• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.133-144
• /
• 2009

Background and Objectives: Sinusitis, referring to an inflammatory disease that occurs on the mucus membrane inside the sinus, is one of the most common diseases in the otorhinolaryngology area. In oriental clinic, Sunbanghwalmyungeum (SHE) has been used as a primary prescription to treat inflammatory diseases and intumescence and to treat sinusitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects of SHE on acute sinusitis induced mice. Materials and Methods: BALB/c mice were divided into three groups: the normal group, the group inoculated with S. pneumoniae which caused them allergic rhinitis (control group), and the group treated with the SHE extract after it was treated the same as the control group (sample group). We investigated the inhibition of Th 2 cell differentiation by SHE and the suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. Results: NF-${\kappa}B$ activation was suppressed, and iNOS & COX-2 production were inhibited by SHE in acute sinusitis. IL-4 and STAT 6 also appeared to be suppressed. The number of eosinophils in the sample group noticeably decreased when compared to the control group. In the general morphologic change, the increase of damaged respiratory ciliated epithelium & eosinophil's infiltration were decreased in the sample group. Goblet cells were maintained in the sample group. MIP-2 and HSP-70 decreased in the sample group. Apocrine secretion decreased in the sample group. Conclusion: The results suggest that SHE is significantly effective in the treatment of inflammation caused by acute sinusitis through the suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ activation and the inhibition of Th 2 cell differentiation.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.92-98
• /
• 2016

To aim of this study was to assess the full scan and half scan of imaging with half scan factor. Patients without a cerebral vascular disease (n = 30) and were subject to the full scan half scan, and set a region of interest in the cerebral artery from the three regions (C1, C2, C3) in the range of 7 to 8 mm. MIP (maximum intensity projection) to reconstruct the images in signal strength SNR (signal to noise ration), PSNR (peak signal noise to ratio), RMSE (root mean square error), MAE (mean absolute error) and calculated by paired t-test for use by statistics were analyzed. Scan time was half scan (4 minutes 53 seconds), the full scan (6 minutes 04 seconds). The mean measurement range (7.21 mm) of all the ROI in the brain blood vessel, was the SNR of the first C1 is completely scanned (58.66 dB), half-scan (62.10 dB), a positive correlation ($r^2=0.503$), for the second C2 SNR is completely scanned (70.30 dB), half-scan (74.67 dB) the amount of correlation ($r^2=0.575$), third C3 of a complete scan SNR (70.33 dB), half scan SNR (74.64 dB) in the amount of correlation between the It was analyzed with ($r^2=0.523$). Comparative full scan with half of SNR ($4.75{\pm}0.26dB$), PSNR ($21.87{\pm}0.28dB$), RMSE ($48.88{\pm}1.61$), was calculated as MAE ($25.56{\pm}2.2$). SNR is also applied to examine the half-scans are not many differences in the quality of the two scan methods were not statistically significant in the scan (p-value > .05) image takes less time than a full scan was used.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.128-138
• /
• 2015

Carbonation is one of the most critical deterioration phenomena to concrete structures exposed to high $CO_2$ concentration, sheltered from rain. Lots of researches have been performed on evaluation of carbonation depth and changes in hydrate compositions, however carbonation modeling is limitedly carried out due to complicated carbonic reaction and diffusion coefficient. This study presents a simplified carbonation model considering diffusion coefficient, solubility of $Ca(OH)_2$, porosity reduction, and carbonic reaction rate for low concentration. For verification, accelerated carbonation test with varying temperature and MIP (Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry) test are carried out, and carbonation depths are compared with those from the previous and the proposed model. Field data with low $CO_2$ concentration is compared with those from the proposed model. The proposed model shows very reasonable results like carbonation depth and consuming $Ca(OH)_2$ through reduced diffusion coefficient and porosity compared with the previous model.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.83-96
• /
• 2017

As a way to address global warming, among the renewable energy sources, there have been heavy investments worldwide for the development of offshore wind farms. However, such development has a drawback: investment costs are higher than those for onshore wind farms due to required operations such as offshore transportation and installation. In particular, delays in installation due to adverse maritime weather conditions are factors that affect the economics of offshore wind farms' operation. Therefore, in this study, we analyze the optimal schedule of the construction of an offshore wind farm from a macro perspective by considering the weather conditions in Korea. For this purpose, we develop a mathematical model and apply it to a 2.5 GW offshore wind farm project on the southwestern coast of the country. We use data from the Korea Meteorological Agency for maritime weather conditions and attempt to reflect the actual input data based on precedent cases overseas. The results show that it takes 6 months to install 35 offshore wind turbines. More specifically, it is pointed out that it is possible to minimize costs by not working in winter.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.168-176
• /
• 2023

