• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.429-438
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• 2019

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is an innovative soil improvement approach utilizing metabolic activity of microbes to hydrolyze urea. In this paper, the shear response and the erodibility of MICP-treated sand under axial compression and submerged impinging jet were evaluated at a low confining stress range. Loose, poorly graded silica sand was used in testing. Specimens were cemented at low confining stresses until target shear wave velocities were achieved. Results indicated that the erodibility parameters of cemented specimens showed an increase in the critical shear stress by up to three orders of magnitude, while the erodibility coefficient decreased by up to four orders of magnitude. Such a trend was observed to be dependent on the level of cementation. The treated sand showed dilative behavior while the untreated sands showed contractive behavior. The shear modulus as a function of strain level, based on monitored shear wave velocity, indicated mineral debonding may commence at 0.05% axial strain. The peak strength was enhanced in terms of emerging cohesion parameter based on utilizing the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 1990

The effect of cimetidine on theophylline metabolism was examined in dogs. Single dose intravenous theophylline kinetic studies were performed in cross-over manner before and after one week intravenous cimetidine (30 mg/kg/day) treatment. Cimetidine decreased theophylline clearance by an average of 31% (p<0.05) and prolonged theophylline half-li fe by an average of 29% (p<0.01) compared to those in control peirods. However, steady-state volume of distribution and protein binding of theophylline were not changed significantly. Twenty-four hours urinary excretion of 3-methylxanthine, 1-methyluric acid and 1,3-dimethyluric acid, which are the major metabolites of theophylline, were all decreased after cimetidine treatment, whereas the excreted fractions of individual metabolites were unchanged by cimetidine. From the above data, it could be susggested that cimetidine decreases theophylline clearance and prolongs the half-life by non-specific inhibition of the demethylations and 8-hydroxylation pathways.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.146-159
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• 2011

The continuous increase in the production of metals and their subsequent release into the environment has lead to increased concentration of these elements in agricultural soils. Because microbes are involved in almost every chemical transformations taking place in the soil, considerable attention has been given to assessing their responses to metal contaminants. Short-term and long-term exposures to toxic metals have been shown to reduce microbial diversity, biomass and activities in the soil. Several studies show that microbial parameters like basal respiration, metabolic quotient, and enzymatic activities, including those of oxidoreductases and those involved in the cycle of C, N, P and other elements, exhibit sensitivity to soil metal concentrations. These have been therefore, regarded as good indices for assessing the impact of metal contaminants to the soil. Metal contamination has also been extensively shown to decrease species diversity and cause shifts in microbial community structure. Biochemical and molecular techniques that are currently being employed to detect these changes are continuously challenged by several limiting factors, although showing some degree of sensitivity and efficiency. Variations and inconsistencies in the responses of bioindicators to metal stress in the soil can also be explained by differences in bioavailability of the metal to the microorganisms. This, in turn, is influenced by soil characteristics such as CEC, pH, soil particles and other factors. Therefore, aside from selecting the appropriate techniques to better understand microbial responses to metals, it is also important to understand the prevalent environmental conditions that interplay to bring about observed changes in any given soil parameter.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2011

Acute ischemic stroke results from sudden decrease or loss of blood supply to an area of the brain, resulting in a coinciding loss of neurological function. The antioxidant action of melatonin is an important mechanism among its known effects to protective activity during ischemic/reperfusion injury. The focus of this research, therapeutic efficacy of melatonin on recovery of neurological function following long term treatment in ischemic brain injured rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=40; 8 weeks old) were divided into the control group, and MCAo groups (Vehicle, MT7 : MCAo+ melatonin injection at 7:00, MT19 : MCAo+melatonin injection at 19:00, and MT7,19 : MCAo+melatonin injection at 7:00 and 19:00). Rat body weight and neurological function were measured every week for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, the rats were anesthetized with a mixture of zoletil (40 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) and sacrificed for further analysis. Tissues were then collected for RNA isolation from brain tissue. Also, brain tissues were analyzed by histological procedures. We elucidated that melatonin was not toxic in vital organs. MT7,19 was the most rapidly got back to mild symptom on test of neurological parameter. Also, exogenous melatonin induces both the down-regulation of detrimental genes, such as NOSs and the up-regulation of beneficial gene, including BDNF during long term administration after focal cerebral ischemia. Melatonin treatment reduced the loss of primary motor cortex. Therefore, we suggest that melatonin could be act as prophylactic as well as therapeutic agent for neurorehabilitative intervention.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2002

