• Title/Summary/Keyword: Alternative Means

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Taxol Produced from Endophytic Fungi Induces Apoptosis in Human Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancer Cells

  • Wang, Xin;Wang, Chao;Sun, Yu-Ting;Sun, Chuan-Zhen;Zhang, Yue;Wang, Xiao-Hua;Zhao, Kai
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.125-131
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    • 2015
  • Currently, taxol is mainly extracted from the bark of yews; however, this method can not meet its increasing demand on the market because yews grow very slowly and are a rare and endangered species belonging to first-level conservation plants. Recently, increasing efforts have been made to develop alternative means of taxol production; microbe fermentation would be a very promising method to increase the production scale of taxol. To determine the activities of the taxol extracted from endophytic fungus N. sylviforme HDFS4-26 in inhibiting the growth and causing the apoptosis of cancer cells, on comparison with the taxol extracted from the bark of yew, we used cellular morphology, cell counting kit (CCK-8) assay, staining (HO33258/PI and Giemsa), DNA agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry (FCM) analyses to determine the apoptosis status of breast cancer MCF-7 cells, cervical cancer HeLa cells and ovarian cancer HO8910 cells. Our results showed that the fungal taxol inhibited the growth of MCF-7, HeLa and HO8910 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner. IC50 values of fungal taxol for HeLa, MCF-7 and HO8910 cells were $0.1-1.0{\mu}g/ml$, $0.001-0.01{\mu}g/ml$ and $0.01-0.1{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. The fungal taxol induced these tumor cells to undergo apoptosis with typical apoptotic characteristics, including morphological changes for chromatin condensation, chromatin crescent formation, nucleus fragmentation, apoptotic body formation and G2/M cell cycle arrest. The fungal taxol at the $0.01-1.0{\mu}g/ml$ had significant effects of inducing apoptosis between 24-48 h, which was the same as that of taxol extracted from yews. This study offers important information and a new resource for the production of an important anticancer drug by endofungus fermentation.

Effects of Price Discount on the Demand and Revenue of Oriental Medical Clinic (한방의료의 가격인하전략이 한방의료에 대한 수요와 경영수지에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Jin-Hyeon;;Park, Yeong-U
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.17 no.2 s.32
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    • pp.34-47
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    • 1996
  • We have seen a sharp increase in the utilization rate of medical services since the launch of Nation Health Insurance system in 1989. However, the market share of oriental medicine in the Korean health sector has been gradually diminished mainly due to low insurance coverage and high price. Especially high price as an entry barrier to oriental medical services has played a major role in decreasing market share. This paper investigated the effects of price discount on the financial condition and market share of oriental medical institutions. Microeconomic theory and multiple regression analysis were used as a methodology in testing the alternative hypothesis: price discount of enveloped herb drug will result in increases in both the revenue and market share of oriental medical institutions. Data was collected from the statistical yearbook and sample survey. The price elasticity of demand for enveloped herb drug was estimated at 5.8 during 1987-1995 period, which means that a 1% decrease in price will bring about a 5.8% increase in the utilization of oriental medical services. The empirical result shows that a drastic price discount for the enveloped herb drug will eventually improve the financial status of the oriental medical institutions and enlarge the market share of oriental medicine in the Korean health care sector.

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Potential influence of κ-casein and β-lactoglobulin genes in genetic association studies of milk quality traits

