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Nicotine dependence and the International Association for the Study of Pain neuropathic pain grade in patients with chronic low back pain and radicular pain: is there an association?

  • Schembri, Emanuel;Massalha, Victoria;Spiteri, Karl;Camilleri, Liberato;Lungaro-Mifsud, Stephen
    • The Korean Journal of Pain
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.359-377
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    • 2020
  • Background: This study investigated whether current smoking and a higher nicotine dependency were associated with chronic low back pain (LBP), lumbar related leg pain (sciatica) and/or radicular neuropathic pain. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 patients (mean age, 60.1 ± 13.1 yr). Demographic data, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) neuropathic pain grade, STarT Back tool, and the Fagerström test were completed. A control group (n = 50) was recruited. Results: There was a significant difference between current smokers and nonsmokers in the chronic LBP group in the mean pain score (P = 0.025), total STarT Back score (P = 0.015), worst pain location (P = 0.020), most distal pain radiation (P = 0.042), and in the IASP neuropathic pain grade (P = 0.026). There was a significant difference in the mean Fagerström score between the four IASP neuropathic pain grades (P = 0.005). Current smoking yielded an odds ratio (OR) of 3.071 (P = 0.011) for developing chronic LBP and sciatica, and an OR of 4.028 (P = 0.002) for obtaining an IASP "definite/probable" neuropathic pain grade, for both cohorts. The likelihood for chronic LBP and sciatica increased by 40.9% (P = 0.007), while the likelihood for an IASP neuropathic grade of "definite/probable" increased by 50.8% (P = 0.002), for both cohorts, for every one unit increase in the Fagerström score. Conclusions: A current smoking status and higher nicotine dependence increase the odds for chronic LBP, sciatica and radicular neuropathic pain.

Pinus Densiflora Bark Extract (PineXol) Decreases Adiposity in Mice by Down-Regulation of Hepatic De Novo Lipogenesis and Adipogenesis in White Adipose Tissue

  • Ahn, Hyemyoung;Go, Gwang-woong
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.660-667
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    • 2017
  • PineXol, extracted from Korean red pine bark, has beneficial effects, such as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antilipogenic activities in vitro. We tested the hypothesis that PineXol supplementation could have anti-obesity effects on mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Four-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were fed normal chow (18% kcal from fat) or a HFD (60% kcal from fat). HFD-fed animals were also subjected to PineXol treatment at a dose of 10 or 50 mg/kg body weight (BW) (PX10 or PX50, respectively) body weight. The body weight and body fat mass in the PX50 group were statistically lower than those in the HFD group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). The concentration of hepatic triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were reduced in the PX50 group compared with the HFD group (p < 0.01). Acetyl CoA carboxylase (p < 0.01), elongase of very long chain fatty acids 6 (p < 0.01), stearoyl CoA desaturase 1 (p < 0.05), microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (p < 0.01), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (p < 0.05) were significantly decreased in the PX50 group compared with that in the HFD group. In white adipose tissue, CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein alpha (p < 0.05), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (p < 0.001), and perilipin (p < 0.01) were decreased in the PX50 group compared with those in the HFD group. Therefore, the current study implies the potential of PineXol for the prevention and/or amelioration of obesity, in part by inhibition of both hepatic lipid synthesis and adipogenesis in white adipose tissue.

Strategic Approaches and the Role of Naval Forces to Counter Increasing Maritime Threats (해양안보 위협 확산에 따른 한국 해군의 역할 확대방안)