This study was conducted to investigate the dietary intake, anthropometric data, and association between two factors and main food sources contributing macronutrients for overweight and obese females. Subjects were 85 adult females (overweight : 28, obese 57) where mean age was 38.7y. The results are summarized as follows. Mean fat percent, BMI, obesity rate were 29.3, 23.9 and 15.1%, respectively for overweight women and 32.7, 28.3, 36.4%, respectively for obese women. There were significant differences for most of the anthropometric data between groups. Fat percent for all subjects was significantly correlated with weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, mid arm circumference or skinfold thickness for the triceps, subscapular and suprailiac (p < 0.001). The parameter which showed the highest correlation coefficient (r=0.6156) with fat Percentage was the waist to hip ratio. Any significant differences were not found in dietary intake of nutrients or in diet composition between groups. The mean energy intake was 2090.1kcal (104% of RDA) for overweight women and 2113.0kcal (106% of RDA) for obese women. PFC ratio for overweight was 17 : 24 : 59 and 18 : 23 : 58 for obese subjects, which can be regarded as higher fat and lower carbohydrate percentages compared to recommended PFC ratio (15 20 65) .4) Fat intake was positively correlated (r : 0.2301, p < 0.05) with the triceps skinfold thickness, protein intake was also positively correlated with waist circumference (r=0.2668, p < 0.05) or fat weight(r: 0.2406, p < 0.05) .5) The main food items that contributed to energy intake for overweight or obese subjects were similar (rice, pork, bread, grapes, barley) except com oil in overweight or instant noodle for obese group. The subjects in this study were taking less energy from rice and more energy from pork and bread than women from 98 National Health and Nutrition Survey. Because there were no significant differences of dietary data between overweight and obese group, further investigation considering basal metabolic rate or activity would be needed.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.560-565
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• 2002

A COG(clusters of orthologous groups of proteins) algorithm was used to detect conserved genes within Proteobacteria and to figure out their relationships. Restricting comparison to the sequences of 42 procaryotes, 33 eubacteria and 16 Proteobacteria, the number of conserved genes was increased. All analyzed procaryotes shared 75 COGs. COG0195, COG0358 and COG0528 were only represented by the 42 procaryotes. Sixtyfour COGs were added as conserved genes in 33 eubacteria. Each Proteobacteria group has a unique repertoire of COGs. Metabolic COGs were more diverse in the beta Proteobacteria group than in the other groups. These results could be used to determine the origins and the evolutionary relationships of Proteobacteria. The possibilities of detecting new biological molecules is high in phylogenetically related organisms, hence the identification of useful proteins by using this algorithm is possible.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.135-143
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• 2012

Arterial stiffness is causing the serious problems for human who is suffered from hypertension and metabolic syndrome. So it is important that measure the arterial stiffness for early prevention. Many researches point out that pulse wave velocity(PWV) is the reliable and simple method to predict arterial stiffness. In this paper, we developed the sensing parts that detect the pulse wave and ECG by using piezoelectric film and conductive textile with elastic band. Our system could detect 3ch pulse wave and ECG. Simultaneously, our algorithm extracts the features for calculating the delays among pulse waves. The delays are the significant parameter to estimate PWV, thus we design the experiment for evaluating the performance of our sensing parts. The reference is PP-1000(HanByul Meditech, Korea) that is good for performance evaluation. As a result, the start point of the pulse wave was the most reliable feature for comparing with PP-1000(r=0.691, P=0.00). The results between two operators showed that there is only a slight difference in the reproducibility of the devices. In conclusion, we assume that the suggested sensor could be more comfortable and faithful method for arterial stiffness.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.49-58
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• 2019