  • Zepeda-Batista, Jose Luis;Saavedra-Jimenez, Luis Antonio;Ruiz-Flores, Agustin;Nunez-Dominguez, Rafael;Ramirez-Valverde, Rodolfo
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.30 no.12
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    • pp.1684-1688
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    • 2017
  • Objective: From a review of published information on genetic association studies, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the genes ${\kappa}-casein$ (CSN3) and ${\beta}-lactoglobulin$ (LGB) on milk yield traits in Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, and Fleckvieh. Methods: The GLIMMIX procedure was used to analyze milk production and percentage of protein and fat in milk. Models included the main effects and all their possible two-way interactions; not estimable effects and non-significant (p>0.05) two-way interactions were dropped from the models. The three traits analyzed used Poisson distribution and a log link function and were determined with the Interactive Data Analysis of SAS software. Least square means and multiple mean comparisons were obtained and performed for significant main effects and their interactions (p<0.0255). Results: Interaction of breed by gene showed that Holstein and Fleckvieh were the breeds on which CSN3 ($6.01%{\pm}0.19%$ and $5.98%{\pm}0.22%$), and LGB ($6.02%{\pm}0.19%$ and $5.70%{\pm}0.22%$) have the greatest influence. Interaction of breed by genotype nested in the analyzed gene indicated that Holstein and Jersey showed greater influence of the CSN3 AA genotype, $6.04%{\pm}0.22%$ and $5.59%{\pm}0.31%$ than the other genotypes, while LGB AA genotype had the largest influence on the traits analyzed, $6.05%{\pm}0.20%$ and $5.60%{\pm}0.19%$, respectively. Furthermore, interaction of type of statistical model by genotype nested in the analyzed gene indicated that CSN3 and LGB genes had similar behavior, maintaining a difference of more than 7% across analyzed genotypes. These results could indicate that both Holstein and Jersey have had lower substitution allele effect in selection programs that include CSN3 and LGB genes than Brown Swiss and Fleckvieh. Conclusion: Breed determined which genotypes had the greatest association with analyzed traits. The mixed model based in Bayesian or Ridge Regression was the best alternative to analyze CSN3 and LGB gene effects on milk yield and protein and fat percentages.

A study on selecting of Light Cutoff Panel depending on the installation condition using the lighting simulation (조명 시뮬레이션을 이용한 설치 환경별 차광판 선정에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Hyung-Kyu;Gu, Jin-Hoi;Lee, Kyu-Mok
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.246-251
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    • 2016
  • The use of security lighting that emits spill light is considered a cause of light trespass problems in the residential areas. Therefore, a cutoff panel was installed as an alternative way to reduce light trespass. On the other hand, it has another problem in that it is less effective and is not good enough for aesthetics and safety. In this study, a light cutoff panel was designed and manufactured to reduce the light trespass, and the structure of a proper light cutoff panel was studied. Using a goniophotometer, the light distribution file (IES file) was extracted and the characteristics of light distribution were analyzed using the RELUX program. The results showed that the reduction of spilt light in the backward direction was decreased significantly for all types of light cutoff panels except the coated globe. In the case of a black powder coated light cutoff panel, the forward light caused by light reflected from the surface of the light cutoff panel was also reduced, which means that the black powder coated light cutoff panel is effective in the performance of light cutoff in the forward and backward directions. In addition, the coated glove increased the spilt light in the forward and backward directions because it reflects the upward light to go down. A 90 % accuracy between the measurement value of light trespass and the expected value of the light trespass was obtained from a simulation.

A Study on the Impact of Customer Equity on Customer Loyalty in the Korean Retail Industry: Mediation of Customer Satisfaction and Switching Costs (고객가치가 고객충성도에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구: 고객만족과 전환장벽을 매개변수로)

  • Kim, Soon-Hong
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.10 no.11
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    • pp.79-88
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    • 2012
  • Purpose - The objective of this paper is to suggest that a company's CRM activities have an effect on customer loyalty in the Korean retail industry. Typically, Korean customers use large local marts with convenience in the absence of any other choice. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on the fact that customers do not break away from their preferred retail stores, either owing to their stringent loyalty (the lie loyalty) or difficulty in turning to alternative choices. Research design, data, methodology - By surveying a sample of 200 hyper-markets through a questionnaire, and excluding dubious and missing responses, I obtained 181 samples to be included in the empirical analysis. The survey was conducted for two weeks during October 2011. AMOS and SPSS18 statistical packages were used for conducting statistical analysis for this study. This paper was developed using the concept of customer equity on CRM, which is known to have a positive impact on customer loyalty through the satisfaction and switching-barrier parameters. The hypothesis of this paper is that customer equity is composed of relationship equity, value equity and brand equity, and that the relationship equity variable has positive effects on the value equity and brand equity amongst other types of customer equity. Moreover, customer equity influences customer loyalty through parameters including customer satisfaction and switching costs in the Korean retail industry. Results - According to the results of the analysis, it was confirmed that relationship value had a positive effect (+) on all variables, including the perceived QoS (Quality of Service), store brand images, economic value, and store convenience. It was also confirmed that the assumption that the perceived QoS (Quality of Service), economic value, and store convenience had a positive effect on customer satisfaction was shown to be statistically significant, with a p-value below 0.05. Only the store brand value variable had an effect on the switching-cost variable with respect to the causal sequence of the variables, including the perceived QoS, store brand value, economic value, and store convenience. The remaining variables did not seem to influence the switching-cost variable. On the other hand, another effect showed that customer satisfaction had a statistically significant influence on the switching-costs variable. Moreover, the customer satisfaction and switching-cost variables also had a statistical influence on customer loyalty. Conclusions - The CRM activities had an influence on various variables (including perceived QoS, perceived economic value, store brand value, and store convenience) pertaining to customer values. Customer satisfaction and switching-cost had some effects on customer loyalty as a parameter. This confirms that stringent loyalty exists with respect to customer loyalty in the retail industry. The fact that the variable had such a statistically significant influence on the switching-cost and store brand equity variables means that consumers react to the reputation of a brand, confidence about the store, and quality confidence. The implications of this study in the retail industry should be further extended to devise strategies for customer retention.