Silicon (Si) has the potential to improve plant growth and stress tolerance. The study aimed to explore Si-involving plant responses and molecular characterization of different Si-responsive genes in alfalfa. In this study, the exogenous supplementation of Si enhanced plant growth, and biomass yield. Si-acquisition in alfalfa root and shoot was higher in Si-supplemented compared to silicon deficient (-Si) plants, implying Si-acquisition has beneficial on alfalfa plants. As a consequence, the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) was significantly increased in silicon-sufficient (+Si) plants. The quantitative gene expression analysis exhibited a significant upregulation of the Lsi1, Lsi2, Lsi3, NIP5;1, and NIP6;1 genes in alfalfa roots, while BOR1, BOR4, NIP2, and NIP3 showed no significant variation in their expression. The MEME results further noticed the association of four motifs related to the major intrinsic protein (MIP). The interaction analysis revealed that NIP5;1 and Lsi1 showed a shared gene network with NIP2, BOR1, and BOR4, and Lsi2, Lsi3 and NIP3-1, respectively. These results suggest that members of the major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) family especially Lsi1, Lsi2, Lsi3, NIP5;1, and NIP6;1 genes helped to pass water and other neutral solutes through the cell membrane and those played significant roles in Si uptake and transport in plants. Together, these insights might be useful for alfalfa breeding and genome editing approaches for alfalfa improvement.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.94-102
• /
• 1997

Purpose: There have been some efforts to diagnose intracranial aneurysm through a non-invasive method using MRA, although the process may be difficult when the lesion is less than 3mm. The present study prospectively compares the results of high resolution, fast speed slice interpolation MRA and DSA thereby examing the potentiality of primary non-invasive screening test. Materials and Methods: A total of 26 cerebral aneurysm lesions from 14 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage from ruptured aneurysm (RA) and 5 patients with unruptured aneurysm(UA). In all subjects, MRA was taken to confirm the vessel of origin, definition of aneurysm neck and the relationship of the aneurysm to nearby small vessels, and the results were compared with the results of DSA. The images were obtained with 1.5T superconductive machine (Vision, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) on 4 slabs of MRA using slice interpolation. The settings include TR/TE/FA=30/6.4/25, matrix $160{\times}512$, FOV $150{\times}200$, 7minutes 42 seconds of scan time, effective thickness of 0.7 mm and an entire thickness of 102. 2mm. The images included structures from foramen magnum to A3 portion of anterior cerebral artery. MIP was used for the image analysis, and multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) technique was used in cases of intracranial aneurysm. Results: A total of 26 intracranial aneurysm lesions from 19 patients with 2 patients having 3 lesion, 3 patients having 2 lesions and the rest of 14 patients having 1 lesion each were examined. Among those, 14 were RA and 12 were UA. Eight lesions were less than 2mm in size, 9 lesions were 3-5mm, 7 were 6-9mm and 2 were larger than IOmm. On initial exams, 25 out of 26 aneurysm lesions were detected in either MRA or DSA showing 96% sensitivity. Specificity cannot be estimated since there was no true negative of false positive findings. When MRA and MPR were used concurrently for the confirmation of size and shape, the results were equivalent to those of DSA, while in the confirmation of aneurysm neck and parent vessels, the concurrent use of MRA and MPR was far superior to the sole use of either MRA or DSA. Conclusion: High resolution MRA using slice interpolation technique showed equal results as those of DSA for the detection of intracranial aneurysm, and may be used as a primary non-invasive screening test in the future.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.18-25
• /
• 2007

Background: Although glucocorticoids (GCs) are effective in controlling asthma in the majority of patients, a subset of asthmatics fails to demonstrate a satisfactory response, even to systemic GC therapy. This population is referred to as being "steroid-resistant". The actual mechanism underlying steroid resistance in asthma remains to be elucidated. Methods: We have investigated how dexamethasone (DEX) regulates asthmatic phenotypes in a murine model of asthma, in which mice received i.p. immunization twice, followed by two bronchoprovocations with aerosolized OVA with a one-week interval, which we have recently described. Results: Pretreatment with DEX resulted in an inhibition of NF-${\kappa}B$ activation in asthmatic lungs, and also inhibited bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) levels of NF-${\kappa}B$-dependent cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$ and CC chemokines [eotaxin and monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1]. DEX was effective in suppressing airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) at 10 h, Th2-dependent asthmatic phenotypes such as airway eosinophilia, BAL levels of Th2 cytokines (IL-5 and IL-13), and mucin production. However, DEX failed to suppress BAL levels of CXC chemokines [macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) and keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC)] and airway neutrophilia. Conclusion: Airway neutrophilia is among the phenomena observed in patients with severe GC-resistant asthma. This study will provide insight into the molecular basis for airway neutrophila seen in steroid-resistant asthma. Further studies are required to delineate the underlying mechanism of CXC chemokine expression in asthma.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.654-666
• /
• 2019

