• Title/Summary/Keyword: Bio-assessment

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Differential Gene Expression in a Red Alga Gracilaria textorii(Suringar) Hariot (Gracilariales, Florideophyceae) between Natural Populations

  • Woo, Seon-Ock;Ko, Young-Wook;Oh, Yoon-Sik;Kim, Jeong -Ha;Lee, Taek-Kyun;Yum, Seung-Shic
    • Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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    • v.4 no.3
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    • pp.199-204
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    • 2008
  • The bio-molecules involved in defense mechanisms can be used as efficient biomarkers for physiological changes in organisms caused by both of internal and external stress. Thus, the expression level of genes which encoding such molecules serve as critical 'early warning system' for environmental assessment as well as health diagnosis of biological organisms. In this study, Cytochrome P450, Heat shock protein 90, Ubiquitin and ${\beta}$-actin gene were isolated for the first time from a red alga Gracilaria textorii. The quantitative differential gene expression analyses of three genes, GteCYP1A, GteHsp90 and Gte-UB, were carried out in G. textorii sporophytes collected from two different localities, polluted Sujeong (Masan, Korea) and potentially unpolluted Danggeum (Daemaemuldo Is., Korea). The transcripts of all three tested genes were highly expressed in the Sujeong population. The results suggest: 1) the Sujeong site was more polluted than the Danggeum site; 2) G. textorii could be applicable to marine environment monitoring in coastal regions.

Evaluating the Economic Effects of Fishing Vessel Buyback Programs in Korea (우리나라 연근해어선 감척사업의 경제적 투자효과 분석)

  • Pyo, Hee-Dong
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.25-35
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    • 2006
  • Fisheries buyback programs have been implemented from 1994 in Korea, and its scale is estimated to have a value of 930 billion won, which is compounded for eight years since 1994. The paper evaluates the programs' economic and financial viability, and predicts efficient ways about how much and how long to reduce fisheries vessels so as to pursue a target biomass at MSY, For the specific purpose of the paper, aggregate fisheries stock dynamics and catch functions are specified and estimated by yearly catch and fishing effort data from 1970 to 2001, using ASPIC model and Schaefer's logistic production model. Results show that the fisheries stock in Korea has steadily declined since 1970, and that Korean fisheries overexploitation has steadily increased. Using cost-benefit analysis method, the buyback program holds the economic and financial feasibility even if the scale of buyback programs is not sufficient to avoid the downward trend in fisheries stock and harvest. The potential investment scale is predicted in several alternative scenarios using the sensitivity analysis method. The results recommend the annual reduction of 46%, 12% or 20% for the next one year, five years or three years, respectively so that the target biomass at MSY may be reached in 25 years.

Evaluation of Neuronal Dysfunction in Schizophrenia before and after Neuroleptic Treatment by ??H MRS

  • C, Bo-Young;Paik, In-Ho;Lee, Chang-Uk;Lee, Hyoung-Koo;Suh, Tae-Suk
    • Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.56-65
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    • 2001
  • Localized in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was performed to evaluate metabolic alterations in the right and left frontal lobe before and after neuroleptic treatment of schizophrenic patients (n=24) and a group of healthy normal subjects (n=20). Proton metabolic ratios obtained from the 8㎤ yokels in the right and left frontal lobe were compared with the clinical assessment of PANSS for each subject. There was no significant difference in the metabolic ratios between the right and the left frontal lobes in either the schizophrenic group or the control group, indicating no laterality. Compared with those of the normal control group, NAA/Cr and (GABA+Glu)/Cr ratios of the schizophrenic patients showed significantly lower (p=0.023) and higher (p=0.005) value, respectively. The (GABA+Glu)/Cr ratio of the schizophrenic patients was generally decreased after neuroleptic treatment, while the NAA/Cr ratio was not changed. Significant correlation between the (GABA+Glu)/Cr ratio and the clinical symptom scores assessed by PANSS was established. The present study supports the “hypofrontality” hypothesis of schizophrenia on the basis of the altered metabolic ratios before and after neuroleptic treatment.

