• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.136-139
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• 2008

Purpose: Epidural morphine infusion has been used to control pain in cancer patients whose cancer pain can not be controlled high dose intravenous morphine injection. To study the effectiveness and side effects of epidural morphine for the treatment of cancer pain in terminal patients at Hospice Ward, we evaluated the change in morphine equivalent daily dose for effectiveness and complications of epidural morphine infusion. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 24 terminal cancer patients who were treated with continuous epidural morphine between 2001 and 2004 at Hospice Ward of St. Vincent's Hospital. Results: The median of baseline morphine equivalent daily dose was 615 mg, whereas the median dose of initial epidural morphine was 16 mg. The median of morphine daily equivalent daily dose dropped from 615 mg to 274 mg in one week after epidural morphine infusion therapy (P-value=0.000). The median survival from the time of the first catheter insertion was 35 days. In 6 patients, the catheter was removed due to complications, however the catheter was reinserted in 3 patients. Conclusion: Cancer pain management by epidural morphine infusion is very effective method with low rate of severe complication.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.305-313
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• 2016

Brassica juncea (2n = 4x = 36, AABB genome, 1,068 Mb) is a U's triangle species and an amphidiploid derivative of B. rapa and B. nigra. Fifteen varieties were used to study the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) regions of ribosomal DNA and MITEs (miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements) with a view of developing specific molecular markers. ITSs and MITEs are an excellent resource for developing DNA markers for genomics and evolutionary studies because most of them are stably inherited and present in high copy numbers. The ITS (ITS1 and ITS2) sequence was compared with the consensus sequence of B. rapa and B. nigra. Variation in ITS1 created two separate groups among 15 varieties, with 10 varieties in one group and 5 in the other. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two major clusters for those 10 and 5 varieties. Among the 160 different MITE primers used to evaluate the selected 15 varieties of B. juncea, 70 were related to the Stowaway, 79 to the Tourist, 6 to the hAT, and 5 to the Mutator super-families of MITEs. Of 160 markers examined, 32 were found to be polymorphic when fifteen different varieties of B. juncea were evaluated. The variety 'Blackgat' was different from the other mustard varieties with respect to both phenotype and genotype. The diversity of 47 additional accessions could be verified using eight selected molecular markers derived from MITE family sequences. The polymorphic markers identified in this study can be used for varietal classification, variety protection, and other breeding purposes.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.166-176
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• 2015

Research was initiated to investigate root growth characteristics of major cool-season grasses (CSG) and to collect basic information useful for sports turf design, construction and maintenance. Several turfgrasses were evaluated in the USGA (United States Golf Association) soil system. Turfgrass entries were comprised 3 blends and 3 mixtures of Kentucky bluegrass (KB, Poa pratensis L.), perennial ryegrass (PR, Lolium perenne L.), and tall fescue (TF, Festuca arundinacea Schreb.). Significant differences were found in root growth, rooting potential and rooting development. These characteristics increased with time after seeding, but varied with establishment stages. In early stage, root length was highest with PR, intermediate with TF and lowest with KB. Evaluation in a middle stage indicated that root growth was similar to early-stage evaluation, but decreased by 13 to 31% compared with early-stage values. Root growth of late stage increased by 34 to 85% over middle-stage root growth. Overall, thhere was not much difference in root length among treatments, with all except Mixture I reaching 22cm in root length. Rooting potential ranking was variable with establishment stage, being PR > KB > TF in early stage, PR > TF > KB in middle stage and TF > PR > KB in late stage. At the end of the study, TF was rated best for rooting development, followed by PR and finally KB. Our results showed that TF was the best species in regard to overall rooting characteristics. TF exhibited excellent rooting development with time after establishment. Bunch-type PR showed fast root growth in the early stage, but rooting quality characteristics decreased with time, especially for rooting development. By contrast, rhizomatous-type KB was poor in early-stage root growth, but rooting characteristics improved with time after establishment. These variations in rooting characteristics among CSGs were considered to arise from differences in establishment vigor, growth habit and genetic characteristics. Information on root growth, rooting potential and rooting development by establishment stages will be useful for sports turf design, construction and maintenance.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.358-365
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• 2011

