• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2599-2605
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• 2013

The study aimed to evaluate immune-stimulating effects of a well-known Thai folkloric remedy when used for adjuvant therapy with conventional chemotherapeutics for treatment of breast cancer. Immunostimulating influence of the remedy (215 mg/kg body weight per day) on NK cell activity and TNF-${\alpha}$ release from the monocytes/macrophages were investigated in a total of 15 healthy women and 13 female patients with breast cancer (Group 1). The effect of breast tumor surgery on NK cell activity was further investigated in 18 female patients with breast cancer (Group 2). NK cell cytotoxic activity was determined by chromium release cytotoxic assay using K562, an erythroleukemic cell line. TNF-${\alpha}$ release from monocytes/macrophages separated from blood samples was determined through a biological assay using actinomycin D-treated L929 mouse fibroblast cells in the presence and absence of LPS. Baseline NK cell activity of the monocytes/macrophages separated from Group 2 patients expressed as %cytotoxicity was significantly lower than in the healthy subjects at E:T ratios of 100:1 and 25:1. In healthy subjects, there was no change in NK cell cytotoxic activity (%cytotoxicity or LU) following 1 and 2 weeks of treatment with the remedy compared with the baseline at various E:T ratios but the binding activity (%binding) was significantly increased after 2 weeks of treatment. The addition of one or two conventional chemotherapeutic regimens did not significantly reduce the NK cytotoxic activity but did affect release of TNF-${\alpha}$ in both unstimulated and LPS-stimulated samples. Surgery produced a significant suppressive effect on NK cell activity. The use of the remedy as an adjunct therapy may improve therapeutic efficacy and safety profiles of conventional chemotherapeutic regimens through stimulation of the immune system in cancer patients.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2017

Vitamin D3 is a fat-soluble secosteroid responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, and other materials. Vitamin D3 deficiency, therefore, can cause health problems such as metabolic diseases, and bone disorder. Female sex hormones including estrogen and progesterone are biosynthesized mainly in the granulosa cells of ovary. In this study, we isolated granulosa cells from porcine ovary and cultured for the experiments. In order to examine the effect of vitamin D3 on the ovarian granulosa cells, the mRNA and protein levels of genes were analyzed by real-time PCR and Western blot assay. The production of estrogen from the granulosa cells was also measured by the ELISA assay. Genes associated with follicle growth were not significantly altered by vitamin D3. However, it increases expression of genes involved in the estrogen-biosynthesis. Further, estrogen concentrations in porcine granulosa cell-cultured media increased in response to vitamin D3. These results showed that vitamin D3 is a powerful regulator of sex steroid hormone production in porcine granulosa cells, suggesting that vitamin D deficiency may result in inappropriate sexual development of industrial animals and eventually economic loss.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.832-839
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• 2007

In this study, a new bicycle system was developed to improve muscular strength using the Magneto-Rheological(MR) rotary brake. The friction load of the MR rotary brake is adjusted according to muscle strength of the subjects. The characteristic of muscular strength was studied with various friction loads of MR rotary brake. The friction load was occurred with the current, applied to the MR. rotary brake. Experiments was composed of several cycling trials for various friction loads. In training programs involving muscle improvement, it is necessary to confirm muscle activity and fatigue. To measure the muscle activity and fatigue, EMG signals of rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF), tensor fasciae latae (TFL), vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VAS), gastrocnemius (GAS), tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL) muscles were collected with surface electromyography and analyzed into time and frequency domain. The experimental results showed that the muscle activity according to the applied current to the MR rotary brake was significantly different. The more the current was applied, the higher value of the integrated EMG (IEMG) was obtained. Especially, the magnitude of IEMG of the RF, BF, TFL and VL varied in direct proportion to the current. However, there was not significant in the median frequency as the cycling time continue.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.951-960
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• 2015

The smart screening in the medical field as diffusion of smart devices and development of communication technologies is emerging some medical security concerns. Among of them its necessary to taking risk management measures to identify, evaluate and control of the security risks that can occur in Telemedicine because of the Medical information interchanges as Doctor to Doctor (D2D), Doctor to Patient (D2P). This research paper studies and suggests the risk analysis and evaluation methods of risk security that can occur in Telemedicine based on the verified results of Telemedicine system and equipment from the direct site which operating in primary clinics, public health centers and it's branches, etc.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.963-971
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to make a comparative analysis of the websites of dental office from different countries to provide some information for the quality evaluation of the websites of dental office. Methods : Two hundred twenty-four dental websites were selected by using Yahoo, one of the international portal sites, which included 59 from the United States, 50 from the United Kingdom, 54 from Canada, and 61 from Korea. Results : 1. As results of the credibility of the websites, the Canadian websites were most reliable, followed by the American websites, the English websites and the Korean ones(p<0.005). 2. As results of the complementarity of the websites, the Korean websites were most interactive, followed by the American websites, the English websites, and the Canadian ones(p<0.001). 3. As results of the accessibility of use of the websites, the Korean websites were easiest to use, followed by the American websites, the Canadian websites, and the English ones(p<0.001). 4. As results of the update of the websites from the nations, the Korean websites were most sustainable, followed by the English websites, the Canadian websites and the American ones(p<0.05). 5. When the overall quality of the dental office websites was assessed, the Korean websites were the best, followed by the Canadian websites, the American websites and the English ones(p<0.001). Conclusions : In order to make accurate oral health information more accessible to people in general, prolonged research efforts should be continued for the evaluation of the quality of dental office websites, and the development of standard international evaluation criteria is required as well.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.205-214
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• 2017