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Bio-Economic Relationships between Climate Change and Fisheries (기후변화와 수산업의 관계에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Seong-Kwae;Kwon, Hyeok-Jun;Park, Jong-Wun;Cha, Cheol-Pyo
    • Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.388-401
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    • 2010
  • This research aims at analyzing impacts of climate change on fisheries. Climate change is an additional pressure on top of the many which fish stocks already experience. This implies that the impact of climate change must be evaluated in the context of other anthropogenic pressures, which often have a much greater and more immediate effect. Conversely, it is evident that fish stocks will be more resilient to climate impacts if the stresses due to other factors, such as over-fishing and pollution, are minimized. Improved management of fisheries and of marine ecosystems can undoubtedly play an important role in adapting to the impacts of climate change. Most of the improvements which are needed do not require new science or understanding, they require patient development of acceptable, effective, responsive social institutions and instruments for achieving adaptive management. Management advices must include complete and transparent information on risks and uncertainties which arise from data quality and from structural deficiencies in the assessment models. Well-designed and reliable monitoring of fish stocks and the marine ecosystem is essential in order to detect changes and give warning in advance of alterations in the productivity of individual species and of the structure and functioning of the ecosystem and fishery economy on which they depend.

Auditory Evoked Skin Potential in Normal Subjects (정상 성인에서 청성유발 피부전위)

  • Heo, Seung-Deok;Jung, Dong-Keun;Suh, Duk-Joon;Kim, Gwang-Nyeon;Kim, Gi-Ryon;Kang, Myung-Koo;Kim, Lee-Suk
    • Speech Sciences
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.81-88
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    • 2005
  • Electrodermal activity(EDA) is a bio-electric signal which occurs at the skin surface during the sweating. EDA reflects the activity of the sympathetic axis of the autonomic nervous system. EDA is associated with the eccrine sweat gland at the palmar and plamar surface. This study was aimed to characterize the relationship between EDA and auditory stimulus intensities. Acoustic stimulus used in this study were 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz of narrow band noise, which were representative of speech frequencies in audible range. Stimulus intensity between 90 and 30 dB in 10 dB within dynamic range. After deriving the minimum stimulus intensity(threshold of skin potential) which elicited skin potential, and then the latency and amplitude were derived from waveform of skin potential, each latency and amplitude were compared to stimulus intensity. The waveform of skin potential were recorded stably, and the threshold of skin potential appeared nearly the hearing threshold level of the participant. The latency was decreased and the amplitude was increased according to the increase of the stimulus intensity. These results suggest that auditory evoked skin potential can be applicable to auditory assessment and audiological diagnosis tool.

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Utility of the pat gene as a selectable marker gene in production of transgenic Dunaliella salina

  • Jung, Hyo Sun;Kim, Dong Soo
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.19 no.7
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    • pp.31.1-31.6
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    • 2016
  • Background: The objective of this study was to develop an efficient selectable marker for transgenic Dunaliella salina. Results: Tests of the sensitivity of D. salina to the antibiotic chloramphenicol and the herbicide Basta$^{(R)}$ showed that cells ($1.0{\times}10^6cells/ml$) treated with 1000 or $1500{\mu}g/ml$ chloramphenicol died in 8 or 6 days, respectively, whereas D. salina cells ($1.0{\times}10^6cells/ml$) treated with 5, 10, 20, or $40{\mu}g/ml$ Basta$^{(R)}$ died in 2 days. Therefore, D. salina is more sensitive to Basta$^{(R)}$ than to chloramphenicol. To examine the possibility of using the phosphinothricin N-acetyltransferase (pat) gene as a selectable marker gene, we introduced the pat genes into D. salina with particle bombardment system under the condition of helium pressure of 900 psi from a distance of 3 cm. PCR analysis confirmed that the gene was stably inserted into the cells and that the cells survived in $5{\mu}g/ml$ Basta$^{(R)}$, the medium used to select the transformed cells. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that the pat gene can be used as an efficient selectable marker when producing transgenic D. salina.

