• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1037-1043
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• 2016

Epigenetic processes in the development of skeletal muscle have been appreciated for over a decade. DNA methylation is a major epigenetic modification important for regulating gene expression and suppressing spurious transcription. Up to now, the importance of epigenetic marks in the regulation of Pax7 and myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) expression is far less explored. In the present study, semi-quantitative the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses showed MyoD and Myf5 were expressed in activated and quiescent C2C12 cells. MyoG was expressed in a later stage of myogenesis. Pax7 was weakly expressed in differentiated C2C12 cells. To further understand the regulation of expression of these genes, the DNA methylation status of Pax7, MyoD, and Myf5 was determined by bisulfite sequencing PCR. During the C2C12 myoblasts fusion process, the changes of promoter and exon 1 methylation of Pax7, MyoD, and Myf5 genes were observed. In addition, an inverse relationship of low methylation and high expression was found. These results suggest that DNA methylation may be an important mechanism regulating Pax7 and MRFs transcription in cell myogenic differentiation.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.647-653
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between female and male ballet dancers in anterior cruciate ligament injury risk factors during the box drop landing task. Nine female and nine male collegiate ballet dancers participated in this study. Kinematic and ground reaction data were collected and combined with inverse dynamics to estimate the knee extensor and abductor moment. EMG data from the biceps femoris and rectus femoris were used to estimate the ratio of quadriceps-hamstrings muscle activity. No gender differences in anterior cruciate ligament injury risk factors were found during the box drop landing task. A significant relationship was found between female and male ballet dancers in the knee flexion angle.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.70-78
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• 2007

The performance of face recognition is greatly affected by the illumination effect because intra-person variation under different lighting conditions can be much bigger than the inter-person variation. In this paper, we propose an illumination robust face recognition by separating identity factor and illumination factor using the symmetric bilinear models. The translation procedure in the bilinear model requires a repetitive computation of matrix inverse operation to reach the identity and illumination factors. Sometimes, this computation may result in a nonconvergent case when the observation has an noisy information. To alleviate this situation, we suggest a ridge regressive bilinear model that combines the ridge regression into the bilinear model. This combination provides some advantages: it makes the bilinear model more stable by shrinking the range of identity and illumination factors appropriately, and it improves the recognition performance by reducing the insignificant factors effectively. Experiment results show that the ridge regressive bilinear model outperforms significantly other existing methods such as the eigenface, quotient image, and the bilinear model in terms of the recognition rate under a variety of illuminations.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.231-237
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this study to provide preliminary data to effective halitosis control. Methods : A survey was carried out the self-perception of causative factors of halitosis in 98 female college students in Chungnam province. In addition, the levels of oral gas and breath gas were measured by use of the B&B checker, and an analysis was made of the correlation between halitosis and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Results : 1. Subjective halitosis awareness degree different degree of dryness, 'None', 'some', 'little' people who feel as the 'little fly' (68%), 78.3%, 70% was higher (p<0.05), halitosis interest 'very worried', 'worry', 'normal' person with a' not at all 'to 58.3% higher (p<0.01). 2. In regard to OCD severity, 49.0%, 34.7% and 16.3% were found to be mild, moderate and severe respectively. Halitosis tended to be severe in proportion to OCD severity, which was statistically significant (p<0.05). 3. Oral gas had a positively correlation with breath gas (r=0.329, p<0.01), but had a negative one with OCD severity (r=0.204, p<0.05). Conclusions : Symptoms of oral dryness and halitosis interest were associated with self-perception of halitosis. The levels of oral gas and breath gas were in inverse proportion to OCD severity. Hereat, it needs to analyze psychogenic factors properly as regards the diagnosis or treatment of halitosis.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.719-747
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• 2012

