• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2013

Objective: We evaluated the fertilization potential of immature oocytes obtained from controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycles of patients undergoing ICSI. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 463 ICSI cycles containing at least one immature oocyte at oocyte denudation. ICSI was performed on mature oocytes at oocyte denudation (metaphase-II [MII] oocytes) and the oocytes that extruded the first polar body between oocyte denudation and ICSI (MI-MII oocytes). Fertilization and early embryonic development were compared between MII and MI-MII oocytes. To investigate the pregnancy potential of MI-MII oocytes, the pregnancy outcome was analyzed in 24 ICSI cycles containing only immature oocytes at retrieval. Results: The fertilization rate of MI-MII oocytes (37.0%) was significantly lower than that of MII oocytes (72.3%). The rates of delayed embryos and damaged embryos did not significantly differ. Eighty-one immature oocytes were retrieved in 24 cycles that retrieved only immature oocytes and 61 (75.3%) of them were in the MI stage. ICSI was performed on 36 oocytes (59.0%) that extruded the first polar body before ICSI and nine MI-MII oocytes (25.0%) were fertilized. Embryo transfers were performed in five cycles. Pregnancy was observed in one cycle, but it ended in biochemical pregnancy. Conclusion: In ICSI cycles, oocytes that extruded the first polar body between denudation and ICSI can be used as a source of oocytes for sperm injection. However, their fertilization and pregnancy potential are lower than that of mature oocytes. Therefore, ovarian stimulation should be performed carefully for mature oocytes obtained at retrieval, especially in cycles with a small number of retrieved oocytes.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2000

Objective : Somatosensory evoked potential(SSEP) has been known to be a good method for evaluating brain stem function, but it is not sufficient to check the fine changes of cortical functions. A fine change of cortical function can be expressed with somatosensory evoked cortical field potential(SSEFP) rather than general SSEP. To confirm the usefulness of SSEFP for evaluating the cortical function, the authors simultaneously measured SSEFP and the intracranial pressure-volume index(PVI) in kaolin-induced hydrocephalic rats. Method : Hydrocephalus was induced with injection of 0.1ml kaolin-suspended solution into the cisterna magna in 60 Sprague-Dawley rats. The authors measured PVI and SSEFP 1 week after injection of kaolin-suspended solution. To evaluate the severity of induced hydrocephalus, we measured the transverse diameter of the lateral ventricle on the coronal slice of the rat brain 0.40mm posterior to the bregma. Result : The typical wave form of SSEFP in control rats showed a negative-positive complex wave at early latency. In SSEFP of normal rats, N0 is 10.0 msec, N1 15.3 msec, P1 31.2 msec and N1-P1 amplitude $15.4{\mu}V$. As hydrocephalus progressed, the peak latency of N1 and P1 were delayed. In mild hydrocephalus, negative peak waves were split. The N1-P1 amplitude was decreased only in severe hydrocephalus. The changes of the characteristics of SSEFP according to the severity of hydrocephalus were well correlated with the changes of PVI. Shunting normalized the characteristics of SSEFP in relation to ventricular sizes and PVI in hydrocephalic rats. Conclusion : SSEFP may be useful for evaluating the impairment of cortical function in hydrocephalus.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1413-1420
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• 2014

Phytate is an antinutritional factor that impacts the bioavailability of essential minerals such as $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ by forming insoluble mineral-phytate salts. These insoluble mineral-phytate salts are hydrolyzed rarely by monogastric animals, because they lack the hydrolyzing phytases and thus excrete the majority of them. The ${\beta}$-propeller phytases (BPPs) hydrolyze these insoluble mineral-phytate salts efficiently. In this study, we cloned a novel BPP gene from a marine Pseudomonas sp. This Pseudomonas BPP gene (PsBPP) had low sequence identity with other known phytases and contained an extra internal repeat domain (residues 24-279) and a typical BPP domain (residues 280-634) at the C-terminus. Structure-based sequence alignment suggested that the N-terminal repeat domain did not possess the active-site residues, whereas the C-terminal BPP domain contained multiple calcium-binding sites, which provide a favorable electrostatic environment for substrate binding and catalytic activity. Thus, we overexpressed the BPP domain from Pseudomonas sp. to potentially hydrolyze insoluble mineral-phytate salts. Purified recombinant PsBPP required $Ca^{2+}$ or $Fe^{2+}$ for phytase activity, indicating that PsBPP hydrolyzes insoluble $Fe^{2+}$-phytate or $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts. The optimal temperature and pH for the hydrolysis of $Ca^{2+}$-phytate by PsBPP were $50^{\circ}C$ and 6.0, respectively. Biochemical and kinetic studies clearly showed that PsBPP efficiently hydrolyzed $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts and yielded myo-inositol 2,4,6-trisphosphate and three phosphate groups as final products. Finally, we showed that PsBPP was highly effective for hydrolyzing rice bran with high phytate content. Taken together, our results suggest that PsBPP has great potential in the animal feed industry for reducing phytates.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.133-142
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• 2011

