• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.461-470
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• 2007

Human can learn how to shape their brain electrical activity in a desired direction through continuous feedback of the electroencephalogram (EEG), and this technique is known as Neurofeedback (or EEG biofeedback), which has been used since the late 1960s in clinical applications. In this study, a portable wireless EEG (named wEEG) has been designed and implemented, which consists of a mobile station (a wireless two-channel EEG acquisition device) and a base station (a bridge between mobile station and computer). Moreover, a SensoriMotor Rhythm (SMR) training system was also implemented with the wEEG for enhancing attention with virtual environment. Experiment results based on 16 volunteers' (8 females and 8 males, average age is $27{\pm}4$) were reported in this paper. The results show that the SMR ratio of 87.5% subjects increased about 0.7% in training status than that in the stable status. With the proposed system, many training protocol scan be designed easily and can be done at home in our daily life conveniently. Additionally, the proposed system will be useful for disabled and aged people.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.119-126
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• 2007

The biological and pathological states of lung, spleen, liver and kidneys are determined by nature and emotion of sorrow, anger, joy and pleasure, It is considered that the music, besides medicine or acupuncture, can be a way of treating as a therapeutics for the treatment of Sasangin's diseases. This study is to find out a way of music therapy for the treatment of Sasangin's diseases. The ways of music therapy in each constitution based on 'the great and small of Viscera and Bowels' and 'the exhale and inhale, the drawing in and sending out' are as follows: 1. In case of Soeumin, a skip going up melodic progression, dotted rhythm and the major triad harmonic progression are recommended to improve the Qi of warm Yang. 2. In case of Soyangin, in regular sequence down melodic progression, a sixteenth note and the minor triad harmonic progression are recommended to improve the Qi of cool Yin. 3. In case of Taeumin, in regular sequence going up melodic progression, a sixteenth note and the bright and active the major triad harmonic progression are recommended to improve the Qi of dispersing exhale. 4. In case of Taeyangin, a skip down melodic progression, a quarter note and a diminished triad harmonic progression are recommended to improve the Qi of gathering inhale.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.372-377
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• 2014

Being able to monitor the heart will allow the diagnosis of heart diseases for patients during daily activities, and the detection of burden on the heart during strenuous exercise. Furthermore, with the help of U-health technology, immediate medical action can be taken, in the case of abnormal symptoms of the heart in daily life. Therefore, it appears to be necessary to develop the corresponding technology to monitor the condition of the heart daily. In this study, a novel wearable smart system was proposed, to monitor the activity of the heart in daily life, and to further evaluate the rhythm of arrhythmia. The wearable system includes three modified bipolar conductive fiber electrodes in the chest part, which can resolve the reduction problem of the magnitude of the signal, by magnifying the signal and removing the noise, to obtain high affinity and validity for medical-type usage (<0.903%). The biological signal acquisition and data lines, and the signal processing engine and communication consist of a conductive ink, and the pic18 and ANT protocol nRF24AP2, respectively. The proposed algorithm was able to detect a strong ECG, signal and r-point passing over the noise. The confidence intervals were 96 %, which could satisfy the requirement to detect arrhythmia under the unconstrained conditions.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.421-428
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• 1997

Magnetic field sensors made from superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) are the most sensitive low-frequency sensors available, enabling measurements of extremely weak magnetic fields from the brain. Neuromagnetic measurements allow superior spatial resolution, compared with the present electric measurements, and superior temporal resolution, compared with the fMRl and PET, providing useful informations for the functional diagnoses of the brain. We developed a 4-channel SQUID system for neuromagnetic applications. The main features of the system are its simple readout electronics and compact pickup coil structure. A magnetically shielded room has been constructed for the reduction of environmental magnetic noises. The developed SQUID system has noise level lower than the magnetic noise from the brain. Magnetic field signals of the spontaneous r-rhythm activity and auditory evoked magnetic fields have been measured.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2008

The aim of this paper is to report our preliminary results of investigating the spatial focalization of Zen-meditation EEG (electroencephalograph) in alpha band (8-13 Hz). For comparison, the study involved two groups of subjects, practitioners (experimental group) and non-practitioners (control group). To extract EEG alpha rhythm, wavelet analysis was applied to multi-channel EEG signals. Normalized alpha-power vectors were then constructed from spatial distribution of alpha powers, that were classified by Fuzzy C-means based algorithm to explore various brain spatial characteristics during meditation (or, at rest). Optimal number of clusters was determined by correlation coefficients of the membership-value vectors of each cluster center. Our results show that, in the experimental group, the incidence of frontal alpha activity varied in accordance with the meditation stage. The results demonstrated three different spatiotemporal modules consisting with three distinctive meditation stages normally recognized by meditation practitioners. The frontal alpha activity in two groups decreased in different ways. Particularly, monotonic decline was observed in the control group, and the experimental group showed increasing results. The phenomenon might imply various mechanisms employed by meditation and relaxation in modulating parietal alpha.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.296-301
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• 2023

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor α (RORα) plays a vital role in various physiological processes, including metabolism, cancer, circadian rhythm, cerebellar development, and inflammation. Although RORα is expressed in the skin, its role in skin physiology remains poorly elucidated. Herein, Rorα was expressed in the basal and suprabasal layers of the epidermis; however, keratinocyte-specific Rorα deletion did not impact normal epidermal formation. Under pathophysiological conditions, Rorα-deficient mice exhibited alleviated psoriasis-like symptoms, including relatively intact epidermal stratification, reduced keratinocyte hyperproliferation, and low-level expression of inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes. Unexpectedly, the splenic population of Th17 cells was significantly lower in keratinocyte-specific RORα deficient mice than in the control. Additionally, Rorα-deficiency reduced imiquimod-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB and STAT3 in keratinocytes. Therefore, we expect that RORα inhibitors act on immune cells and keratinocytes to suppress the onset and progression of psoriasis.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.1053-1064
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• 2023

