• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.403-412
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• 2020

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a hyperglycemia-induced progressive development of renal insufficiency. Excessive glucose can increase mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell damage, causing mitochondrial dysfunction. Our previous study indicated that cilostazol (CTZ) can reduce ROS levels and decelerate DN progression in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. This study investigated the potential mechanisms of CTZ in rats with DN and in high glucose-treated mesangial cells. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed 5 mg/kg/day of CTZ after developing STZ-induced diabetes mellitus. Electron microscopy revealed that CTZ reduced the thickness of the glomerular basement membrane and improved mitochondrial morphology in mesangial cells of diabetic kidney. CTZ treatment reduced excessive kidney mitochondrial DNA copy numbers induced by hyperglycemia and interacted with the intrinsic pathway for regulating cell apoptosis as an antiapoptotic mechanism. In high-glucose-treated mesangial cells, CTZ reduced ROS production, altered the apoptotic status, and down-regulated transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Base on the results of our previous and current studies, CTZ deceleration of hyperglycemia-induced DN is attributable to ROS reduction and thereby maintenance of the mitochondrial function and reduction in TGF-β and NF-κB levels.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2005

In this study, waterborne polyurethanes were synthesized with poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG), polycarprolactone PCL), dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA) and different molar ratio of chain extender. Particle size, polydispersity, thermal and mechanical properties of waterborne polyurethane were investigated. The particle size of waterborne polyurethane was in the range of 5∼200 nm and decreased with increasing the amounts of PCL and chain extender. Glass transition temperatures ($T_g$) were in the range of -70∼-45 ${\circ}C$ and increased with as PCL and chian extender (ED) contents increased. The $T_g$ of polyurethane prepared from the mixture showed similar trends as compared with those of in the same values of synthetic polyurethane using PTMG or PCL, respectively. Also, mechanical properties of mixed polyols (PTMG and PCL) were lower than those of PTMG and PCL, respectively.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.689-697
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• 2019

This study's target is adolescents from overseas-employed families. Adolescents from overseas-employed families experience psychological and emotional problems because of long term separation from their parents. This study examined the moderating effect of self-identity between depression, anxiety, and school adaptation of adolescents from overseas-employed families in Yanbian, China. The data was collected through a survey of 285 middle school students and 167 valid questionnaires which marked as overseas-employed family, SPSS 24.0, regression analysis was performed. The results were as follows: depression and anxiety had a significant effect on the school adaptation of adolescence from overseas-employed families in Yanbian, China. Furthermore, depression, anxiety, and self-identity had significant interactions with school adaptation. In the conclusion, the researchers suggest various practical strategies based on results of the study to improve the self-identity and school adaptation of Chinese-Korean adolescents in China.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.163-186
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present a methodology for assessing the efficiency of supply chain quality management considering characteristics of defense industries to provide academic and policy implications for strengthening quality competitiveness of military supplies. Methods: Using the defense industry's empirical data, conduct an efficiency evaluation by utilizing a multi-stage DEA/Entropy Model for defense industries subject to the quality level survey of military goods manufacturers in 2017. Results: The results of this study are as follows; the first step of the multi-stage DEA model, Quality Management Performance Efficiency Analysis, shows that the CCR model and the BCC model are more efficient than the parent company. the second stage of the multi-stage DEA model showed that the CCR model was slightly more efficient than the parent company and the BCC model was more efficient than the parent.the overall efficiency value of the multistage DEA model, calculated by multipointing the efficiency value of the first stage by the second stage, was more efficient than the parent. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the efficiency of supply chian quality management performance and profitability in the defense industry can be analyzed for the first time using the multistage DEA/Entropy model to identify specific inefficiencies and support objective decision making.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.589-607
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• 2021