Lespedeza cuneata G. Don is a plant commonly grown in Asian countries, which has been widely used as an oriental medicinal herb to treat diabetes, diarrhea and various other inflammatory diseases. The phenolics of dry leaves of L. cuneata G. Don were extracted by using 80% (v/v) aqueous methanol in assistance with homogenization and sonification. The phenolic extract and its five different fractions (n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water) were used to evaluate the levels of total phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity as well as the inhibitory effect of tyrosinase activity. Ethyl acetate fraction (1 g) had the highest levels of total phenolics at 240.8 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE), total flavonoids as 90.4 mg catechin equivalents (CE) as well as antioxidant capacity at 523.4 mg vitamin C equivalents (VCE) on ABTS assay and 329.5 mg VCE on DPPH assay among fractions. One g of water fraction contained total phenolics at 133.1 mg GAE, total flavonoids at 34.5 mg CE, and antioxidant capacity at 333.4 mg VCE for ABTS assay and 313.2 mg VCE for DPPH assay. Inhibition of tyrosinase activity of water fraction at 300 ${\mu}g{\cdot}mL^{-1}$ was at 47.2% and 21.1% for L-tyrosine and L-DOPA as its substrate, respectively. On the other hand, ethyl acetate fraction at 300 ${\mu}g{\cdot}mL^{-1}$ showed tyrosinase inhibition of 10.2% for L-tyrosine and 11.9% for L-DOPA. These results suggested that the phenolics from dry leaves of L. cuneata G. Don may be utilized as a potent source of antioxidants and skin whitening agents.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.665-676
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• 2016

As high temperature during citrus growing season has caused a serious problems including inferior coloration in production of mandarins in Korea, we were to investigate the expression pattern of several genes related with coloration during the ripening in high temperature condition of citrus fruits. The expression of genes related with sugar metabolism, cell wall degradation, and flavonoid synthesis in high temperature conditions was investigated in fruits of 'Haryejosaeng' (Citrus unshiu) and 'Shiranuhi' mandarin (C. reticulata). While the expression of beta-amylase (BMY), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), and flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) was differently induced, expression of polygalacturonase (PG) decreased dependently on temperature conditions. In 'Haryejosaeng' mandarin, while the expression of genes related to the skin coloration, such as CHS and F3H genes increased at $25^{\circ}C$, the expression of PAL and stilbene synthase (STS) genes were induced at $30-35^{\circ}C$ in all ripening stages. In 'Shiranuhi' mandarin, the expression of the BMY gene decreased at early time point in all temperature condition and then increased at $30-35^{\circ}C$ than at $25^{\circ}C$ in the ripening stage 2 to 3 of fruits. F3H and STS genes also showed the tendency to decrease at $30-35^{\circ}C$. Although the expression levels of genes in ripening stage 1 and stage 2 of fruits showed similar patterns in both 'Haryejosaeng' and 'Shiranuhi', the expression levels of genes were down-regulated in late ripening stage of 'Shiranuhi' fruits compared to 'Haryejosaeng'. In general, the mRNA levels of seven tested genes were higher in 'Haryejosaeng' than in 'Shiranuhi' mandarin, and expression of genes by high temperature was regulated sensitively in 'Haryejosaeng' compared to 'Shiranuhi' mandarin. Further investigations of expression of various genes based on transcriptome analysis in early ripening stage can provide valuable information about the responses to climatic changes in ripening citrus fruits.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.359-365
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• 2013

Chrysanthemum is one of the most popular ornamental plants worldwide. Recently, lots of new and novel chrysanthemum varieties have been developed using mutagenesis. However, there was no study for comparison of tissue culture condition among the mutant varieties derived from one original variety, until now. This study was conducted to compare the efficient regeneration condition of the two chrysanthemum mutant varieties, 'ARTI-purple' and 'ARTI-queen'. Two different flower parts (disk and ray florets) at the unopened and early blooming stages were used for comparison of regeneration condition on MS medium supplemented with combinations of three growth regulators (BA, NAA, and IAA). The highest regeneration rate was identified on the NAA and BA combination when the disk florets at unopened blooming stage are used. The best optimum combinations of growth regulators were identified as NAA $1.0mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and BA $0.5mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ at 'ARTI-purple', which displayed 47.9% regeneration. However, regeneration of 'ARTI-queen' was the highest as 25.6% at NAA $2.0mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ and BA $1.0mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$. There results indicate that there is a difference for the optimum regeneration condition between the mutant varieties derived from one original variety. These results will be useful for construction of efficient regeneration system of diverse chrysanthemum mutants developed by mutation breeding.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.130-142
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• 2007