In this paper a novel approach is proposed to address the problem of deriving non-stationary stochastic processes which are compatible in the mean sense with a given (target) response (uniform hazard) spectrum (UHS) as commonly desired in the aseismic structural design regulated by contemporary codes of practice. The appealing feature of the approach is that it is non-iterative and "one-step". This is accomplished by solving a standard over-determined minimization problem in conjunction with appropriate median peak factors. These factors are determined by a plethora of reported new Monte Carlo studies which on their own possess considerable stochastic dynamics merit. In the proposed approach, generation and treatment of samples of the processes individually on a deterministic basis is not required as is the case with the various "two-step" approaches found in the literature addressing the herein considered task. The applicability and usefulness of the approach is demonstrated by furnishing extensive numerical data associated with the elastic design UHS of the current European (EC8) and the Chinese (GB 50011) aseismic code provisions. Purposely, simple and thus attractive from a practical viewpoint, uniformly modulated processes assuming either the Kanai-Tajimi (K-T) or the Clough-Penzien (C-P) spectral form are employed. The Monte Carlo studies yield damping and duration dependent median peak factor spectra, given in a polynomial form, associated with the first passage problem for UHS compatible K-T and C-P uniformly modulated stochastic processes. Hopefully, the herein derived stochastic processes and median peak factor spectra can be used to facilitate the aseismic design of structures regulated by contemporary code provisions in a Monte Carlo simulation-based or stochastic dynamics-based context of analysis.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.41-50
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• 2009

Although Chronic tension-type headache(CTTH) is one of the most common symptom in primary headache, there is no definite mechanisms. But muscular factors and psychological factors is supposed to be related with CTTH according to many other studies and pressure pain threshold(PPT) is used to measure muscular factors. Methods 1. We performed this study with 63 patients fulfilling the International Headache Societ criteria for chronic tension-type headache and 20 healthy control group and measured the PPT of temporal muscle and trapezius muscle. 2. We investigated the correlation between clinical characteristic and PPT. 3. Each of the CTTH groups and Control group is divided to four group again - HNP, Spondylosis, Sprain, Normal according to Cervical spine X-ray. Results 1. The PPT of temporal muscle and trapezius muscle in the CTTH is significantly lower than that of Control. 2. In CTTH group, the PPT has significant positive relation with duration of headache and continued time of headache. And the PPT has significant inverse relation with Frequency of headache and Level of headache. 3. In CTTH group, spondylosis group has the highest PPT and normal group is second. And there are significant difference between spondylosis group and the others. Conclusion : We found that PPT is strongly significant to measure muscular factor in CTTH.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.581-609
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• 2012

In this paper a novel non-iterative approach is proposed to address the problem of deriving non-stationary stochastic processes which are compatible in the mean sense with a given (target) response (uniform hazard) spectrum (UHS) as commonly desired in the aseismic structural design regulated by contemporary codes of practice. This is accomplished by solving a standard over-determined minimization problem in conjunction with appropriate median peak factors. These factors are determined by a plethora of reported new Monte Carlo studies which on their own possess considerable stochastic dynamics merit. In the proposed approach, generation and treatment of samples of the processes individually on a deterministic basis is not required as is the case with the various approaches found in the literature addressing the herein considered task. The applicability and usefulness of the approach is demonstrated by furnishing extensive numerical data associated with the elastic design UHS of the current European (EC8) and the Chinese (GB 50011) aseismic code provisions. Purposely, simple and thus attractive from a practical viewpoint, uniformly modulated processes assuming either the Kanai-Tajimi (K-T) or the Clough-Penzien (C-P) spectral form are employed. The Monte Carlo studies yield damping and duration dependent median peak factor spectra, given in a polynomial form, associated with the first passage problem for UHS compatible K-T and C-P uniformly modulated stochastic processes. Hopefully, the herein derived stochastic processes and median peak factor spectra can be used to facilitate the aseismic design of structures regulated by contemporary code provisions in a Monte Carlo simulation-based or stochastic dynamics-based context of analysis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.214-219
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• 2019