In this paper, we proposed an iris-based authentication for smart healthcare service in secure telemedicine system. The medical and healthcare information's are very important data in telemedicine system from privacy information. thus, the proposed system provides a secure and convenient authentication method than the traditional ID/PW authentication method to a telemedicine system for age-related chronic diseases. When considering the peculiarities of the use of age-related chronic diseases convenience and healthcare environments, the proposed approach is difficult to secure than traditional ID/PW authentication method with the appropriate means to easily change when stolen or lost to others. In addition, the telemedicine system for the smart healthcare services is one of the types of privacy sensitive medical and health data. it is very important security needs in telemedicine system. Thus we protocol are offer high confidentiality and integrity than existing ID/PW method.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1509-1521
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• 2013

Social demand for the stability of structures lead to the development of the technology to accomplish it. The non-destructive seismic technique, which is able to assess structural integrity of infrastructures, belongs to this category. Seismic technique is focused on the measurement of seismic velocity propagating through the material, and has to utilize sensors coupled to material surface, which does not allow the testing to be performed on the fly. In this paper, a general vocal microphone, which works as a non-contact sensor, was adopted to facilitate seismic testing with mobility and efficiency improved. The target of using microphones was oriented toward quality assessment of compacted subgrade, stiffness evaluation and health monitoring of concrete structures. Experimental parametric study and field applications were performed to investigate reliability and efficiency of microphones. Finally, the optimal test configuration of microphones was suggested for resonance tests and surface-wave tests.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.227-231
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• 2014

Cimicifuga heracleifolia extract (CHE) was investigated for its effects on the release of nitric oxide (NO) and at the level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression in mouse macrophages. We found that C. heracleifolia elicited a dose-dependent increase in NO production and the level of iNOS mRNA. Since, iNOS transcription has been shown to be under the control of the transcription factor $NF-{\kappa}B$, the effects of CHE on $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation were examined. Transient expression assays with $NF-{\kappa}B$ binding sites linked to the luciferase gene revealed that the increased level of iNOS mRNA, induced by CHE, was mediated by the $NF-{\kappa}B$ transcription factor complex. By using DNA fragments containing the $NF-{\kappa}B$ binding sequence, CHE was shown to activate the protein/DNA binding of $NF-{\kappa}B$ to its cognate site, as measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. These results demonstrate that C. heracleifolia stimulates NO production and is able to up-regulate iNOS expression through $NF-{\kappa}B$ transactivation.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.335-338
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• 2010

Maritrema spp. (Digenea: Microphallidae) are parasites of birds, but have not been found in the Republic of Korea. In this study, metacercariae of Maritrema sp. were discovered in the Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, caught in the mud-flats of Jebu-do, Hwasung-gun, Gyeonggi-do, and the adult flukes were confirmed by experimental infection into mice. Based on the symmetric ribbon-like vitellarium, adult flukes of Maritrema sp. were identified, but did not belong to previously described species in terms of the following morphologic characteristics: ceca reaching to the lateral wall at the anterior border of the ovary; ventral sucker larger than oral sucker; a prominent metraterm; and vitellarium forming a complete ring. Hence, we named this microphallid M. jebuensis n. sp. after the island where the second intermediate hosts were collected. From this study, it has been shown that Maritrema sp. is distributed in Korea and transmitted by the Asian shore crab, H. sanguineus.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5843-5847
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• 2013

Background: Persistent infection with high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) is strongly associated with cervical cancer. Normal cervical cells may also harbor hrHPV, and detection of early hrHPV infection may minimize risk of cervical cancer development. This study aimed to compare two commercial HPV genotyping assays that may affordable for early screening in a limited-resource setting in Bandung, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: DNA from cervical biopsies with histologically confirmed as squamous cell cervical cacinoma were HPV genotyped by Linear Assay 1 (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) or Linear Assay 2 (Digene HPV Genotyping RH Test, Qiagen Gaithersburg, MD). In a subset of samples of each group, HPV genotype results were then compared. Results: Of 28 samples genotyped by linear assay 1, 22 (78.6%) demonstrated multiple infections with HPV-16 and other hrHPV types 18, 45 and/or 52. In another set of 38 samples genotyped by linear assay 2, 28 (68.4%) were mostly single infections by hrHPV type 16 or 18. Interestingly, 4 samples that had been tested by both kits showed discordant results. Conclusions: In a limited-resource area such as in Indonesia, country with a high prevalence of HPV infection a reliable cervical screening test in general population for early hrHPV detection is needed. Geographical variation in HPV genotyping result might have impacts for HPV prevalence and molecular epidemiology as the distribution in HPV genotypes should give clear information to assess the impact of HPV prophylactic vaccines.