This study was to examine impacts of turbid water on fish community in the downstream of Yongdam Dam during the period from June to October 2006. For the research, we selected six sampling sites in the field: two sites were controls with no influences of turbid water from the dam and other remaining four sites were the stations for an assessment of potential turbid effects. We evaluated integrative health conditions throughout applications of various models such as necropsy-based fish health assessment model (FHA), Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) using fish assemblages, and Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI). Laboratory tests on fish exposure under 400 NTU were performed to find out impact of turbid water using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results showed that fine solid particles were clogging in the gill in the treatments, while particles were not found in the control. This results indicate that when inorganic turbidity increases abruptedly, fish may have a mechanical abrasion or respiratory blocking. The stream health condition, based on the IBI values, ranged between 38 and 48 (average: 42), indicating a "excellent" or "good" condition after the criteria of US EPA (1993). In the mean time, physical habitat condition, based on the QHEI, ranged 97 to 187 (average 154), indicating a "suboptimal condition". These biological outcomes were compared with chemical dataset: IBI values were more correlated (r=0.526, p<0.05, n=18) with QHEI rather than chemical water quality, based on turbidity (r=0.260, p>0.05, n=18). Analysis of the FHA showed that the individual health indicated "excellent condition", while QHEI showed no habitat disturbances (especially bottom substrate and embeddeness), food-web, and spawning place. Consequently, we concluded that the ecological health in downstream of Yongdam Dam was not impacted by the turbid water.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.149-159
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• 2018

Twenty-nine wetlands (20 river type and 9 lake type wetlands) in Gyeongsangnam-do were investigated to understand the characteristics of fish assemblages by the wetland type and to suggest management strategies. As a result, $10.3{\pm}4.8$ species were collected from river type wetlands on average (${\pm}SD$) and $9.1{\pm}4.1$ species from lake type wetlands. Thus, there was no significant difference in the number of species between them (Mann-Whitney U test, P>0.05). However, the species that constitute the fish assemblage showed statistically significant differences between the two wetland types (PERMANOVA, Pseudo-F=2.9555, P=0.007). Furthermore, the species that contribute the most to each type of fish assemblage were Zacco koreanus (river type, 28.51%) and Lepomis macrochirus (lake type, 23.21%), respectively (SIMPER). The results of the NMDS analysis using the fish assemblage by place classified the species into three groups (river type, lake type, and others). The current wetland management is only focused on endangered species, but this study shows a difference in fish assemblage by wetland type. Therefore, a management system based information on endemic species, exotic species and major contribution species should be provided. Furthermore, the classification of some types of wetlands based on the present topography was found to be ambiguous, and wetland classification using living creatures can be used as a complementary method. This study has limitations because only two types of wetlands were analyzed. Therefore, a detailed management method that can represent every type of wetland should be prepared through the research of all types of wetlands in the future.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.179-187
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• 2012

Objectives : Since acupuncture was accepted as an useful therapy for the drug addiction, a lot of studies about acupuncture have been carried out. This study was performed to review the articles about morphine addiction which used acupuncture as a treatment and to interpret the use of acupoints from the viewpoint of Six-meridian (Yuk Gyeong, three yin and three yang) theory. Methods : The authors searched 255 articles in PubMed with the key word of "morphine, acupuncture" and 629 articles in KISS (Koreanstudies Information Service System) with the key word of "morphine". The articles written in English only were included. The articles related with morphine (abuse, dependence, sensitization, addiction, intake, withdrawal sign, withdrawal syndrome, reinstatement, craving) only were included. The articles which used manual- or electro-acupuncture only were included and auricular acupuncture was excluded. Both of clinical and experimental study were reivewed. Results : The most frequently used acupoint was ST36-SP6 (electroacupuncture), and the second was HT7. LI4 was the third, and BL23 and PC6 were also used. Conclusions : The acupoints used in the morphine study seem to influence the brain through diverse mechanisms and it is thought that control of the reaction against stress appears to be related with these mechanisms.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1237-1244
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• 2016

A comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity and relationship of the cold-water fishery walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), the most abundant economically important fishery resource in the East sea of Korea, has not been carried out, despite its importance in Korea. The present study assessed the genetic diversity and relationship between five walleye pollock populations (Korean population, Russian population, USA population, and Japanese populations) of T. chalcogramma using eight microsatellite DNA (msDNA) markers to provide the scientific data for the preservation and management of the Pollock fishery resource. The results of the analysis of 186 individuals of the Pollock revealed a range of 7.13-10.63 numbers of alleles (mean number of alleles=9.05). The means of observed heterozygosity ($H_O$), expected heterozygosity ($H_E$) were 0.732 and 0.698, respectively. The results of genetic distance, Pairwise $F_{ST}$, UPGMA (UPGMA: un-weighted pair-group method with an arithmetical average) (the phylogenetic tree), PCA (PCA: Principal Coordinate analysis) analysis pointed to significant differences between the Korean population, Russian population, USA population, and Japanese populations, although small (p<0.05). These results shed light on the genetic diversity and relationships of T. chalcogramma and can be utilized for research on the evaluation and conservation of Korean T. chalcogramma as genetic resources.