• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.656-679
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• 2022

Objectives: The aims of this study were to evaluate the fidelity of stroke stage reporting, the timeliness of the outcome measures, and the use of the core outcome set. Methods: We searched the literature using 6 domestic databases. We selected studies that used Korean medicine interventions and targeted stroke patients with motor sequelae. We examined whether the included studies reported the stroke stage and whether they used the outcome measures in the appropriate period based on the recommendations of the "Stroke Evidence Database to Guide Effectiveness". We also confirmed the use of the essential assessment tools suggested by the core outcome set. Results: Overall, 77 studies were finally selected, with 16 (21%), 55 (71%), and 6 (8%) published on the acute, subacute, and chronic phases, respectively. Only 11 of the studies directly mentioned the stroke stage. The most commonly used assessments were the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Modified Barthel Index, and Manual Muscle Testing. Only 5 studies failed to apply the stage-related outcome measures at the recommended period. The outcome variables used inadequately were the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Functional Ambulation Categories, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, and Mini-Mental State Examination. Among the core outcome set items, some studies used liver and renal function tests, but no herbal medicine safety reporting was conducted. Conclusions: In future studies, we propose to ensure accurate reporting of the stroke stage with reliable outcome measures to deliver better clinical and research outcomes. Furthermore, in future clinical studies on stroke, a standard protocol that reflects the core outcome set should be developed.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.325-335
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• 2024

Background and Objectives: The number of sensitized heart failure patients on waiting lists for heart transplantation (HTx) is increasing. Using the Korean Organ Transplantation Registry (KOTRY), a nationwide multicenter database, we investigated the prevalence and clinical impact of calculated panel-reactive antibody (cPRA) in patients undergoing HTx. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 813 patients who underwent HTx between 2014 and 2021. Patients were grouped according to peak PRA level as group A: patients with cPRA ≤10% (n= 492); group B: patients with cPRA >10%, <50% (n=160); group C patients with cPRA ≥50% (n=161). Post-HTx outcomes were freedom from antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), acute cellular rejection, coronary allograft vasculopathy, and all-cause mortality. Results: The median follow-up duration was 44 (19-72) months. Female sex, re-transplantation, and pre-HTx renal replacement therapy were independently associated with an increased risk of sensitization (cPRA ≥50%). Group C patients were more likely to have longer hospital stays and to use anti-thymocyte globulin as an induction agent compared to groups A and B. Significantly more patients in group C had positive flow cytometric crossmatch and had a higher incidence of preformed donor-specific antibody (DSA) compared to groups A and B. During follow-up, group C had a significantly higher rate of AMR, but the overall survival rate was comparable to that of groups A and B. In a subgroup analysis of group C, post-transplant survival was comparable despite higher preformed DSA in a desensitized group compared to the non-desensitized group. Conclusions: Patients with cPRA ≥50% had significantly higher incidence of preformed DSA and lower freedom from AMR, but post-HTx survival rates were similar to those with cPRA <50%. Our findings suggest that sensitized patients can attain comparable post-transplant survival to non-sensitized patients when treated with optimal desensitization treatment and therapeutic intervention.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.226-231
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• 2007

Housekeeping genes are widely used as internal controls in a variety of study types, including real time RT-PCR, microarrays, Northern analysis and RNase protection assays. However, even commonly used housekeeping genes may vary in stability depending on the cell type or disease being studied. Thus, it is necessary to identify additional housekeeping-type genes that show sample-independent stability. Here, we used statistical analysis to examine a large human microarray database, seeking genes that were stably expressed in various tissues, disease states and cell lines. We further selected genes that were expressed at different levels, because reference and target genes should be present in similar copy numbers to achieve reliable quantitative results. Real time RT-PCR amplification of three newly identified reference genes, CGI-119, CTBP1 and GOLGAl, alongside three well-known housekeeping genes, B2M, GAPD, and TUBB, confirmed that the newly identified genes were more stably expressed in individual samples with similar ranges. These results collectively suggest that statistical analysis of microarray data can be used to identify new candidate housekeeping genes showing consistent expression across tissues and diseases. Our analysis identified three novel candidate housekeeping genes (CGI-119, GOLGA1, and CTBP1) that could prove useful for normalization across a variety of RNA-based techniques.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.836-845
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• 2005

Atherosclerosis, which is a degenerative vascular disease, is believed to occur in the blood vessels due to deposition of cholesterol or low density lipoprotein (LDL). Atherosclerotic lumen narrowing causes reduction of blood flow due to hemodynamic features. Several hypothetical theories related to the hemodynamic effects have been reported : high shear stress theory, low shear stress theory, high shear stress gradient theory, flow separation and turbulence theory, and high pressure theory. However, no one theory clearly explains, the causes of atherosclerosis. The objective of the present study was to investigate the mechanism of the generation of atherosclerosis. In the study, the database of Korean carotid and coronary arteries for geometrical and hemodynamic clinical data was established. The atherosclerotic sites were predicted by the computer simulations. The results of the computer simulation were compared with the in vivo experimental results, and then the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis by using the clinical data and several hypothetical theories were investigated. From the investigation, it was concluded carefully that the mechanism of the generation of atherosclerosis was related to the hemodynamic effects such as flow separation and oscillatory wall shear stress on the vessel walls.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2020