The tactical network has several different characteristics compared with commercial internet network such as hierarchical topology, dynamic topology changing and wireless link based connectivity. For considering IP mobility management in the tactical network, current mobility management using Mobile IP(MIP) is not suitable with some reasons such as non-optimal routing paths and single point of failure. Proxy Mobile IP(PMIP) which supporting network-based mobility in hierarchical manner can provide optimal routing path in the tactical network environment, but centralized anchor is still remained a threat to the stability of the tactical network which changes its topology dynamically. In this paper, we propose PMIP-based distributed mobility management for the tactical network environment. From our design, routing paths are always configured in optimized way, as well as path is recovered quickly when the mobility anchor of user is failed. From numerical analysis, comparing to other mobility scheme, result shows that the proposed scheme can reduce packet transmission cost and latency in tactical network model.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.125-131
• /
• 2005

Purpose : For stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of a tumor in the region whose movement due to respiration is significant, like Lung lower lobe, the gated therapy, which delivers radiation dose to the selected respiratory phases when tumor motion is small, was performed using the Respiratory gating system and its clinical effectiveness was evaluated. Materials and Methods : For two SRS patients with a tumor in Lung lower lobe, a marker block (infrared reflector) was attached on the abdomen. While patient' respiratory cycle was monitored with Real-time Position Management (RPM, Varian, USA), 4D CT was performed (10 phases per a cycle). Phases in which tumor motion did not change rapidly were decided as treatment phases. The treatment volume was contoured on the CT images for selected treatment phases using maximum intensity projection (MIP) method. In order to verify setup reproducibility and positional variation, 4D CT was repeated. Results : Gross tumor volume (GTV) showed maximum movement in superior-inferior direction. For patient #1, motion of GTV was reduced to 2.6 mm in treatment phases ($30{\sim}60%$), while that was 9.4 mm in full phases ($0{\sim}90%$) and for patient #2, it was reduced to 2.3 mm in treatment phases ($30{\sim}70%$), while it was 11.7 mm in full phases ($0{\sim}90%$). When comparing two sets of CT images, setup errors in all the directions were within 3 mm. Conclusion : Since tumor motion was reduced less than 5 mm, the Respiratory gating system for SRS of Lung lower lobe is useful.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.12-21
• /
• 2012

Background and Objectives : Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common diseases in the otorhinolaryngology area. in oriental clinic, Hyunggaeyungyo-tang(HYT) has been used as a primary prescription to treat allergic rhinitis. However, there have been no studies so far performed on the effect of this HYT use. The purpose of this study was find out therapeutic effects of its exclusive use on the rat with allergic rhinitis. Material and Methods : Thirty BALB/c mice were divided into three group : normal group(NOR), control group(CON) inoculated with allergic rhinitis and sample group(SAM) treated with the HYT extract after it was treated the same as the control group. Rats were sensitized intraperitoneally with ovalbumin solution 4times at intervals of 2 days. After that time, rats in SAM were administered by HYT to treat the inflammation. Results : 1. The number of eosinophil in SAM noticeably decreased than CON and this decrease had probability. The inhibition of eosinophil distribution. The infiltration of eosinophil in SAM noticeably decreased than CON. 2. The damaged mucosa as disruption of cilia in respiratory cell, vacant mucose secreting cell and infiltration of inflammation intricate cells in CON were increased than NOR, but SAM same as normal configuration. Decrease of icthing and sneezing intricate neurotransmitter (substance P). Decrease of angiogenesis intricate cytokine(MIP-2). 3. Transcription factor(NF-${\kappa}B$ p65) was decreased. 4. Transcription factor inhibitor(p-$I{\kappa}B$) was decreased. 5. Inflammation cytokine(iNOS) was decreased. Conclusion : The results suggest that HYT is significantly effective in the treatment of inflammation caused by allergic rhinitis through the suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ activation and iNOS production.