• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-40
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• 2007

The research in this paper, for the effective implementation of CBD PoW PA(Program of Work on Protected Areas of Convention on Biological Diversity) that was adopted by CBD COP7(Conference of the Parties) in 2004, shows the objectives and activities of 9 each subject in PoW PA regarding domestic status and cases of national park management. Before anything else, according to the result of the review on the status of protected areas in Korea, there are 1,119 protected areas which are classified into 14 types and the total area is about $15,621km^2$. After a thorough review on 9 each subject about the implementation of CBD PoW PA, we found out that some parts such as management planning, prevention and alleviation of threats, and establishment of PAs system, are improved while financial support, improved social benefit, and MEE(Management Effectiveness Evaluation} fields are need to be improved. Especially regarding time-bound, ecological gap analysis on national level and MEE are need to be improved immediately. This paper could help us to understand the current status of PAs management system in Korea and to prepare national reports of CBD and implementation report of PoW PA. Based on research and results of this paper, we need to find the fields that have gaps in order to meet the requirements of the CBD PoW PA and the implementation tools that are suitable for managing Korea's protected areas. To effectively implement the various activities which require a systematic approach on the national level, the establishment of the networks among relevant organizations for protected areas are vital. To effectively reach the ultimate goal of CBD PoW PA, reducing the rate of biodiversity loss, it is essential that lots of plans established by authorities must be carried out in a constant manner to achieve goals of CBD PoW PA.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.203-212
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• 1999

Objectives : "Alexithymia" mean literally "no word for mood(or emotion)". It is not only a marked constriction in emotional functioning but a deficit in their cognitive processing. We designed this study to investigate the level of alexithymia, psychopathology and personality factors of patients with somatoform disorder and with diabetes mellitus. Methods : The subjects were consisted of patients with somatoform disorder(N=20), patients with diabetes mellitus(N=20), and normal control(N=20). The level of alexithymia, psychopathology and personality factors were assessed by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS), the Symptom Checklist 90-Revision(SCL 90-R), and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire(16-PF). And we compared demographic characteristics, psychopathology and personality factors among three groups, and assessed the relationship between alexithymia and psychopathology, and between alexithymia and personality factors. Results : The results were as follows. 1) Patients with somatoform disorder showed significantly higher TAS scores compared to patients with diabetes mellitus and the normal control group. 2) Patients With somatoform disorder showed significantly higher scores of somatization, anxiety scales than patients with diabetes mellitus and the normal control group, and showed significantly higher scores of obsessive-compulsive, depression, phobic anxiety, psychoticism scales than the normal control group by the SCL-90-R. 3) The normal control group showed high intelligence scores only as compared to patients with somatoform disorder by the 16-PF. 4) A significant relationship was found between TAS scores and psychopathology in patients with somatoform disorder. 5) All three groups did not shown any correlation between TAS and 16-PF. Conclusion : Patients with somatoform disorder showed higher TAS scores and more multiple psychopathology than patients with diabetes mellitus and the normal controls. A significant relationship was found between TAS scores and psychopathology in patients with somatoform disorder. We suggest that the therapeutic approach to patients with somatoform disorder to express emotions and manage psychopathology, and that the treatment methods of patients with diabetes mellitus aims to improve firstly physical conditions are more helpful.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.348-356
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• 2007

Statistical and probabilistic method was used in the analysis of data, which is the most effective one in describing the various natures, and the methodology relating the results with the design was developed. Influents and effluents of three treatment plants were analyzed and the focus was made on BOD, COD, SS, IN, TP The fluctuations of influent such as BOD, COD, SS were extremely large and their standard deviations(st.dev) were more than 10 mg/L. but those of TN, TP were small; the st.dev was 6.6 mg/L for TN, 0.6 mg/L for TP, respectively. But, effluent concentration showed consistent pattern regardless of the influent fluctuations, the st.dev was ranged between 0.28 and 4.48 mg/L. Effluent distributional characteristics were as follows; BOD, COD were distributed normally, but SS, TN, and TP, log-normally; unsymmetric and skewed to the right. The coefficient of reliability(COR) based on the results of statistics of data was introduced to evaluate the process performance an4 to reflect the process performance to the process design. The coefficient of reliability relates the design value(the goal) with the standards and it can be used in operating treatment facilities under a certain reliability level and/or in evaluating the reliability of the treatment facilities on operation. Each treated water quality of effluent showed the half of water quality standards in the level of 50% percentile and all treatment plant was achieved 100% probability of water quality standards. It was concluded that the variability of the process performance should be reflected to the design procedure and the standards through the analysis based on the statistics and the probability.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.871-877
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• 2016