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Hotspot Analysis of Urban Crime Using Space-Time Scan Statistics (시공간검정통계량을 이용한 도시범죄의 핫스팟분석)

  • Jeong, Kyeong-Seok;Moon, Tae-Heon;Jeong, Jae-Hee
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.14-28
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    • 2010
  • The aim of this study is to investigate crime hotspot areas using the spatio-temporal cluster analysis which is possible to search simultaneously time range as well as space range as an alternative method of existing hotspot analysis only identifying crime occurrence distribution patterns in urban area. As for research method, first, crime data were collected from criminal registers provided by official police authority in M city, Gyeongnam and crime occurrence patterns were drafted on a map by using Geographic Information Systems(GIS). Second, by utilizing Ripley K-function and Space-Time Scan Statistics analysis, the spatio-temporal distribution of crime was examined. The results showed that the risk of crime was significantly clustered at relatively few places and the spatio-temporal clustered areas of crime were different from those predicted by existing spatial hotspot analysis such as kernel density analysis and k-means clustering analysis. Finally, it is expected that the results of this study can be not only utilized as a valuable reference data for establishing urban planning and crime prevention through environmental design(CPTED), but also made available for the allocation of police resources and the improvement of public security services.

Reconstruction of the Orbital Floor Fracture using the Antral Balloon Catheter with Radiopaque Dye (안저골절 정복술 후 풍선 달린 카테터와 방사선조영제의 이용)

  • Choi, Hwan-Jun;Lee, Han-Jung;Yang, Hyung-Eun;Lee, Young-Man
    • Archives of Plastic Surgery
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    • v.37 no.1
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    • pp.99-103
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    • 2010
  • Purpose: Blow-out fractures are reduced through transcutaneous or transconjunctival incisions. But the field of orbital surgery is difficult due to lack of visualization of fracture site, blind dissection of orbital floor, susceptibility of injury of orbital structures. In these situations, the former technique of using an antral balloon catheter has advantages over other methods for reconstruction because of its rapidity, simplicity, and inexpensiveness. Furthermore, the antral balloon catheter allows not only elevation of the orbital bone fragment but also expansion of the maxillary sinus in cases where there is a fracture of its walls. But postoperative follow-up method using computed tomography is expensive. Hence, we report a simple and inexpensive follow-up method using radiopaque dye inflation. Methods: We performed endoscopic transantral approach in 5 cases of blow-out fracture under general anesthesia. To accomplish this technique, a rigid 4 mm, 0 or 30 degree angled endoscopy was inserted into the maxillary sinus. Inflation of the catheter started gradually, with 10 to 15 mL of saline mixed radiopaque dye (saline: dye, 5 : 1) by syringe and while observing the elevation of the fracture site with endoscope until a proper contour was reached. For the maintain of the position of fractured site, 12 French urinary balloon foley catheter were used in fracture site for 7 - 10 days. Results: Postoperative assessment was performed by means of clinical and simple radiographic examination to secure the catheter under the inferior orbital wall and in the maxillary sinus. No specific complications occurred related to this procedure. Results of the surgery and follow-up in all cases were satisfactory. Conclusion: It may be a better alternative to the conventional follow-up method, with less cost and effectiveness of the catheter patency. The advantages of using the urinary balloon foley catheter with the radiopaque dye include the following : it is safe, efficacy, simple, and especially low cost. On drawback of this method is the discomfort to the patient caused by the catheter during the treatment.

