• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5275-5279
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• 2013

Background: The XRCC1 (X-ray repair cross complimenting group-I) gene in BER (base excision repair) pathway is essential for DNA repair process. Polymorphisms in this gene are associated with variations in the repair efficiency which might predispose individuals to development of various cancers. Two variants of XRCC1gene (at codon 399), Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln, have been shown to be related to lowered DNA repair capacity and increased genomic instability in multiple studies. Hence our investigation focused on genotyping these variants to correlate with other multiple risk factors in lung cancer (NSCLC) patients since we hypothesized that these variants of the XRCC1 gene might influence disease susceptibility. Materials and Methods: We examined the frequency of the polymorphism in one hundred cases and an almost equal number of controls after recording their demographics with a structured questionnaire. Genomic DNA from blood samples was extracted for PCR studies, followed by RFLP to determine the variants. The significance of the data was statistically analyzed. Results: The three genotypes in cases and controls were Arg/Arg (40% and 54.45%); Gln/Gln (19% and 9.90%), and Arg/Gln (41.0% and 35.64%) respectively. Among these 3 genotypes, we found Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln to show association with lung cancer. Correlating these genotypes with several parameters, we also found that these two variants were associated with risk in males (p<0.05) and with smoking habits (p<0.05). In females Arg/Gln genotype showed association with stage of the disease (p=0.04). This is the first report in South Indian scenario where Arg399Gln genotypes were found to be associated with stage of the disease in females. Conclusions: It is concluded that XRCC1 genotypes Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln may influence cancer susceptibility in patients with smoking habits and these functional SNPs in XRCC1 gene may act as attractive candidate biomarkers in lung cancer for diagnosis and prognosis.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.5-11
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• 2012

The core objective of this research article is to investigate different challenges and opportunities in management as well as start-ups of small businesses in India. The prudence behind this research is to examine various problems in front of the small businesses and to offer vital support and cooperation to overcome those with the support of concerned institutions through consultancy and training programs. The researchers have an intention to make available the research results to the governmental agencies, concerned small business institutions and also to the educational institutions which are continually design plans, programs, policies and strategies to upgrade the managerial and technical dexterities of the small business Indian operators. After thorough revision of relevant literature on small businesses and its management, the researchers used a well structured questionnaire and in-depth personal interviews with 586small business operators selected from manufacturing, trading (retailing and wholesaling), finance, servicing/repair businesses which are located in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh in India. The researchers have used convenience sampling and collected data was analyzed with the support of Microsoft Excel and frequency distribution. Noticeably, majority of the small businessmen in India are facing myriad number of challenges both in management and at the time of establishment of their business operations. In particular, 72.47 percent of small businesses operators' have substantiated their strong opinion towards the challenges they are facing particularly finance, marketing and other problems while managing their businesses. The researchers also attempted to get the opinions on problems of the various categories of small businesses while starting their operations. A staggering 68percent of respondents identified the problems related to preparation of business plan, location selection, marketing and other problems like lack of proper credit facilities, skilled manpower, and other infra related problems while setting up of their businesses. On an average, 64.62 and 63.51 percent of small businesses are facing various kinds of problems both at the time of day-to-day management as well as start-up of their businesses respectively. The present research confined with the opinions of only four categories of small business operators particularly from the manufacturing, finance, trading (retailing and wholesaling), and servicing/repair which are continuing their business operations from the nine coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh in India. The present study emphatically provides concrete information required to the business community for identifying an assortment of challenges faced by different small business operators in managing and at the time of their inception. This research paper is first of its kind from this part of the world by offering extensive and credible information required for prospective entrepreneurs in facing the dynamic challenges in managing their business. Furthermore, this research presents invaluable inputs to the stakeholders like all types of governments, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and educators' about the various impediments faced by the small business community in India.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.101-112
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• 2000

Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe vomiting and diarrhea in children worldwide and classified as a genus in the family Reoviridae. Rotavirus has eleven segmented dsRNAs and the virion consists of three shells. Outer capsid VP7 and VP4 induce neutralizing antibodies and are classified into G types (glycoprotein VP7) and P types (protease-sensitive VP4). Characterization of VP7 gene of Korean isolates of human rotavirus was performed using multiplex PCR and nucleotide sequence analysis. After RT-PCR amplification of full length (1,062 bp) of VP7 genes, the amplified PCR products were G typed by multiplex PCR and the nucleotide sequences were compared with those of reference rotavirus from GenBank. The G type analysis revealed that 25% (2/8) belong to G1, whereas 37.5% (3/8) benong to G2 and G4, respectively. The Korean isolates within the same serotypes showed high homology of nucleotide sequences and could be discriminated from foreign isolates exception with two strains (CAU009 and CAU022). But Korean isolates CAU009 and CAU022 were close related into japanease isolates 417 (99.2%) and indian isolates (97.6%) than Korean isolatese. Our results showed that these two strains were supposed to be originated from abroad. As a results, The G typing and nucleotide sequence analysis of VP7 gene of rotavirus isolated from infants in Korea could be used for identification, serotying and determination of novel or unusual strains of rotaviruses.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to isolate a herbicidally active compound from curly dock (Rumex crispus), a native weed in Korea and to identify its' chemistry. The $GR_{50}$ value of methanol extracts which is determined by a seed bioassay using rapeseed (Brassica napus) seedlings was $935\;{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$. Activity-directed isolation of ethylacetate extract led to the isolation of ECDA fraction with $GR_{50}$ value $53\;{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$. Based on data of GC-MS, $^1H$-NMR and $^{13}C$-NMR, the chemical structure of ECDA was determined as 2H-furo[2,3-H]-[1]-benzopyran-2-one which is known as angelicin. The $GR_{50}$ values of angelicin to barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli), southern crabgrass (Digitaria ciliaris), and indian jointvetch (Aeschynomene indica) were 426, 66 and $216\;{\mu}g\;g^{-1}$, respectively. Our results suggest that angelicin could be used as a lead compound for the development of new herbicides.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.670-676
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• 2016