Meat proteolytic systems play a crucial role in meat tenderisation. Understanding the effects of processing technologies and post-mortem storage conditions on these systems is important due to their crucial role in determining the quality characteristics of meat and meat products. It has recently been proposed that tenderisation occurs due to the synergistic action of numerous endogenous proteolytic systems. There is strong evidence suggesting the importance of μ-calpain during the initial post-mortem aging phase, while m-calpain may have a role during long-term aging. The caspase proteolytic system is also a candidate for cell degradation in the initial stages of conversion of muscle to meat. The role of cathepsins, which are found in the lysosomes, in post-mortem aging is controversial. Lysosomes need to be ruptured, through aging, or other forms of processing to release cathepsins into the cytosol for participation in proteolysis. A combination of optimum storage conditions along with suitable processing may accelerate protease activity within meat, which can potentially lead to improved meat tenderness. Processing technologies such as high pressure, ultrasound, and shockwave processing have been reported to disrupt muscle structure, which can facilitate proteolysis and potentially enhance the aging process. This paper reviews the recent literature on the impacts of processing technologies along with post-mortem storage conditions on the activities of endogenous proteases in meat. The information provided in the review may be helpful in selecting optimum post-mortem meat storage and processing conditions to achieve improved muscle tenderness within shorter aging and cooking times.

• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1564-1570
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• 2018

Charge transport dynamics in ZnO based inverted organic solar cell (IOSC) has been characterized with transient photocurrent spectroscopy and localised photocurrent mapping-atomic force microscopy. The value of maximum exciton generation rate was found to vary from $2.6{\times}10^{27}m^{-3}s^{-1}$ ($J_{sat}=79.7A\;m^{-2}$) to $2.9{\times}10^{27}m^{-3}s^{-1}$ ($J_{sat}=90.8A\;m^{-2}$) for devices with power conversion efficiency ranging from 2.03 to 2.51%. These results suggest that nanorods served as an excellent electron transporting layer that provides efficient charge transport and enhances IOSC device performance. The photovoltaic performance of OSCs with various growth times of ZnO nanorods have been analysed for a comparison between AM1.5G spectrum and local solar spectrum. The simulated PCE of all devices operating under local spectrum exhibited extensive improvement with the gain of 13.3-3.7% in which the ZnO nanorods grown at 15 min possess the highest PCE under local solar with the value of 2.82%.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.654-664
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• 2021

Background: Ginsenoside Rg3, isolated from Panax ginseng, has anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities. It is known to reduce inflammation in acute lung injury in mice, and to reduce the expression of inflammatory cytokines and COX-2 in human asthmatic airway epithelium. In this study, we attempted to determine whether ginsenoside Rg3 inhibits airway inflammation, oxidative stress, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in the lungs of asthmatic mice. We also investigated its effects on oxidative stress and the inflammatory response in tracheal epithelial cells. Methods: Asthma symptoms were induced in female BALB/c mice sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA). Mice were divided into five groups: normal controls, OVA-induced asthmatic controls, and asthmatic mice treated with ginsenoside Rg3 or prednisolone by intraperitoneal injection. Inflammatory BEAS-2B cells (human tracheal epithelial cells) treated with ginsenoside Rg3 to investigate its effects on inflammatory cytokines and oxidative responses. Results: Ginsenoside Rg3 treatment significantly reduced eosinophil infiltration, oxidative responses, airway inflammation, and AHR in the lungs of asthmatic mice. Ginsenoside Rg3 reduced Th2 cytokine and chemokine levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids and lung. Inflammatory BEAS-2B cells treated with ginsenoside Rg3 reduced the eotaxin and pro-inflammatory cytokine expressions, and monocyte adherence to BEAS-2B cells was significantly reduced as a result of decreased ICAM-1 expression. Furthermore, ginsenoside Rg3 reduced the expression of reactive oxygen species in inflammatory BEAS-2B cells. Conclusion: Ginsenoside Rg3 is a potential immunomodulator that can ameliorate pathological features of asthma by decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.318-323
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• 2011