  • Park, Chang-Kwoun
    • Strategy21
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    • s.31
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    • pp.220-250
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    • 2013
  • South Korean national security strategy should be developed to effectively handle and counter increasing maritime threats and challenges. There are three major maritime threats South Korea faces today; maritime disputes on the EEZ boundary and Dokdo islet issues, North Korean threats, and international maritime security. Maritime disputes in the region are getting intensified and turned into a military confrontation after 2010. Now regional countries confront each other with military and police forces and use economic leverage to coerce the others. They are very eager to create advantageous de facto situations to legitimize their territorial claims. North Korean threat is also increasing in the sea as we witnessed in the Cheonan incident and Yeonpyoung shelling in 2010. North Korea resorts to local provocations and nuclear threats to coerce South Korea in which it may enjoy asymmetric advantages. The NLL area of the west sea would be a main hot spot that North Korea may continue to make a local provocation. Also, South Korean national economy is heavily dependent upon foreign trade and national strategic resources such as oil are all imported. Without an assurance on the safety of sea routes, these economic activities cannot be maintained and expanded. This paper argues that South Korea should make national maritime strategy and enhance the strength of naval forces. As a middle power, its national security strategy needs to consider all the threats and challenges not only from North Korea but also to maritime security. This is not a matter of choice but a mandate for national survival and prosperity. This paper discusses the importance of maritime security, changing characteristics of maritime threats and challenges, regional maritime disputes and its threat to South Korea's security, and South Korea's future security strategy and ways to enhance the role of naval forces. Our national maritime strategy needs to show middle and long term policy directions on how we will protect our maritime interests. Especially, it is important to build proper naval might to carry out all the roles and missions required to the military.

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Autonomous Stationkeeping System for Geostationary Satellite (정지위성 자동위치유지 시스템에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Bong-Kyu;Tahk, Min-Jea;Bang, Hyo-Choong
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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    • v.32 no.10
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    • pp.67-76
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    • 2004
  • This paper improves existing 'fly-the-wire' based autonomous station-keeping system, suitable for geostationary satellite and introduces results of computer simulations conducted to verify the algorithm. The on-board stationkeeping system receives pseudo-range signals from two ground equipments located with long baseline, determines the orbit error in realtime and generates orbit control commands. To reduce fuel consumption, this paper proposes an on-board orbit control logic using modified fly-the-wire method. The modified fly-the-wire method de-couples error components into two dynamic modes, harmonic and linear motion. The harmonic error components are removed by applying output commands produced by feedback controller, and the linear motions are controlled by the correction ${\Delta}V\;s$ added to reference maneuvers. The reference maneuvers are generated through the ground based computer simulation and embedded or uploaded into the on-board computer with time tags. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithm is verified through a series of computer simulations.

An Analysis of Codes on Brand Image in Fashion Advirtsing (의류 광고에 나타난 상표 이미지의 코드 분석)

  • 한명숙;나수임
    • The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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    • v.5 no.4
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    • pp.68-79
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    • 1997
  • In this thesis which takes fashion advertising that functions a marketing communication as an objective, I try to bear witness to the signifying system of garments though analyzing with semiotic methodology the signifying procedure on the base of the structural concept of Ferdinand de Saussure and the advertisement semiotic theory of Roland Barthes, to make clear their signifying structure and it meaning by understanding the characteristics of contemporary society and its cognitive system. Each sign of fashion advertising transfers the brand image through syntagmatic signification which contains the mythology of goods. Mannish style is encoded as tailored jacket, white shirt, H-silhouette and pants, non-color or being color, and it is presented as a clothing sign of casual wear for career women. Feminine style is encoded as X-silhouette, soutien collar suit style, various colors, and other details with womanly image, and it is presented as a clothing sign for maid or young wife 20\`s or 30\`s. Formal style is encoded as jacket vest, inner wear(blouse), two and three piece dress by pants or skirt and one-piece dress, and it is used in every age and class. Casual style is similar to formal style, but differs only in textile code. Clothing sign for housewives in middle age is encoded as H-silhouette of formal style, long jacket and pants and brown, being and grey colors. Contemporary popular phenomena in the signification of fashion advertising, and its temporal ideology reflected are as follows; According to the context of fashion advertising in the middle of 1990\`s, its fashion is that first, military look applied from the designs of various sort of military uniform and vest look and pant style applied from dandy-style imitated from man\`s wear are popuar. This mean that it reflects the change of point of view on woman\`s role in society today. That is, due to the equality between man and woman, it mirrors the ideology of feminism, and then, describes beautifully professional woman with carrer. Second, because that individualism is underlied for the change of consumer\`s consciousness, standardized popularity is disappeared, and in accordance with the mixture of various trends and personalities proposed every season, layered look that emphasizes individualism, easiness and naturalness is popular.