In this study, we analyzed the utensils, covers and mats that were used for making meju, the shape of meju, and the heating method used for making meju from the 225 ways of preparing jang mentioned in the 32 volumes of the ancient cook books from 530 AD to 1950. The heating method of traditional meju bean and starch included 57 kinds of steaming, 59 of boiling, 21 of roasting + boiling, and 2 of cooking. The shape of meju included 41 kinds of egg, 27 of ball, 22 of lump, a kind of doughnut, 8 kinds of hilt, 6 of flat, 4 of chip, and a kind of square. Among the 72 gochoojang meju, the heating method of bean included 9 kinds of boiling, and 6 kinds of steaming; whereas the heating method of starch included 19 kinds of steaming of dough, 11 of rice cooking, and 5 of boiling of dough. The utensils for molding of bean meju were 49 kinds of straw sack, 14 of round straw container, 11 of heating bed, 7 of large straw bowl or Japanese-snailseed, 5 of jar, 4 of ditch, 3 of straw bowls, 2 of pottery steamer of dough, 2 of gourd, and a kind of long round bamboo bowl and sack of straw. The cover and the mat used for molding of meju included 36 kinds of straw, 17 kinds of paper mulberry leaf, 15 of wide straw seat, 14 of mugwort, 11 of pine tree leaf, 10 of soybean leaf, 6 of cocklebur leaf, 6 of sumac leaf, 6 of barley straw, 6 of mulberry leaf, 5 of fallen leaf, 5 of cogon grass, 4 of reed seat, 3 of scrap of cloth, 2 of Indian bean tree leaf, a kind of reed. There were only 5 kinds of hanging.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.151-164
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• 1996

The regional division by the characteristics of the drainage patterns is important to understand its physical environment comprehensively, because the drainage network develops in reflecting characteristics of geological, geographical and climatical features in the drainage basin keenly. This study is the attempt to divide physical region in China whose drainage pattern is diverse. Chinese drainage basin is mainly divided into the interior drainage basin and the peripheral drainage basin. The interior drainage basin is divided into (1)the deranged pattern and (2)the centripetal pattern. The peripheral drainage basin is divided into (1)the dendritic pattern, (2)the parallel pattern, (3)the radial pattern and (4)the anastomatic pattern. Drainage patterns of the interior drainage basin are formed by affecting geographical features and climatic conditions mainly. In the peripheral drainage basin, drainage patterns are formed by other factors: the parallel pattern is connected with geological structure lineament by tectonic movement, the radial pattern with changes of the river channel resulted from the Yellow River's overflow, the anastomotic pattern with human's activities. The distributional features of the physical region in China are as follows: The deranged pattern appears in Zangbai Plateau, the centripetal pattern does in arid basin of the northwest China. the parallel pattern does in Hengduan mountains affected strongly by tectonic movement between Yangtze paraplatform and Indian Plate, does in the upper stream of Yangtze River and Ganges River in the south of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the radial pattern in Huaihe Haihe River drainage basin appearing in the alluvial fan region of Yellow River's downstream and the anastomotic pattern does in the delta of Yangtze River, in the northern coastal plain of the Jiangsu-Province and in the delta of Zhujiang River. Except these areas in the peripheral drainage basin, the dendritic pattern is usually found in the other areas.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 2001