The objective of this study is to validate the number of gyrations of Superpave gyratory compactor(SGC) for compaction of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and warm-mix asphalt(WMA) mixtures. Marshall compaction was also used for comparison purpose. The 13mm and 19mm aggregates of 1st class quality shape were used. A PG64-22 and a PG76-22 for HMA and a PG70-22 for WMA. Four compaction temperatures based on the suggested value were used for each binder using 100 gyrations for SGC and 75 blows per side for Marshall compactor. It was found that SGC compaction was somewhat better than Marshall compaction. The analysis of variance showed that two compactors were significantly different in air voids of 19mm mixtures at ${\alpha}=0.05$ level. The 13mm mixture did not show a significant statistical difference. When compacted at the temperature below a certain level, however, the compaction of two compactors were fond to be proor. Therefore, observing compaction temperature above the minimum level is important to secure proper compaction work. If the minimum temperatures were maintained, 100 gyrations, which was given for HMA of arterial road pavement by the Korean Guide, was found to be appropriate compaction, showing similar or better compaction work than 75 blows per side of Marshall compaction.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.191-196
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• 2013

This study was aimed for development of a useful genes that has a transcript expressional specificity in the early embryonic stage of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. We constructed and analyzed a full-length cDNA library from silkworm's eggs which after a lapse of 2 ~ 6 hours post oviposit. A total 960 clones were randomly selected, and the 5' ends of the inserts were sequenced to generate 652 expressed sequence tags(EST). 334 unique ESTs were generated after the assembly of 652 ESTs. The annotation of 334 unique ESTs by BLAST search revealed that 156(47%) of the sequences represented known genes, whereas 178(53%) of the sequences has no matches in the database. Of the 156 known genes, the most abundant genes were heat shock protein hsp20.8 gene(12 times) and ubiqutin-like protein gene(11 times). The functional groups of these ESTs with matches in the database were constructed according to their putative molecular functions. Among thirteen functional categories, the largest groups were protein synthesis(9.6%) and cellular organization( 8.1%). Further defined studies on molecular functions and biological roles of their promoters will give us wellfined information and its application.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.45-50
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• 2015

Objective: Artificial oocyte activation (AOA) is an effective method to avoid total fertilization failure in human in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles. AOA performed using a calcium ionophore can induce calcium oscillation in oocytes and initiate the fertilization process. We evaluated the usefulness of AOA with a calcium ionophore in cases of total fertilization failure in previous cycles and in cases of severe male factor infertility patients with non-motile spermatozoa after pentoxifylline (PF) treatment. Methods: The present study describes 29 intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-AOA cycles involving male factor infertility at Cheil General Hospital from January 2006 to June 2013. Patients were divided into two groups (control, n=480; AOA, n=29) depending on whether or not AOA using a calcium ionophore (A23187) was performed after testicular sperm extraction-ICSI (TESE-ICSI). The AOA group was further split into subgroups according to sperm motility after PF treatment: i.e., motile sperm-injected (n=12) and non-motile sperm-injected (n=17) groups (total n=29 cycles). Results: The good embryo rate (52.3% vs. 66.9%), pregnancy rate (20.7% vs. 52.1%), and delivery rate (10.3% vs. 40.8%) were lower in the PF/AOA group than in the control group. When evaluating the effects of restoration of sperm motility after PF treatment on clinical outcomes there was no difference in fertilization rate (66.6% vs. 64.7% in non-motile and motile sperm, respectively), pregnancy rate (17.6% vs. 33.3%), or delivery rate (5.9% vs. 16.7%) between the two groups. Conclusion: We suggest that oocyte activation is a useful method to ensure fertilization in TESE-ICSI cycles regardless of restoration of sperm motility after PF treatment. AOA may be useful in selected patients who have a low fertilization rate or total fertilization failure.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.385-392
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• 2014