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Interaction of cracks and precipitate particles on the REBCO superconducting layers of practical CC tapes through fractographic observations

  • de Leon, Michael;Diaz, Mark A.;Shin, Hyung-Seop
    • Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.7-12
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    • 2020
  • Electromechanical properties of REBCO CC tapes are known to be limited by defects (cracks) that form in the brittle REBCO layer. These defects could be inherently acquired during the CC tapes' manufacturing process, such as slitting, and which can be initiated at the CC tapes' edges. If propagated and long enough, they are believed to cause critical current degradation and can substantially decrease the delamination strength of CC tapes. Currently, commercially available CC tapes from various manufacturers utilize different growth techniques for depositing the REBCO layers on the substrates in their CC tapes preparation. Their epitaxial techniques, unfortunately, cannot perfectly avoid the formation of particles, in which sometimes acts as current blocking defects, known as outgrowths. Collective research regarding the composition, size, and formation of these particles for various CC tapes with different deposition techniques are particularly uncommon in a single study. Most importantly, these particles might interact in one way or another to the existing cracks. Therefore, systematic investigation on the interactions between the cracks' development mechanism and particles on the REBCO superconducting layers of practical CC tapes are of great importance, especially in the design of superconducting devices. Here, a proper etching process was employed for the CC tapes to expose and observe the REBCO layers, clearly. The scanning electron microscope, field emission scanning microscope, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy were utilized to observe the interactions between cracks and particles in various practical CC tapes. Particle compositions were identified whether as non-superconducting or superconducting and in what manner it interacts with the cracks were studied.

Biological and Genetic Characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis Isolates from Five Hydrographical Basins in Northern Portugal

  • Almeida, Andre;Moreira, Maria Joao;Soares, Sonia;Delgado, Maria De Lurdes;Figueiredo, Joao;Silva, Elisabete;Castro, Antonio;Da Costa, Alexandra Viana;Da Costa, Jose Manuel Correia
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.48 no.2
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    • pp.105-111
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    • 2010
  • To understand the situation of water contamination with Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. in the northern region of Portugal, we have established a long-term program aimed at pinpointing the sources of surface water and environmental contamination, working with the water-supply industry. Here, we describe the results obtained with raw water samples collected in rivers of the 5 hydrographical basins. A total of 283 samples were analyzed using the Method 1623 EPA, USA. Genetic characterization was performed by PCR and sequencing of genes 18S rRNA of Cryptosporidium spp. and $\beta$-giardin of Giardia spp. Infectious stages of the protozoa were detected in 72.8% (206 of 283) of the water samples, with 15.2% (43 of 283) positive for Giardia duodenalis cysts, 9.5% (27 of 283) positive for Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts, and 48.1% (136 of 283) samples positive for both parasites. The most common zoonotic species found were G. duodenalis assemblages A-I, A-II, B, and E genotypes, and Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium andersoni, Cryptosporidium hominis, and Cryptosporidium muris. These results suggest that cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis are important public health issues in northern Portugal. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report evaluating the concentration of environmental stages of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in raw water samples in the northern region of Portugal.

Inhibitory Effect of Nicardipine on hERG Channel

  • Chung, Eun-Yong;Cho, Hea-Young;Cha, Ji-Hun;Kwon, Kyoung-Jin;Jeon, Seol-Hee;Jo, Su-Hyun;Kim, Eun-Jung;Kim, Hye-Soo;Chung, Hye-Ju
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.448-453
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    • 2010
  • Drug-induced long QT syndrome is known to be associated with the onset of torsades de pointes (TdP), resulting in a fatal ventricular arrhythmia. QT interval prolongation can result from blocking the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channel, which is important for the repolarization of cardiac action potential. Nicardipine, a Ca-channel blocker and antihypertensive agent, has been reported to increase the risk of occasional serious ventricular arrhythmias. We studied the effects of nicardipine on hERG $K^+$ channels expressed in HEK293 cells and Xenopus oocytes. The cardiac electrophysiological effect of nicardipine was also investigated in this study. Our results revealed that nicardipine dose-dependently decreased the tail current of the hERG channel expressed in HEK293 cells with an $IC_{50}$ of 0.43 ${\mu}M$. On the other hand, nicardipine did not affect hERG channel trafficking. Taken together, nicardipine inhibits the hERG channel by the mechanism of short-term channel blocking. Two S6 domain mutations, Y652A and F656A, partially attenuated (Y652A) or abolished (F656A) the hERG current blockade, suggesting that nicardipine blocks the hERG channel at the pore of the channel.