Melatonin, which is produced from tryptophan, exerts various biological functions, including the regulation of circadian rhythm, sedative agents, and antioxidant ability. Therefore, we conducted two experiments with early-weaned rats and pigs to investigate the antioxidant and sedative effects of melatonin. In the rat experiment, a total of 42 rats (21 days old) were used, and the antioxidant capacity was determined. Next, we used 120 early-weaned piglets (21 days old) to conduct a 5-week experiment to evaluate the reductive effect of melatonin on energy-wasting movement, including roaming and fight states. Dietary melatonin supplementation significantly improved growth in both rats and pigs compared to the control groups. Additionally, rats fed a melatonin-supplemented diet showed advanced antioxidant capacity with a decrease in hepatic malondialdehyde concentration compared to rats fed a basal diet. Moreover, dietary melatonin ingestion increased resting and feeding behaviors and reduced roaming and fight behaviors during Days 8-21 compared to the control diet group. Collectively, early weaned animals given dietary melatonin supplementation showed improved growth through upregulation of hepatic antioxidant capacity and minimization of energy-wasting behavior, including roaming and fight states, after pigs' social hierarchy establishment.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.163-169
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• 2009

Many biological systems are regulated by an intricate set of feedback loops that oscillate with a circadian rhythm of roughly 24 h. This circadian clock mediates an increase in body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol secretion early in the day. Recent studies have shown changes in the amplitude of the circadian clock in the hearts and livers of streptozotocin (STZ)-treated rats. It is therefore important to examine the relationships between circadian clock genes and growth factors and their effects on diabetic phenomena in animal models as well as in human patients. In this study, we sought to determine whether diurnal variation in organ development and the regulation of metabolism, including growth and development during the juvenile period in rats, exists as a mechanism for anticipating and responding to the environment. Also, we examined the relationship between changes in growth factor expression in the liver and clock-controlled protein synthesis and turnover, which are important in cellular growth. Specifically, we assessed the expression patterns of several clock genes, including Per1, Per2, Clock, Bmal1, Cry1 and Cry2 and growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and -2 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-${\beta}1$ in rats with STZ-induced diabetes. Growth factor and clock gene expression in the liver at 1 week post-induction was clearly increased compared to the level in control rats. In contrast, the expression patterns of the genes were similar to those observed after 5 weeks in the STZ-treated rats. The increase in gene expression is likely a compensatory change in response to the obstruction of insulin function during the initial phase of induction. However, as the period of induction was extended, the expression of the compensatory genes decreased to the control level. This is likely the result of decreased insulin secretion due to the destruction of beta cells in the pancreas by STZ.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 2007

Infection of free-living dinoflagellates by endoparasitic dinoflagellates of the genus Amoebophrya are thought to have significant impacts on host population dynamics and have long been proposed to be a potential biological agent for controlling harmful algal bloom (HAB). To understand the impact of Amoebophrya on particular host species, however, it is necessary to quantify aspects the parasites life cycle. Here we used cultures of Amoebophryahost systems from Jinhae Bay, Korea to determine, parasite generation time, and dinospore survival and infectivity. The proportion of host cells infected by Amoebophrya sp. changed sharply from 5% to 87% with increasing dinospore:host inoculation ratios. In the absence of H. triquetra, most free-living dinospores died within 72 hours and their ability to infect host cells decreased remarkably in a day. The relatively short free-living phase of Amoebophrya suggests that the spread of infections is most likely to occur during seasons of high host abundance, as that is when dinospores have the greatest chance of encountering host cells. Infection of host cells inoculated with dinospores during the day was higher than when inoculated during the night, suggesting that infection rates might be related to environmental light conditions and/or diurnal biological rhythm of host species. Total generation times of parasite strains from a thecate dinoflagellate Heterocapsa triquetra were nearly the same regardless of dinospore:host inoculation ratios, representing 54 ± 0.5 h in a 1:1 ratio and 55 ± 1.2 h in a 20:1 ratio. Dinospore production of Amoebophrya sp. infecting Heterocapsa triquetra was estimated to be 125 dinospores per a strain of Amoebophrya sp. There is a growing need to maintain a variety of host-parasite systems in culture and to examine their autecology under various environmental conditions. Such studies would be very helpful in understanding ecological role of these parasites, their overlooked importance in the flow of material and energy in marine ecosystem, and their practical use as biological control agents applied directly to areas affected by HAB.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.100-109
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• 2015

Controlling balance between T-helper type 1 (Th1) and T-helper type 2 (Th2) plays a pivotal role in maintaining the biological rhythm of Th1/Th2 and circumventing diseases caused by Th1/Th2 imbalance. Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a Th2-type cytokine and often associated with hypersensitivity-related diseases such as atopic dermatitis and allergies when overexpressed. In this study, we have tried to elucidate the function of 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-3-acetyl-rac-glycerol (EC-18) as an essential modulator of Th1/Th2 balance. EC-18 has showed an inhibitory effect on the production of IL-4 in a dose-dependent manner. RT-PCR analysis has proved EC-18 affect the transcription of IL-4. By analyzing the phosphorylation status of Signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6), which is a transcriptional activator of IL-4 expression, we discovered that EC-18 induced the decrease of STAT6 activity in several stimulated cell lines, which was also showed in STAT6 reporter analysis. Co-treatment of EC-18 significantly weakened atopy-like phenotypes in mice treated with an allergen. Collectively, our results suggest that EC-18 is a potent Th2 modulating factor by regulating the transcription of IL-4 via STAT6 modulation, and could be developed for immune-modulatory therapeutics.