Global robust diagnostic models are established based on MOM of GFDL to study the circulation in the world ocean. The horizontal grid sizes 1/2 degree, and the vertical water column is divided into 21 levels. The hydrographic data are taken from Levitus et al.(1994) and the wind stress from Hellerman and Rosenstein (1983). Based on the model results the horizontal volume, heat and salt transports across some representative sections are calculated. The preliminary results show that Though the cross-equator volume transports in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans are all small, the heat transports across equator in the Atlantic are northward. This is clearly a result of the southward flow of the North Atlantic Deep Water and the northward compensating warm flow in the upper layer. The annual mean of the cross-equator heat transport in the Pacific Ocean from the present model is significantly lower than that calculated by Philander et at. (1987). This might indicate the importance of the Indonesian Throughflow in the heat transport in the Pacific Ocean. Our calculation shows that the heat transport through the Indonesian Archipelago is 0.5 PW, which is comparable with the poleward heat transport in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The difference in heat transports across the sections 5 and 6 demonstrates the important role of the Agulhas Current in the heat balance of the world ocean.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Castor oil and wormseed extract are important active ingredients for biopesticide, and ricinoleic acid in castor oil and three monoterpenes (ascaridole, carvacrol and p-cymene) in wormseed extract are known bioactive substances. However, their stabilities had not been studied, even though the stability was the core property for estimation of shelf-life of biopesticide. Aimed to investigate the thermal stabilities of the bioactive substances in castor oil and wormseed extracts. METHODS AND RESULTS: The contents of ricinoleic acid and three monoterpenes (ascaridole, carvacrol and p-cymene) were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The thermal stabilities of the bioactive substance were measured at $0^{\circ}C$, $23^{\circ}C$, $30^{\circ}C$, $40^{\circ}C$, $45^{\circ}C$ and $54^{\circ}C$ for 84 d. The half-lives of ricinoleic acid in biopesticides was ranged from 28.9 d to 57.8 d at $30^{\circ}C$, and the stability of pure castor oil were located in the range ($t_{1/2}$=46.2d for Indian product and 27.7 d for Korean product) at the same temperature. The half-lives of the total monoterpenes in biopesticides were ranged from 3.9 d to 27.7 d at $30^{\circ}C$. Among the monoterpenes, the stability ascaridole and p-cymene were decreased in acidic condition. All the bioactive substances showed similar stability on the different thermal conditions. CONCLUSION:The half-lives of most bioactive substance from castor oil and wormseed extracts were less than 100 d. To increase the stability of bioactive substance in biopesticide, stabilizing additives like antioxidant and oxygen remover should be considered to extend of the shelf-life.

• Agribusiness and Information Management
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.27-39
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• 2019

Agricultural risks are exacerbated by a variety of factors ranging from climatevariability and change, frequent natural disasters, uncertainties in yields and prices, weakrural infrastructure, imperfect markets and lack of financial services including limited spanand design of risk mitigation instruments such as credit and insurance. Indian agriculture has little more than half (53%) of its area still rainfed and this makes it highly sensitive to vagaries of climate causing unstable output. Besides adverse climatic factors, there are man-made disasters such as fire, sale of spurious seeds, adulteration of pesticides and fertilizers etc., and all these severely affect farmers through loss in production and farm income, and are beyond the control of farmers. Hence, crop insurance' is considered to be the promising tool to insulate the farmers from risks faced by them and to sustain them in the agri-business. This paper critically evaluates the performance of recent crop insurance scheme viz., Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) and its comparative performance with earlier agricultural insurance schemes implemented in the country. It is heartening that, the comparative performance of PMFBY with earlier schemes revealed that, the Government has definitely taken a leap forward in covering more number of farmers and bringing more area under crop insurance with the execution of this new scheme and on this front, it deserves the appreciation in fulfilling the objective for bringing more number of farmers under insurance cover. The use of mobile based technology, reduced number of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) and smart CCEs, digitization of land record and linking them to farmers' account for faster assessment/settlement of claims are some of the steps that contributed for effective implementation of this new crop insurance scheme. However, inadequate claim payments, errors in loss/yield assessment, delayed claim payment, no direct linkage between insurance companies and farmers are the major shortcomings of this scheme. This calls for revamping the crop insurance program in India from time to time in tune with the dynamic changes in climatic factors on one hand and to provide a safety-net for farmers to mitigate losses arising from climatic shocks on the other. The future research avenues include: insuring the revenue of the farmer (Price × Yield) as in USA and more and more tenant farmers should be brought under insurance by doling out discounts for group coverage of farmers like in Philippines where 20 per cent discount in premium is given for a group of 5-10 farmers, 30 per cent for a group of 10-20 and 40 per cent for a group of >20 farmers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2014

The increased threat to commercial shipping by Somalia-based pirates has triggered an increased use of PMSC(Private Maritime Security Contractors). The use of PMSC to protect merchant ships against Somali-based piracy threat seems to have been most effective counter-piracy measures. However, there are various legal and practical questions around using PMSC and PCASP(Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel) on board at sea. This paper aims to study the regulation and its problems of PMSC and PCASP on board to protect merchant ships against Somali-based piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. In particular, this paper focuses on the legal issues including jurisdictional issues of PCASP on board merchant vessels, use of force by PCASP in self-defense, and authority for using PMSC. Currently, the legal framework relating to use of PMSC and PCASP on board protecting ships from Somali-based piracy is complex, sometimes ambiguous or inconsistent, and currently in a state of flux. Thus, this paper concludes that at this juncture an effort to coordinate this legal framework is necessary, as regards both the interpretation of existing rules related to PCASP on board merchant ships under UNCLOS(United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the creation of new rules. Also, this paper suggested that there is an urgent need to establish the PMSC-specific laws in Korea.