The role of tumor-proximal factors in tumor plasticity during chemoresistance and metastasis following chemotherapy is well studied. However, the role of endothelial cell (EC) derived paracrine factors in tumor plasticity, their effect on chemotherapeutic outcome, and the mechanism by which these paracrine factors modulate the tumor microenvironment are not well understood. In this study, we report a novel mechanism by which endothelial miR-125a and let-7e-mediated regulation of interleukin-6 (IL-6) signaling can manipulate vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. We found that endothelial IL-6 levels were significantly higher in response to cisplatin treatment, whereas levels of IL-6 upon cisplatin exposure remained unchanged in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. We additionally found an inverse correlation between IL-6 and miR-125a/let-7e expression levels in cisplatin treated ECs. Interestingly, IL-6, IL-6 receptor (IL-6R), and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) genes in the IL-6 pathway are closely regulated by miR-125a and let-7e, which directly target its 3' untranslated region. Functional analyses revealed that endothelial miR-125a and let-7e inhibit IL-6-induced adhesion of monocytes to ECs. Furthermore, conditioned medium from cisplatin treated ECs induced a significantly higher formation of VM in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells as compared to that from intact ECs; this effect of cisplatin treatment was abrogated by concurrent overexpression of miR-125a and let-7e. Overall, this study reveals a novel EC-tumor cell crosstalk mediated by the endothelial miR-125a/let-7e-IL-6 signaling axis, which might improve chemosensitivity and provide potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of cancer.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.171-184
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• 2023

Purpose: First, this paper suggests an alternative approach to find optimal portfolio (stocks, bonds and ESG stocks) under the maximizing utility of investors. Second, we include ESG stocks in our optimal portfolio, and compare improvement of welfares in the case with and without ESG stocks in portfolio. Methods: Our main method of analysis follows Brennan et al(2002), designed under the continuous time framework. We assume that the dynamics of stock price follow the Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM) while the short rate have the Vasicek model. For the utility function of investors, we use the Power Utility Function, which commonly used in financial studies. The optimal portfolio and welfares are derived in the partial equilibrium. The parameters are estimated by using Kalman filter and ordinary least square method. Results: During the overall analysis period, the portfolio including ESG, did not show clear welfare improvement. In 2017, it has slightly exceeded this benchmark 1, showing the possibility of improvement, but the ESG stocks we selected have not strongly shown statistically significant welfare improvement results. This paper showed that the factors affecting optimal asset allocation and welfare improvement were different each other. We also found that the proportion of optimal asset allocation was affected by factors such as asset return, volatility, and inverse correlation between stocks and bonds, similar to traditional financial theory. Conclusion: The portfolio with ESG investment did not show significant results in welfare improvement is due to that 1) the KRX ESG Leaders 150 selected in our study is an index based on ESG integrated scores, which are designed to affect stability rather than profitability. And 2) Korea has a short history of ESG investment. During the limited analysis period, the performance of stock-related assets was inferior to bond assets at the time of the interest rate drop.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.48-56
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• 2024

Objective: This study investigated the relationship of anthropometric and metabolic risk factors with seminal and sex steroidal hormone parameters in a screened population of healthy males. Methods: The participants were healthy young men without chronic or congenital diseases. The body composition parameters that we investigated were measured weight, height, and waist circumference (WC), as well as bioelectrical impedance analysis. Semen samples were analyzed for semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility and morphology, seminal pH, and liquefaction time. Biochemistry analysis, including glucose and lipid metabolism parameters, was conducted on fasting blood samples. Testicular volume was calculated separately for each testis using ultrasonography. Results: Body mass index exhibited an inverse association with total sperm count. WC showed negative correlations with numerous seminal parameters, including sperm concentration, total sperm count, sperm morphology, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels. The basal metabolic rate was associated with seminal pH, liquefaction time, and sperm motility. WC, fat mass percentage, and triglyceride levels exhibited negative correlations with sex hormone binding globulin. The measures of glucose metabolism were associated with a greater number of seminal parameters than the measures of cholesterol metabolism. C-reactive protein levels were inversely associated with sperm concentration and total sperm count. Conclusion: Anthropometric and metabolic risk factors were found to predict semen quality and alterations in sex steroidal hormone levels.