• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.356-361
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• 2007

Cyanobacteria are a very old group of prokaryotic organisms that produce very diverse secondary metabolites, especially non-ribosomal peptide and polyketide structures. Although some cyanobacteria produce lethal toxins such as microcystins and anatoxins, some may be useful either for development into commercial drugs or as biochemical tools. Detection of unknown secondary metabolites was carried in the present study by a screening of 98 cyanobacterial strains from Cyanobiotech GmbH in order to establish a screening process, isolate pure substances and determine their bioactivities. A degenerated polymerase chain reaction technique as molecular approaches has been used for general screening of NRPS gene and PKS gene in cyanobacteria. A putative PKS gene was detected by DKF/DKR primer in 38 strains (38.8%) and PCR amplicons resulted from a presence of NRPS gene were showed by MTF2/MTR2 primer in 30 strains (30.6%), respectively. A screening of interesting strains was performed by comparing PCR screening results with HPLC analyses of extracts. HPLC analysis for a detection of natural products was performed in extracts from biomass. 5 strains were screened for further scale-up processing. 7 pure substances were isolated from the scale-up cultures and tested for bioactivities under consideration to purity, amount and molecular weight of substances. One substance isolated from CBT 635 showed cytotoxic activity. This substance may be regarded as Microcystin LR.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.147-181
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• 2007

Our article investigates the risk implication of ownership structure in life insurance companies. We set up a model to identify the priority structure of policyholder's and shareholder's cashflow claims, and to derive its implications. Current literature on this issue has focused on the agency paradigm or the risk-sharing efficiency. Fama and Jensen(1983a, 1983b) and Mayers and Smith(1981, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994) argue that the survival of both the corporate and the mutual form of organization is due in part to the relative efficiencies in controlling agency problems. With regard to insurance business, agency problems arise because of the three functions inherent in the organizations:manager, risk-bearer(owner), and policyholder. Stock insurers are characterized by the potentially complete separation of all three functions while mutual insurers merger the policyholder with the ownership function. Doherty and Dionne(1993) and Doherty(1991) concentrate their analysis on differences in the efficiency of risk sharing between participating and non-participating policies. They argue that when the undiversifiable risk has higher portion in business risk, combining policy and equity claims into a single package is a more efficient risk-sharing contract than a simple prepaid risk-transfer. Among various methods for assembling the policy/equity package, Doherty and Dionne(1993) and Doherty(1991) suggest that policy/equity package offered by the mutual is the most efficient risk-sharing arrangement. There has been a controversy on the property of participating policies sold by life insurance corporations in Korea. Some scholars argue that participating policyholders of Korean life insurance companies have shared the cashflow risk with shareholders. They emphasize that insurance firms have used dividend reserves to supplement for equity deficits. Thus, they argue that the economic entities of Korean life insurance companies are mutual companies though their legal entities are corporations. Our article explicitly sets up each stakeholder's cashflow claim in stock and mutual insurers, and thus identify risk differences in shareholder and policyholder. Using our model, we could derive direct implications on the controversy. Our model shows that life insurance companies would sell participating policies since policyholders would have the incentive to share the risk inherent in their primary claims with equityholders. And there exists a fundamental difference in shareholder's risk and equityholder's.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2003

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of stress and personality on sleep patterns, and further, to identify potential correlations between stress and personality characteristics. Methods: A total of 174 healthy college students were subjects for this study. Participants filled out the Daily Stress Inventory before sleep and the Modified Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index after sleep on three consecutive days. They also filled out the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16-PF), BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) and STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Results: Minor stresses highly correlated with subjective sleep quality and symptoms of non-restorative sleep. However, total sleep time, sleep latency, awakening frequency, and frequency of dreams were not explained by stress scores. The O (guilty feeling), C (low ego strength) and Q4 (high anxiety) factors of the 16-PF also highly correlated with symptoms of non-restorative sleep and significantly affected sleep patterns. BDI and STAI scores also correlated with the above personality factors and minor stresses. Conclusion: This study showed that minor stresses impaired the restorative effects of sleep. Personality characteristics such as low ego strength, high levels of anxiety, and feelings of guilt were vulnerable to minor stresses. Minor stress, various personality characteristics, different coping patterns, and emotional response are highly correlated with each other and affect sleep patterns.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.160-169
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• 2007