Illegal and unethical behaviors of the construction industry affect people's lives and health more than the same problems of the other industries. Among these behaviors, the construction industry is mostly criticized for bribery scandals. According to the survey of the Ministry of Justice in Taiwan over the past years, bribery cases involving public engineering projects and governmental procurements account for a rather large portion of the indicted corruption cases. Transparency International's "Bribe Payer Index" indicates people in construction-related industries are the most likely to pay bribes. Poor construction quality directly and indirectly caused by bribery poses a great threat to public safety, organizational reputation and economic development. However, there is a limited number of existing research on the bribery problem of the construction industry. This study is an empirical attempt to explore bribery intention and its affecting factors among the construction organizations in Taiwan by conducting a questionnaire survey. The theory of planned behavior was used in this study to build its research model (covering elements of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and intention). Totally 431 valid samples were returned. To explore the factors affecting bribery intention, this study adopted Pearson's correlation analysis to discuss about the connections among the questionnaire respondents' attitudes to bribery, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and bribery intention. A multi-regression analysis was then conducted to test if the planned behavior theory can effectively predict bribery intention. The research found (1) according to the results of Pearson's correlation analysis, the respondents' bribery intention, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control are positively correlated with one another; (2) according to the results of the multi-regression analysis, bribery intention can be explained through attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control with an adjusted R² value of 0.591, meaning 59.1% of the bribery intention's variances can be explained through the three dimensions. In addition, each of the three dimensions has a significant influence on the respondents' behavior intentions.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.504-509
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• 2024

The treatment of breast cancer has seen great success in the recent decade. With longer survivorship, more attention is paid to function and aesthetics as integral treatment components. However, breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) remains a significant complication. Immediate lymphatic reconstruction is an emerging technique to reduce the risk of BCRL, the Lymphatic Microsurgical Preventive Healing Approach (LYMPHA) being the most widely used approach. Despite promising results, it is often difficult to find suitably sized recipient venules and perform the micro-anastomoses between mismatched vessels deep in the axilla. Moreover, high axillary venous pressure gradients and potential damage from radiotherapy may affect the long-term patency of the anastomoses. From an ergonomic point of view, performing lymphaticovenular anastomosis in the deep axilla may be challenging for the microsurgeon. In response to these limitations, we modified the technique by moving the lymphatic reconstruction distally-terming it distally based LYMPHA (dLYMPHA). A total of 113 patients underwent mastectomy with axillary clearance in our institution from 2018 to 2021. Of these, 26 underwent subsequent dLYMPHA (Group 2), whereas 87 did not (Group 1). In total, 17.2% (15 patients) and 3.84% (1 patient) developed BCRL in Groups 1 and 2, respectively (p = 0.018). Lymphatics and recipient venules suitable for anastomoses can be reliably found in the distal upper limb with better size match. A distal modification achieves a more favorable lymphaticovenular pressure gradient, vessel match, and ergonomics while ensuring a comparably low BCRL rate.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.1083-1091
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• 2016

This research uses public transportation card data to analyze the inter-regional transfer times, transfer frequencies, and transfer resistance that passengers experience during transit amongst the metropolitan public transportation modes. Currently, mode transfers between bus and rail are recorded up to five times during one transit movement by Trip Chain, facilitating greater comprehension of intermodal movements. However, lack of information on what arises during these transfers poses a problem in that it leads to an underestimation of transfer resistances on the Trip Chain. As such, a path choice model that reflects passenger movements during transit activities is created, which attains explanatory power on transfer resistance through its inclusion of transfer times and frequencies. The methodology adopted in this research is to first conceptualize the idea of metropolitan public transportation transfer, and in the case that mode transfers include the city-rail, to newly conceptualize the idea of transfer resistance using transportation card data. Also, the city-rail path choice model within the Trip Chain is constructed, with transfer time and frequency used to reevaluate transfer resistance. Further, in order to align bus and city-rail station administrative level small-zone coordinates to state and regional level mid-zone coordinates, the big node methdod is utilized. Finally, case studies on trip chains using at least one transfer onto the city-rail is used to determine the validity of the results obtained.