The Effects of Face Types and A Detail of Clothes on Visual Evaluation (얼굴유형과 의복 네클라인과의 조화연구)

  • Mun, Nam-Won
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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    • v.35
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    • pp.305-324
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    • 1997
  • The purpose of this study was to examine aesthetic effects of face type and necklines of one piece dress one of details in clothes on visual evaluation. For this study two set of stages were processed. At first stage data were collected from female college students in Kwang Ju.Chonnam. Subjects between the aged of 18-26 were took pictured of their faces then they were classified into 7 groups That is egg ob-long round square inverted triangle triangle and diamond shapes. At second stage two sets of experimental design were utilized based on the classified face types. A set of design was 5$\times$4 design which involved 5 levels (egg oblong round inverted triangle and diamong shape) of face type and 4 levels(round boat vee and square neckline) of basic neckline. Another set of de-sign also was 5$\times$4 design which involved 5 levels of face type and 4 levels of modified neckline. As experimental treatment the stimulus materials and questionnaires were employed. The qustionnaires were consisted of visual evaluations on the stimulus materials by using semantic differential scale,. The experiments were proceeded through 2 week by 30 subjects composed of gaduate students and staffs in some departments of Clothing and Textiles at college. Data were analyzed by Frequencies Mean Factor Analysis TTest ANOVA and Ducan's Multiple Range Test. The major results were as followed: 1. There were significant aesthetic effects of face type on visual evaluations, Especially egg and inverted triangle shape among the face types were evaluated more aesthetic than the other face shapes. 2. There were signifiant aesthetic effects of the neckline types on visual evaluations, Es-pecially vee neckline among necklines were more aesthetic than the other necklines,. 3. As compared with the basic neckline types and the modified neckline types the modified necklines were assessed more aes-thetically than the basic necklines. 4, The face type and he neckline type were influenced interactively on visual evauations Specifically it showed that oblong round and diamond shape of face type were matched to vee neckline more than the other necklines, Also it showed that the egg and inverted tri-angle shape wee matched to round vee and squre neckline more than boat neckline.

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An Investigation into the Nurturing Strategy of Korean Young Designers in the International Market Expansion - Based on London's Young Designers' Support Programs - (국내 신진패션디자이너의 해외시장 진출 전략 연구 - 영국 런던시의 지원 사업을 기초로 -)

  • Kim, Hye Eun
    • The Korean Fashion and Textile Research Journal
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    • v.18 no.3
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    • pp.272-281
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    • 2016
  • From the year 2000 on, Seoul has aimed to be a fashion city, and thus has been supporting young designers through Seoul Fashion Creative Studio, Generation Next, Le Dome, Concept Korea, etc. London is famous for nurturing young designers through the joint help of government, schools and industries: Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Peter Pilotto are successful cases. Therefore, this research aims to suggest a direction for policies aimed at helping young designers in the international market, on the basis of London's nurturing programs and ideas from a literature review and case studies. The results are below. Firstly, a step-by-step supporting program is recommended. Secondly, long-lasting, sustainable programs are considered essential to support designers after the end of their contracts. Thirdly, practical assistance is preferred to monetary funding in order to lighten the designers' lot and in the interests of transparency. The mentoring service should be strengthened for the designers to eventually become independent. The support should be tailor-made according to items. Fourthly, the supporting programs should be promoted. Fifthly, government and industries should collaborate. Sixthly, 'de minimis' against overlapped support should be legislated. For these, the change of supporting method can be helpful; an independent administrative organisation plans and collects funds from governments and companies. Through these programs and any subsequent studies, Seoul could become a fashion city where young designers play active roles at a global level.