Reshoring makes slab deflect and support its own weight. The construction loads on the slabs in lower levels decrease using the reshoring. Simplified analysis proposed by ACI 347.2R-05 showed that if the reshoring is applied, construction loads on slabs and shores, and quantities of forms and shores decreased by 40%, 23%, 40%, and 50%, respectively. Shores' loads were comparatively measured on site. The measured reshore load was half of the load before removing the shores and was also lower than the measured shore load by 35%. To verify the safety of the reshoring, deflections of beams and strains of beam longitudinal bars were also measured. The maximum deflection was only L/5000 and the maximum bar strain was only 3.6% of the yield strain. Consequently, reshoring neither cause problems on the safety nor serviceability. In addition, the beam load was expected from the measured shores' loads and it coincides well with the predicted value by the simplified analysis of ACI 347.2R-05.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.215-223
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• 2010

Purpose: The present study was aimed to evaluate the level of cortical bone strain during the placement of an implant. The primary concern was to investigate if the extent of overloading area near the marginal bone could be affected by microthread fabricated at the cervical 1/3 of an implant. Materials and methods: Three dimensional finite element analysis was used to simulate the insertion of 3 implants. Control model was $4.1{\times}10$ mm implant (Submerged model, Dentis Co,, Daegu, Korea) equipped with a main thread only. Type I was with main thread and microthread, and Type II had similar thread pattern but was of tapered body. A PC-based finite element software (DEFORM 3D ver 5, SFTC, Columbus, OH, USA) was used to calculate a total of 3,600 steps of analysis, which simulated the whole insertion. Results: Results showed that the strain field in the marginal bone within 1 mm of the implant wall was higher than 4,000 micro-strain in the control model. The size of bone overloading was 1-1.5 mm in Type I, and greater than 2 mm in Type II implants. Conclusion: These results indicate that the marginal bone may be at the risk of resorption on receiving the implant for all 3 implant models studied. Yet, the risk was greater for Type I and Type II implants, which had microthread at the cervical 1/3.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.157-170
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• 2007

Purpose: This investigation was designed to determine the translucency and color stability of various core ceramics for all-ceramic restoration using the CIE $L^*a^*b^*$ system. Material and Methods: IPS e.max Press ceramic(Ivoclar-Vivadent, Liechtenstein), $LAVA^{TM}$ All Ceramic(3M-Espe, Germany), Cercon Smart Ceramic(Dentsply, Germany), and Z-match Ceramic(DentAim, Korea) were used for this study. For the specimens of zirconia oxide ceramics, the as-sintered cylindrical blanks($11.0{\times}25.0mm$) were machined into the shape of a disk(0.4, 0.8, 1.5 mm in thickness, 10 mm in diameters) with a diamond grind machine. The IPS e.max Press specimens ($0.8{\times}10mm$) were fabricated using the "lost wax" technique. CIE $L^*a^*b^*$ coordinates and light transmission were recorded for each specimen with a spectrophotometer(CM-2600d, Minolta, Japan). Color differences were calculated using the equation, ${\Delta}E^*ab=[({\Delta}L^*)2+({\Delta}a^*)2+({\Delta}b^*)2]1/2$. Results: The results were obtained as follows: 1. The most translucent group was IPS e.max Press ceramic that is a glass-ceramic, and $Lava^{TM}$ and Z-match ceramic were more translucent than Cercon Smart ceramic in zirconia ceramic group. 2. In the all groups, there was no significant translucent change after 6 times heat-treatments required to make a final restoration. 3. Colored zirconia was showed more yellowish and dark than uncolored zirconia. 4. After heat-pressing, IPS e.max Press ceramic was showed high ${\Delta}E^*ab$ value(4.1 of eM1, 6.8 of eM2) that means to be more whiter than before heat-pressing. However, there was no color change after additive heat treatments for final restoration. 5. In the colored zirconia groups, there was no significant color change after some heat-treatments required to make a final restoration.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.83-91
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• 2013

As ICTs are more advanced, in the current Smart Society that can be characterized by the terms of real-time, mobility and customization, the area of Geospatial Information is required to react to the needs of the society in more practical ways. Because Geospatial Information is getting more accepted as one of the very basic social infrastructure for everyday life activities in all sectors of life. In accordance, the legal basis of convergence Geospatial Information services are described on Geospatial Information Industry Support Law(Article 2, Item 7 & Article 4 Item 5). But it is required to come up with more detailed and practical definition of convergence GIS with more detailed supporting policies. In this context, this study aims at investigating what the needs of Geospatial Information services are in the Smart Society, and suggesting the policy directions and realization strategies of convergence GIS based on spatial hierarchy from global to local.