sophisticated approaches such as models based on satellite data.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.174-187
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate an education program for housewives to reduce sodium intake based on the social cognitive theory. Methods: Housewives (n = 387) received 2 education sessions focused on food purchase and cooking, and completed a questionnaire on their perceptions of environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors and the stages of behavioral change to reducing sodium intake both before and after the education program. Results: After the education program, the recognition of social efforts for sodium reduction and sodium labeling and experience with low-sodium products increased. Positive expectancies for the prevention of osteoporosis by the reduction of sodium were enhanced while the main barriers in practicing sodium reduction decreased, especially 'interrupting social relationships when dining with others', 'bad taste', 'preference for soup or stew', and 'limited knowledge and skills to practice'. In addition, cognition and nutrition knowledge related to reducing sodium intake were improved on all scores, but the effect on self-efficacy and dietary behavior was limited to only a few items. The percentage of participants in the pre-action stage (including pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation stages) for reducing sodium intake decreased from 43.2% before education to 21.5% after education, while that in the action stage increased from 19.6% before education to 43.5% after education (p < 0.001). The education program had the most significant impact on participants who were in the pre-action stage and showed improved scores in all sections. Conclusion: These results suggest that a customized education program for housewives could be an effective tool to reduce sodium intake by improving personal expectancies, cognition, and nutrition knowledge regarding sodium reduction and enabling a greater section of the population to move to the action stage of reducing sodium intake.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.151-164
• /
• 2022

According to the records of historical and instrumental earthquakes, the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula is considered the highest seismic activity area. Owing to recent reports of numerous Quaternary faults along the Yangsan and Ulsan fault zones, paleoseismological studies are being actively conducted in these areas. The study area is located in the central part of the Ulsan fault zone, where the largest number of active faults have been reported. Based on lineament and geomorphic analysis using LiDAR images and aerial photographs, fault-related landforms showing topographic relief were observed and a trench survey was conducted. The trench length 20 m, width 5 m, depth 5 m is located approximately 300 m away to the northeast from the previously reported Malbang fault. From the trench section, we interpreted the geometric and kinematic characteristics of the fault based on the deformed features of the Quaternary sedimentary layers. The attitude of the reverse fault, N26°W/33°NE, is similar to those of the reported faults distributed along the Ulsan fault zone. Although a single apparent displacement of approximately 40 cm has been observed, the true displacement could not be calculated due to the absence of the slickenline on the fault plane. Based on the geochronological results of the cryogenic structure proposed in a previous study, the most recent faulting event has been estimated as being earlier than the late Wurm glaciation. We interpreted the thrust fault system of the study area as an imbrication structure based on the previous studies and the fault geometry obtained in this additional trench. Although several previous investigations including many trench surveys have been conducted, they found limited success in obtaining the information on fault parameters, which could be due to complex characteristics of the reverse fault system. Additional paleoseismic studies will contribute to solving the mentioned problems and the comprehensive fault evolution.