Purpose: This study reports the results of the use of preoperative concurrent radiochemotherapy (CRCT) for the treatment of locoregionally advanced esophageal cancer. Materials and Methods: From 1998 through 2005, 61 patients with intrathoracic esophageal cancer at stages II-IVB (without distant organ metastasis and presumed to be respectable) received preoperative CRCT. CRCT consisted of radiotherapy (45 Gy /25 fractions /5 weeks) and FP chemotherapy (5-FU 1 g/$m^{2}$/day, days 1-4 and 29-32, Cisplatin 60 mg/$m^{2}$/day, days 1 and 29). An esophagectomy was planned in $4{\sim}6$ weeks after the completion of CRCT. Results: There were two treatment-related deaths. Among the 61 patients, 53 patients underwent surgery and 17 patients achieved a pathological complete response (pCR). The overall survival (OS) rates of all 61 patients at 2 and 5 years were 59.0% and 38.0%, respectively. The rates of OS and disease-free survival (DFS) of the surgically resected patients at 2 and 5 years were 61.6%, 40.1 % and 53.3%, 41.8%, respectively. By univariate analysis, achieviement of pCR and a clinically uninvolved distant lymph node (cMO) were favorable prognostic factors for OS and DFS. There were 27 patients that experienced a relapse-a locoregional relapse occurred in 5 patients, a distant metastasis occurred in 12 patients and combined failure occurred in 10 patients. Conclusion: The results of the current study are favorable. pCR and an uninvolved distant lymph node were found to be favorable prognostic factors.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.312-323
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• 1999

External morphology, principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and vegetation were investigated to understand the taxonomic relationships and native environmental characters of Megaleranthis saniculifolia populations in four different habitats. Morphological characters such as calyx length and width, calyx index, presence or absence of serrate in calyx lobe, length of peduncle, branch of peduncle and fruit characters were useful for the identification of four different habitats. But, characters of plant height, bract and seed in four habitats were similar. The results obtained based on the principal component(PC) analysis of treated 96 OTU were divided into two groups by PC 1, 2, 3, and the sums of contributions for the total variance were 66.79%(PC1 31.3%, PC2 20.7%, PC3 15.8%, respectively), and only Mt. Taeki population was distinctly different from populations of other three habitats. In cluster analysis based on average linkage cluster analysis and Ward's method, there were similarities in the composition of clustered taxa, and each populations were not identified. Importance value by relative coverage and frequency appeared in M. saniculifolia(50.81%), Aruncus dioicus(12.64%), Corydalus turtschanovii(11.62%), Veratrum oxysepalum(11.45%), Anemone koraiensis(8.96%), Meehania urticifolia(8.76%), Filipendula palmata(7.06%), Aconitum pseudo-laeve(5.66%), Pseudostellaria palibiniana(5.45%) and Smilacina japonica(5.25%), respectively. These species were considered to be highly similar with M. saniculifolia. The highest importance value in all investigated sites was M. saniculifolia, but specific composition of high level different from each habitat. Average diversity of species was 1.40, and the highest in Mt. Kwangdeok(1.31), lowest in Mt. Jumbong(1.17). Average soil pH was 5.25 and similar in each habitat. Although the lowest content of K ion, but the highest the EC, water capacity, organic compound, Ca content were found in soil of Mt. Sobaek. Soils in Mt. Kwangdeok had the lowest content of EC, organic compound, Ca. Soils of Mt. Jumbong showed the highest of Mg content, but the lowest of water capacity, $P_2O_5$, and K contents.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.916-921
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• 2011

This study was carry out on a Jang-Won series (fine loamy, mixed, mesic family of typic fragipan) that were established and classified as a fragipan soil in Korea. The morphological, physical, chemical and minerals characteristics of Jang-Won series were studied to determine the genesis of fragipan soils in natural environment. Each sample was analyzed for its physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics. The particle size distribution of samples was measured using pipette method. Clay minerals were investigated on parallel-oriented specimens of the clay fraction ($<2{\mu}m$) from each horizon, separated by sieving and centrifugation, using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Micromorphological observations were made on thin sections prepared from soil blocks impregnated with Crystic Resin, cut and ground to less than $30{\mu}m$ in thickness, and finally polished with diamond paste. Most horizons have pH values in the range of fewer than 5.0 and have very low base-saturation values. Their textural classification ranges from silt loam to loam, the lower horizons being the finer. The clay fraction revealed the occurrence of illite, kaolinite, chlorite and vermiculite. The micro-morphological analysis carries out thin sections from each soil profile. The silt concentrations occur as extremely dense and homogenous bands or zones of silt-sized materials, brownish in colour in plane-polarized light and anisotropic in cross-polarized light, surrounding or adhering to skeleton grains. The genesis of fragipan in the Jangweon series assumed composition of clay fraction rather than silt concentration. Therefore, this results suggested an authentic interpretation which Jangweon series is classification as Typic Fragiochrepts.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.112-117
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• 2001