Intestinal Lymphangiectasia in a Yorkshire terrier Dog: Clinical Outcome, Clinicopathological and Histopathological Findings (요크셔테리어견에서 발생한 Intestinal Lymphangiectasia: 임상적 결과와 임상병리학적, 조직병리학적 소견)

  • Hwang Du-Na;Park Chul;Kang Byeong-Teck;Jeong Soon-Wuk;Sur Jung-Hyang;Park Hee-Myung
    • Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.175-179
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    • 2006
  • A 7-year-old, 3.16 kg intact male Yorkshire terrier had the history of abdominal distension, diarrhea, and weight loss. On the basis of history takings, physical examination, laboratory tests, radiography, ultrasonography, exploratory laparotomy, and histopathological examination, the dog was diagnosed definitely as intestinal lymphangiectasia. In this case, signs and results are consistent with those of other reports, but some clinicopathological findings such as hypocalcemia and hypocholesterolemia are not. This means that the findings were not completely in accord with the typical ones of intestinal lymphangiectasia in this dog. Prednisolone was prescribed to treat. However, it was not effective sufficiently. Thus, azathioprine was added to the regimen used in the first trial, and it was quite efficient in inducing remission in intestinal lymphangiectasia. The clinical signs were improved to the combined therapy. This case report demonstrates that the combined therapy for intestinal lymphangiectasia can be used as an alternative to only glucocorticoid therapy.

Development of Quantitative Exposure Index in Semiconductor Fabrication Work (반도체 FAB근무에 대한 정량적 노출지표 개발)

  • Shin, Kyu-Sik;Kim, Taehun;Jung, Hyun Hee;Cho, Soo-Hun;Lee, Kyoungho
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.187-192
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    • 2017
  • Objectives: It is difficult to identify exposure factors in the semiconductor industry due to low exposure levels to hazardous substances and because various processes take place in fabrication (FAB). Furthermore, a single worker often experiences a variety of job histories, so it is difficult to classify similar exposure groups (SEG) in the semiconductor industry. Therefore, we intend to develop a new exposure index, the period of working in FAB, that is applicable to the semiconductor industry. Methods: First, in specifying the classification of jobs, we clearly distinguished whether they were FAB workers or non-FAB workers. We checked FAB working hours per week through questionnaires administered to FAB workers. We derived an exposure index called FAB-Year that can represent the period of working in FAB. FAB-Year is an index that can quantitatively indicate the period of working in FAB, and one FAB-Year is defined as working in FAB for 40 hours per week for one year. Results: A total of 8,453 persons were surveyed, and male engineers and female operators occupied 90% of the total. The average total years of service of the subjects was 9.7 years, and the average FAB-Year value was 6.8. This means that the FAB-working ratio occupies 70% of total years of service. The average FAB-Year value for female operators was 8.4, for male facility engineers it was 7.7, and for male process engineers it was 3.5. A FAB-Year standardization value according to personal information (gender, job group, entry year, retirement year) for the survey subjects can be calculated, and standardized estimation values can be applied to workers who are not participating in the survey, such as retirees and workers on a leave of absence (LOA). Conclusions: This study suggests an alternative method for overcoming the limitations on epidemiological study of the semiconductor industry where it is difficult to classify exposure groups by developing a new exposure index called FAB-Year. Since FAB-Year is a quantitative index, we expect that various approaches will be possible in future epidemiological studies.

Deformation Monitoring of a Structure Using Kinematic GPS Surveying Technology (Kinematic GPS 측량기법에 의한 구조물의 변형 모니터링)

  • 이진덕
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.27-40
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    • 1998
  • This paper addresses the suitability of GPS positioning technology to monitoring deformation and movement of structures. The first part of the study is an empirical quantitative study of the repeatability of GPS observations and the second part is a performance evaluation of kinematic GPS, which requires only a few minutes per a point, for monitoring deformation of an engineering structure. On the test network for monitoring of a earth am, four observations have been conducted repeatedly on different seasons and water levels. The reference network was observed in static mode, and monitoring points were observed respectively in rapid-static mode as well as in kinematic mode in each epoch and then the results were compared with those obtained by conventional surveying techniques. The repeatability of baseline vectors to better than average 7 mm in three dimensions was achieved in base line observations between reference points and also the unclosure of reference networks showed the range of 4 ppm to 27 ppm. Compared with conventional surveying techniques, the kinematic approach showed the differences of 3∼4 m in slope distances which were observed from reference points to monitoring points, and showed the differences of 4∼8 m in height. It was ascertained that the kinematic GPS technology provides an efficient alternative to deformation monitoring by conventional means which are capable of detecting movements in the order of 5 mm.

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