Recycling nutrient solutions in closed hydroponic production systems is usually accompanied by an imbalance of nutrient solutions when concentration is controlled according to electrical conductivity (EC) levels. This study investigated whether it was possible to automatically control the concentrations of five essential elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) using only N, K and Ca ion sensors. N, P, K, Ca, and Mg uptake was measured in the nutrient solution, and relationships between absorbed ions were analyzed through twice-repeated experiments in lettuce. Results confirmed that the pattern of $PO_4$ ion uptake was similar that of N, and the pattern of Mg ion uptake was similar that of Ca. $PO_4$ ion uptake was most highly correlated with N, and Mg was most highly correlated with Ca. Regression coefficients of N and $PO_4$ were significantly different at 1.04 and 0.55, respectively, but were similar between Ca and Mg at 0.35 and 0.40, respectively. Additional experiments were conducted to measure nutrient uptake in pak choi and rose plants, both to confirm the results from the first experiment in lettuce, and to assess possible application to other crops. Coefficients of determination both for N and $PO_4$, and Ca and Mg were considerably high ($R^2=0.86$) in cultured pak choi, and similar results were observed in cultured rose ($R^2=0.87$ and 0.73, respectively). Regression coefficients for cultured pak choi were 0.56 and 0.24, respectively, and for rose were 0.51 and 0.16, respectively. Although the results obtained for N and $PO_4$ were not consistent between the lettuce experiments, N and $PO_4$ have similar regression coefficients for all crops. No common coefficient was found between Ca and Mg.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.525-532
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• 2020

A continuous fermentation process was carried out to enhance hyaluronic acid (HA) production using Streptococcus zooepidemicus cells. During the 1st stage continuous operation from 8 h with a dilution rate of 0.029/h (D1), HA was produced in the range of 7.5-10 g/l. During the 2nd stage from 44 h with a dilution rate of 0.036/h (D2), HA production (8.28 g/l) was initially reduced to a small extent due to increase of dilution rate from D1 to D2, and then a new pseudo-steady state was formed within a few hours with a concurrent small variations of HA production. The HA amount produced during the latter part of the 2nd stage was stably maintained in the range of 8.28-9.48 g/l, about 4.7% less amount compared to the 1st stage. Due to 24% increase of dilution rate from D1 to D2, however, maximum volumetric productivity (DP) amounting to 0.341 g/l/h was obtained at 96 h during the 2nd stage. This maximum productivity obtained from the continuous culture turned out only a small increase (3%) as compared to the corresponding batch fermentation. However, it should be noted that, in the case of batch process, one run typically consists of serial stages of growth culture plus one final production culture. This implies that, if the continuous fermentation that practically needs no dead time necessary for the multi-stage growth cultures is run for longer period, the total amount of the accumulated HA would be far greater than the amount obtained from the corresponding batch culture performed for the identical period.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.656-663
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• 2005

Background : The B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac neurohormone that is specifically secreted from the ventricles in response to volume expansion and a pressure overload. Differentiating congestive heart failure from the pulmonary causes of dyspnea is very important for patients presenting with acute dyspnea. Methods : A retrospective study was carried out on 261 patients who were admitted to the emergency department of Hanyang University Hospital due to acute dyspnea from March to July 2004. The serum BNP levels of the patients were measured using the ELISA method. Results : The BNP levels were 382, 111-1140 pg/ml (median, interquartile range) in the heart failure group (n=119) and 29, 7-81 pg/ml in the non-heart failure group (n=142). The BNP levels according to the subgroups of heart failure were 820, 354-1620 pg/ml, 1650, 239-1990 pg/ml, and 378, 106-1120 pg/ml for the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with combined left heart failure (n=5), cor pulmonale (n=3), and left heart failure groups (n=111), respectively. The BNP levels according to the subgroups of non-heart failure were 39, 21-101 pg/ml, 59, 10-129 pg/ml, and 15, 6-47 pg/ml for the COPD (n=20), other pulmonary diseases (n=56), and other causes groups (n=66), respectively. The BNP levels were significantly different according to the underlying etiology (p<0.001), and were significantly higher in the COPD patients with left heart failure than in those without (p=0.002). When the patients with no cardiovascular risk factor such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking or renal failure were analyzed, the BNP levels were also significantly higher in the patients with heart failure than in those without(p<0.001). When 133 pg/ml was designated as the BNP cut-off level the sensitivity for predicting heart failure was 73 percent and the specificity was 87 percent. Conclusion : BNP measurements are useful for determining the presence of heart failure in the patients presenting with acute dyspnea. The possibility of heart failure must be seriously considered in patients with high BNP levels even when they have a pre-existing pulmonary disease such as COPD or no risk factors for heart failure.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.184-190
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• 2016