Purpose: This research aims to investigate the impact of corporate integrity on stock price crash risk. Research design, data, and methodology: Taking 1419 firms listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China as a sample, this paper empirically analyzed the relationship between corporate integrity and stock price crash risk. The main integrity data was hand-collected from Shenzhen Stock Exchange Website. Other financial data was collected from CSMAR Database. Results: Findings show that corporate integrity can significantly decrease stock price crash risk. After changing the selection of samples, model estimation methods and the proxy variable of stock price crash risk, the conclusion is still valid. Further research shows that the relationship between corporate integrity and stock price crash risk is only found in firms with weak internal control and firms in poor legal system areas. Conclusions: Results of the study suggest that corporate integrity has a significant influence on behaviors of managers. Business ethics reduces the likelihood of managers to overstate financial performance and hide bad news, which leads to the low likelihood of future stock price crashes. Meanwhile, corporate integrity can supplement internal control and legal system in decreasing stock price crash risks.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.130-136
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• 2002

The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in the genus Tricholoma was analyzed, including for its primary nucleotide sequence and secondary structural characterization. The secondary structures of the ITS2 region in the genus Tricholoma were identified for use in bioinformatic processes to study molecular evolution and compare secondary structures. Ten newly sequenced ITS regions were added to the analysis and submitted to the GenBank database. The resulting structure from a minimum energy algorithm indicated the four-domain model, as previously suggested by others. The conserved secondary structure of the ITS2 sequences of the genus Tricholoma exhibited certain unique features, including pyrimidine tracts in the loops of domain A and a complete structure containing four domains, with motifs identified in other ITS2 secondary structures. A phylogenetic tree was derived from sequence alignment based on the secondary structures. From the resulting maximum parsimonious tree, it was found that the species in the genus Tricholoma had evolved monophyletically and were composed of four groups, as supported by the bootstrapping values and pileus color.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.399-404
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• 2005

To investigate drug interaction, 23,536 prescriptions published for 1 year were investigated with 'Drug Inter­action Fact 2002'. Dispensing records and a database file written in a local general hospital in South Korea were used as a sample. The number of total cases of drug interaction was 3,238 ($13.76\%$) out of 23,536 prescriptions. The incidence of drug interaction in each prescription the children, the adults, and the elderly were $1.33\%,\;10.97\%,\;25.50\%$, respectively. The incidences of drug interaction per each prescription were $22.03\%,\;20.52\%,\;0.51\%,\;and\;0.36\%$ in neurosurgery, internal med­icine, pediatrics, and orthopedics, respectively. In neurosurgery and internal medicine, risk-high drugs of drug interaction such as antihypertensive drugs, diuretics, and cimetidine were used very often in elderly. In this paper, several suggestions to reduce drug interaction were postulated with regard to the usage of analgesics, non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and antibiotics.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current state of clinical trials for acupuncture treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) using neuroimaging methods. Methods: We searched for clinical trial studies of acupuncture treatment for Parkinson's disease that used neuroimaging methods in the MEDLINE (PubMed) database. The identified studies were then selected manually based on inclusion criteria. We subsequently analyzed the characteristics of the selected articles and reviewed the neural substrates of acupuncture treatment in PD. Results: Eight studies were included. The most frequently applied modality for PD was functional MRI. The most frequently selected acupoint for PD was GV34. Several studies showed that acupuncture treatment could improve the symptoms of PD. Through the analysis, we demonstrated that the neuroimaging method could capture the neural substrates associated with PD and that acupuncture treatment may affect the activation of brain areas that are impaired in PD in a different way than sham acupuncture. Conclusions: Applying a neuroimaging method could be helpful in clinical trials of acupuncture treatment for PD, and more efforts should be made in this area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.720-723
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• 2003

So far the study of digital home has mainly been made up of the network technology and the sorority system, but the application to consider the discriminatory characteristics of the individual family members has been interested in comparison with the necessity. The system proposed in this study is to get the information of the internal users through the access-controlling system. The controller offers the discriminatory environment by activating the database of the internal users and controls the sub-system of the home-network. The suggested system can automatically offer the discriminatory environment among the family members by limiting TV programs or channels according to the users' age, by offering other internet environment according to the users, by putting restrictions on telephone numbers, or by restricting the settling right of the home-shopping companies.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.180-185
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• 2015

In the present work, a pair of primers specific to Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) was designed to allow specific amplification of DNA fragments from any TYLCV isolates using an extensive alignment of the complete genome sequences of TYLCV isolates deposited in the GenBank database. A pair of primers which allows the specific amplification of tomato ${\beta}$-tubulin gene was also analyzed as an internal PCR control. A duplex PCR method with the developed primer sets showed that TYLCV could be directly detected from the leaf crude sap of infected tomato plants. In addition, our developed duplex PCR method could determine PCR errors for TYLCV diagnosis, suggesting that this duplex PCR method with the primer sets is a good tool for specific and sensitive TYLCV diagnosis. The developed duplex PCR method was further verified from tomato samples collected from some farms in Korea, suggesting that this developed PCR method is a simple and reliable tool for rapid and large-scale TYLCV detections in tomato plants.