International index of erectile function (IIEF) has a high sensitivity and specificity for the evaluating treatment of erectile dysfunction. IIEF was used to evaluate on an international level the effectiveness of red ginseng on patients with erectile dysfunction and determine its possible development as a natural drug. 50 patients with erectile failure who were 20 years or older and without organic cause were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1(25 patients) received red ginseng 600mg three times a day and group 2 (25 patients) received placebo in the same fashion for 8 weeks. Each group was evaluated with IIEF at the start and end of therapy. Of the 50 patients 47 (group 1 24, group 2 23) who completed the 8 week therapy were evaluated. The mean age and symptom duration of the patients was 45.7$\pm$8.7 (27-68) and 6.2$\pm$5.6(1-29) years, respectively. Patient age, symptom duration. marriage status, marriage duration, partner age were not statistic significance between the two groups (p>0.05). Blood chemistry, urinalysis, and hormonal assay did not reveal difference between the two groups. primary efficacy (erectile rigidity and its maintenance) and all domains in secondary efficacy were significantly better after therapy in group 1 compared to those of group 2 (p<0.05) except for frequency of sexual desire, degree of sexual desire, and frequency of intercourse trial (p>0.05). Group 1 patients were significantly more satisfied after treatment compared to group 2 patients with 58.3% (14/24)and 26.1%(6/23) satisfaction rates, respectively. There were no adverse reactions or complications with ginseng adiminstration. Further study into the effects of saponin and ginsenoside that are the main substances in ginseng for erectile dysfunction is needed. In addition, its possible additive effect with ginseng and sildenafil should be elucidated in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.120-124
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• 2008

Carbon-coated $LiFePO_4$ and $LiMn_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}PO_4$ cathode materials for lithium batteries were synthesized by a sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy data showed that the cathode materials are pure crystalline and are surrounded by porous carbon. The initial discharge capacities of $LiFePO_4$ and $LiMn_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}PO_4$ with the liquid electrolyte of 1M $LiPF_6$ in EC/DMC are 132 mAh/g and 145 mAh/g, respectively, at current density of 0.1 C-rate. $LiFePO_4$ and $LiMn_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}PO_4$ with an electrospun polymer-based electrolyte exhibit initial discharge capacities of 114 and 130 mAh/g at 0.1 C-rate at room temperature, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2014

Mesoporous tin oxide (meso-$SnO_2$) with 5 nm mesopore and well-aligned $SnO_2$ nanowire-bundles with 5~7 nm diameters were prepared by template synthesis method. In addition to meso-$SnO_2$, meso-$SnO_2$/$SiO_2$, which has almost the same structure as meso-$SnO_2$ including $SiO_2$ used as the template were prepared by the modification of template synthesis. X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, transmission electron microscopy observed structures of meso-$SnO_2$ and meso-$SnO_2$/$SiO_2$. Although the meso-$SnO_2$/$SiO_2$ showed some positive evidences to suppress the volume change of meso-$SnO_2$ through cyclic voltammogram, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and voltage profiles during cycling, its cycle life was not improved highly to address modified structural effects. Thus, further study might be done to control the nanostructure of meso-$SnO_2$/$SiO_2$ for enhanced cycle performance.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5601-5609
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• 2012

The fine particulate matter($PM_{10}$) concentrations and contents were measured to check the health and environment influential factors in Pohang Iron and Steel Industrial Complex and its vicinities. In addition, the $PM_{10}$ distribution for each year and season was surveyed using the regional air quality monitoring stations. The measuring on the $PM_{10}$ inside the industrial complex showed $61.3{\pm}12.1{\mu}g/m^3$ for average concentration of $PM_{10}$ which was measured by Dongil Industry and $44.3{\pm}8.1{\mu}g/m^3$ measured by steel manufacturing industry complex management office. Both of them satisfied the environmental air quality standard. The percentage of $SO_4{^2}$, $NO_3{^-}$, $NH_4{^+}$ which are the secondary ions created out of the $PM_{10}$ in Dongil Industry and steel manufacturing industry complex management office was checked and it was revealed that the percentage of ${SO_4}^{2-}$ was high and it is considered that the pollution source related with the sulfides exist at the industrial complex. They were in order of ${SO_4}^{2-}$ > $Cl^-$ > $NO_3{^-}$ > $F^-$ > $NH_4{^+}$ in Dongil Industry and ${SO_4}^{2-}$ > $Cl^-$ > $NO_3{^-}$ > $NH_4{^+}$ > $F^-$ in steel manufacturing industry complex management office.