Objectives : This study analyzed the differences of body mass index(BMI) in Korean patients with Alzheimer's diseases(AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment(MCI), and healthy controls to verify whether low BMI is associated with cognitive impairment. Furthermore, this study also sought to examine any association between BMI and Mini Mental State Examination-Korean version(MMSE-K), Clinical Dementia Rating(CDR), and Global Deterioration Scale(GDS). Methods : A total of 257 subjects were included in the study. History taking, mental status examination, physical examination and neurocognitive function test were carried out for the diagnosis of AD and MCI. The subjects' demographic data and presence of diseases were also surveyed. The overall cognitive function and severity of diseases were assessed using MMSE-K, GDS, and CDR. Results : The order of BMI was found to be healthy controls>MCI>AD, with statistically significant differences among the groups. The order of MMSE-K scores was similar, with healthy controls>MCI>AD in statistically significant differences. The healthy controls had the lowest CDR and GDS scores, and AD patients had the highest scores. There was a significant positive correlation between BMI and MMSE scores(r=0.238, p=0.000). BMI was negatively correlated with CDR(r=-0.174, p=0.008) as well as with GDS(r=-0.233, p= 0.000). Conclusions : Measuring BMI of patients with AD or MCI is expected to be meaningful in that BMI could be a clinical indicator of AD. We expect this to be beneficial for the diagnosis, prevention, and therapeutic approach of AD and also expect large-scale, long-term longitudinal studies to follow.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.229-236
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• 2020

Purpose: This study examined the utility of preliminary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements in the ultrasound-guided L4 selective nerve root block. Materials and Methods: As a retrospective study, 71 patients, who met the criteria for outpatient visits from March 2016 to December 2017, were included. From March 2016 to February 2017, 31 patients who underwent an L4 nerve root block without MRI were classified as group A, and 40 patients who underwent an L4 nerve root block through MRI measurements from March 2017 to December 2017 were classified as group B. Group A was injected under ultrasound-guidance through the pararadicular approach without a pre-interventional MRI evaluation, and group B was injected under ultrasound-guidance according to the preliminary MRI measurements. The results were assessed using the numeric rating scale scores before, three hours, and two, six, and 12 weeks after the procedure. Results: At three hours after the procedure, the proportion of patients better than good results were 51.6% in group A and 67.5% in group B. At two weeks after the procedure, the proportion of patients with better than good results were 48.4% and 70.0% in groups A and B, respectively; 58.1% and 62.5% of patient of groups A and B, respectively, showed better than good results after six weeks. In 12 weeks after the procedure, the results of group A and B were 67.7% and 62.5%, respectively. At three hours and two weeks after the procedure, group B showed significant symptom improvement than group A (p<0.05). The procedures were repeated 2.8 and 1.7 times in groups A and B, respectively, between two and six weeks for satisfactory pain relief (p<0.05). Conclusion: A pre-interventional MRI evaluation might improve pain relief within the initial two weeks after ultrasound-guided L4 selective nerve root block by improving the success rate of the procedure.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-172
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• 2023

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a significant difference in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio according to the history of suicide attempt in patients with psychiatric diseases. Methods : A medical record review was conducted on patients who had been hospitalized in Konyang University Hospital since 2021-03-01 to 2023-02-28 to collect demographic and clinical characteristics. T-test for continuous variables and Chi-square test for categorical variables were performed to determine demographic differences according to the history of suicide attempt, and the ANCOVA test was performed to compare the average value of peripheral inflammatory marker according to the history of suicide attempt with gender and age as covariates. One-way variance analysis was performed to determine whether the number of suicide attempt causes significant difference of the peripheral inflammatory marker. Results : The final analysis target of this study was 266 patients, 101 had history of suicide attempt, and 165 had no history of suicide attempt. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (p<0.001) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (p<0.001) were higher in patients with the history of suicide attempt than patients without the history of suicide attempt, but the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were not significantly increased depending on the serial increase of number of suicide attempts. Conclusions : This study suggests that peripheral inflammatory markers are meaningful and easily accessible indicators for predicting the risk of suicide attempt in psychiatric patients. We expect that prospective follow-up study will be conducted with more subjects and controlled potential confounding variables.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1994

When cells are exposed to low doses of a mutagenic or clastogenic agents. they often become less sensitive to the effects of a higher dose administered subsequently. Such adaptive responses were first described in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells to low doses of an alkylating agent. Since most of the studies have been carried out with human lymphocytes, it is urgently necessary to study this effect in different cellular systems. Its relation with inherent cellular radiosensitivity and underlying mechanism also remain to be answered. In this study, adaptive response by 1 cGy of gamma rays was investigated in three human lymphoblastoid cell lines which were derived from ataxia telangiectasia homozygote, ataxia telangiectasia heterozygote, and normal individual. Experiments were carried out by delivering 1 cGy followed by 50 cGy of gamma radiation and chromatid breaks were scored as an endpoint. The results indicate that prior exposure to 1 cGy of gamma rays reduces the number of chromatid breaks induced by subsequent higher dose (50 cGy), The expression of this adaptive response was similar among three cell lines despite of their different radiosensitivity. When 3-aminobenzamide, an inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, was added after 50 cGy, adaptive responses were abolished in all the tested cell lines. Therefore it is suggested that the adaptive response can be observed in human lymphoblastoid cell lines, which was first documented through this study. The expression of adaptive response was similar among the cell lines regardless of their radiosensitivity. The elimination of the adaptive response by 3-aminobenzamide is consistent with the proposal that this adaptive response is the result of the induction of a certain chromosomal repair mechanism.