Objectives : Obesity is a public health concern associated with chronic diseases including hyperlipidemia, diabetes, fatty liver, atherosclerosis and cancer. As several anti-obesity drugs have been limited owing to their side effects, the development of new anti-obesity drugs through herbal medicines has been increasing. Cynanchum Wilfordii Radix (CW) traditionally is consumed for various health benefits including immune enhancing, anti-inflammation and anti-tumor activities. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of CW on High fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Methods : The mice were randomly divided into four groups (n=7). The mice were respectively fed a normal diet (ND), a high-fat diet (HFD), HFD plus CW (50 mg/kg/day), HFD plus CW (100 mg/kg/day). All groups were assayed for body weights, food efficiency ratio, blood biochemistry parameters, and organic tissue weights. Results : HFD-fed mice showed an increase in the body weight and serum biochemistry parameters levels (total cholesterol and triglycerides) as well as organic tissue weights. However, the administration of CW to obese mice induced a reduction in their body weight, food efficiency ratio, blood biochemistry parameters and weight of liver and fat compared with the HFD fed mice. Additionally, we observed that CW inhibited the lipid accumulation in liver and serum lipid parameter induced by HFD. Conclusions : Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that CW may be a potential agent for use in the treatment of obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.332-343
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• 1998

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of various quantitation methods using F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in patients with malignant or benign lung lesion. Materials and Methods: 22 patients (13 malignant including 5 bronchoalverolar cell cancer; 9 benign lesions including 1 hamartoma and 8 active inflammation) were studied after overnight fasting. We performed dynamic PET imaging for 56 min after injection of 370 MBq (10 mCi) of FDG. Standardized uptake values normalized to patient's body weight and plasma glucose concentration (SUVglu) were calculated. The uptake rate constant of FDG and glucose metabolic rate were quantified using Patlak graphical analysis (Kpat and MRpat), three compartment-five parameter model (K5p, MR5p), and six parameter model taking into account heterogeneity of tumor tissue (K6p, MR6p). Areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were calculated for each method. Results: There was no significant difference of rate constant or glucose metabolic rate measured by various quantitation methods between malignant and benign lesions. The area under ROC curve were 0.73 for SUVglu, 0.66 for Kpat, 0.77 for MRpat, 0.71 for K5p, 0.73 for MR5p, 0.70 for K6p, and 0.78 for MR6p. No significant difference of area under the ROC curve between these methods was observed except the area between Kpat vs. MRpat (p<0.05). Conclusion: Quantitative methods did not improve diagnostic accuracy in comparison with nonkinetic methods. However, the clinical utility of these methods needs to be evaluated further in patients with low pretest likelihood of active inflammation or bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2004

Purpose : Children with nephrotic syndrome(NS) are under high risk for metabolic bone disease(MBD) as a complication of long-term glucocorticoid therapy. We prospectively evaluated the effect of oral bisphosphonate(alendronate) therapy in children with NS, which has proven efficacy in adult patients with glucocorticoid induced MBD. Methods : Among 58 children with NS, aged 5 to 8 years and haying a disease duration of more than 2 years, 30(51.7%) were enrolled to meet the selection criteria, less than -1.0 Z-scores of lumbar spine bone mineral density(BMD) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). These 30 children were divided into three groups and each were assigned to receive alendronate, calcitriol, and no-medication, respectively for one year. Lumbar spine BMD was followed up every 6 months and the biochemical indexes were measured before and 1 year after the treatment. There were no significant difference among groups with respect to the average age, the initial BMD, and the cumulative steroid doses. Analysis of the treatment efficacy was done by the % change of BMD and by the changes in Z-scores of lumbar spine BMD. Results : Mean age and disease duration of patients at the initial lumbar spine BMD evaluation was $7.4{\pm}1.7$ years and $2.2{\pm}1.2$ years, respectively. Twenty-three of 30 children(76%) had osteopenia, and seven(23%) had osteoporosis. There was no difference in the biochemical values among the groups, before and 1 year after the treatment(P<0.05). Twenty two children(73.3%) with frequent relapsing or steroid dependant NS had more frequent MBD, compared to the 8 children(26.6%) with infrequent relapsing NS. The one year % changes of BMD were 8.56 in alendronate group, 5.79 in calcitriol group, and 1.9 in no-medication group. The changes in Z-score of lumbar spine BMD increased in the alendronate group and the calcitriol group, but not in the no-medication group. One year % changes of BMD were different among groups(P=0.0002). Significant differences were found between the alendronate and the no-medication group, and between the calcitriol and the no-medication group(P<0.05). There was no difference between the alendronate and the calcitriol group. No serious adverse effect was observed in the alendronate group. Conclusion : Children with NS receiving high dose steroids are under the high risk of BMD and should undergo regular BMD evaluation. Z-score of lumbar spine BMD was a useful parameter in diagnosing low bone mass in children. Alendronate weekly oral therapy was effective and relatively safe in increasing the lumbar spine BMD in children with NS having steroid induced MBD.