N-nitroso-N-methylurea and N-nitroso-N-ethylurea Decrease in Nitric Oxide Production in Human Malignant Keratinocytes

  • Moon, Ki-Young
    • Biomedical Science Letters
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.50-54
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    • 2018
  • N-nitroso-N-methylurea (NMU) and N-nitroso-N-ethylurea (NEU), direct alkylating chemical mutagens and carcinogens, are shown to be the upregulators of cellular $NF-{\kappa}B$, regulating various genes that mediate tumorigenesis and carcinogenesis. Nitric oxide (NO), a toxic reactive radical gas, has been known to induce programmed cell death or apoptosis in various cells. Therefore, the assessment of NO production was examined to elucidate the possible contribution of NO release to the chemical carcinogenic potency of NMU and NEU in human skin cells. NMU and NEU did not alter the NO production, but they caused a significant downregulation of the NO generation on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NO production at concentrations ranging from $2{\sim}5{\mu}M$. The degree of downregulation of NO by NMU and NEU decreased up to 15% and 20%, respectively, compared to the control. These results demonstrate that the LPS-inducible keratinocytes NO synthase is involved in modulating carcinogenic potency by NMU and NEU, and the regulation of the cellular $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity by NMU and NEU is negatively correlated with the level of LPS-induced NO production in human skin cells. The findings of this study suggest the hypothesis that NMU and NEU-induced carcinogenesis may be associated with the downregulation of NO production, and the inducible NO may play an important role in NMU and NEU-induced carcinogenicity in human epidermal keratinocytes.

Revenue Determination Model of Raw Ginseng Production (원료삼 생산수익 결정모형)

  • Park, Hoon
    • Journal of Ginseng Research
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.240-243
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    • 2009
  • To better understand how to increase a ginseng grower's revenue, a 4-factor revenue determination model (RDM) of raw ginseng production (R=A Y Q P) was proposed. The total revenue (R) is a multiplicative function of four factors: cultivation area(A), unit yield (Y), quality grade (Q) and unit price (P). The A appears to be a pure capital factor. Y and Q are technological factors and P is social and market factor. When P is constant, the technological term (YQ) is the revenue per unit area (R/A) production efficiency per capital. The RDM appears to be a linear model between R and A with the slope [YQ]. RDM was applied to three farmers' raw ginseng production for assessment of its dependency on capital and technological factors.

Design of a Pattern Classifier for Pain Awareness using Electrocardiogram (심전도를 이용한 통증자각 패턴분류기 설계)

  • Lim, Hyunjun;Yoo, Sun Kook
    • Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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    • v.20 no.9
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    • pp.1509-1518
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    • 2017
  • Although several methods have been used to assess the pain levels, few practical methods for classifying presence or absence of the pain using pattern classifiers have been suggested. The aim of this study is to design an pattern classifier that classifies the presence or absence of the pain using electrocardiogram (ECG). We measured the ECG signal from 10 subjects with the painless state and the pain state(Induced by mechanical stimulation). The 10 features of heart rate variability (HRV) were extracted from ECG - MeanRRI, SDNN, rMSSD, NN50, pNN50 in the time domain; VLF, LF, HF, Total Power, LF/HF in the frequency domain; and we used the features as input vector of the pattern classifier's artificial neural network (ANN) / support vector machine (SVM) for classifying the presence or absence of the pain. The study results showed that the classifiers using ANN / SVM could classify the presence or absence of the pain with accuracies of 81.58% / 81.84%. The proposed classifiers can be applied to the objective assessment of pain level.

Analysis of Construction Plans of Rapid Charging Infrastructures based on Gas Stations in Rural Areas to Propagate Electric Vehicles (전기자동차 보급을 위한 농촌지역의 주유소 기반 급속 충전인프라 구축 방안 분석)

  • Kim, Solhee;Kim, Taegon;Suh, Kyo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.19-28
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    • 2015
  • As environmental concerns including climate change drive the strong regulations for car exhaust emissions, electric vehicles attract the public eye. The purpose of this study is to identify rural areas vulnerable for charging infrastructures based on the spatial distributions of the current gas stations and provide the target dissemination rates for promoting electric cars. In addition, we develop various scenarios for finding optimal way to expand the charging infrastructures through the administrative districts data including 11,677 gas stations, the number of whole national gas stations. Gas stations for charging infrastructures are randomly selected using the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. Evaluation criteria for vulnerability assessment include five considering the characteristic of rural areas. The optimal penetration rate is determined to 21% in rural areas considering dissemination efficiency. To reduce the vulnerability, the charging systems should be strategically installed in rural areas considering geographical characteristics and regional EV demands.