• Title/Summary/Keyword: Objective indicators

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Effect of Imipramine on the Contractility of Single Cells Isolated from Canine Detrusor (Imipramine이 배뇨근 세포의 수축성에 미치는 직접작용)

  • Huh, Chan-Wook;Lee, Kwang-Youn;Kim, Won-Joon
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.293-302
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    • 1994
  • The objective of this study was to establish a good methodology to isolate single smooth muscle cells that are alive and respond properly to pharmacological agents. Canine urinary bladders were employed as the source of single cells, and acetylcholine, atropine and imipramine were used as indicators of pharmacological responsiveness. Imipramine, an antidepressant drug exhibited the anticholinergic and calcium antagonizing properties on rat detrusor muscle. To establish a control value for a further experiment to elucidate the mechanism of action of imipramine on detrusor muscle, we measured the concentration-response of single cells to acetylcholine in the presesnce of imipramine by length of the cells and compared the result with the response in the presence of atropine. Tiny chops of smooth muscle taken from anesthetized canine urinary bladder were incubated in collagenase solution at $36^{\circ}C$ for 17-20 minutes. The collagenase solution included collagenase 1.2 mg/ml, soybean tryspin inhibitor 0.08 mg/ml, bovine serum albumin 2% in 10 ml Krebs-Henseleit buffer solution aerated with a consistent breeze of 95/5% $O_2/CO_2$, to maintain the pH at 7.4. After washing with plain K-H solution on 450 mesh, cells were dissociated from the digested tissue for 12-15 minutes. Cell suspension was transfered in 5 ml test tubes and acetylcholine was added for the final concentration to be $10^{-14}M{\sim}10^{-9}M$. To find the optimal time to fix the cells to determine the contractile responses, 1% acrolein was added 5, 10, 20, 30, 60 and 120 seconds after the administration of ACh. The length of cells fixed by acrolein were measured by microscaler via CCTV camera on phaes-contrast microscope. The average length of 50 cells from a slide glass was taken as the value of a sample at the very concentration point. Single cells were isolated from canine detrusor. The length of untreated cells varied from 82 ${\mu}m$ to 94 ${\mu}m$. The maximal response to actylcholine $10^{-9}M$ was accomplished within 5 seconds of exposure, and the shortening was $19{\pm}3$%. Atropine reduced the contraction of the cells concentration-dependently. Imipramine which exerts a cholinergic blocking action on some smooth muscles also reduced the contraction concentration-dependently and by a similar pattern as atropine. These findings document that imipramine may exerts a cholinergic blocking activity in the single smooth muscle cells isolated from canine urinary bladder.

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Effectiveness and characteristics of technology transfer consortia in public R&D sector: The case of Korean TT consortia (공공연구부문에서의 기술이전컨소시엄의 효과와 특성 연구: 공공기술이전컨소시엄 사례를 중심으로)

  • Park, Jong-Bok;Ryu, Tae-Kyu
    • Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.284-309
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    • 2007
  • Technology transfer (TT) consortium is an affiliation of two or more public research institutions (PRIs) that participate in a common technology transfer activity or pool their resources together, with the objective of facilitating technology transfer. Based on empirical analysis of five regional TT consortia (2002-2006) operating in Korea, this paper suggests their effectiveness by employing a TT performance index (TTPI) and identifies possible characteristics involved, such as motivations, facilitators, barriers, and challenges. TTPI devised in the paper is a new composite TT performance index to measure how much the TT performance of a PH changed in a designated year compared to a base year. All the performance indicators of TTPI are well-structured based on the unique TT process that is prevalent in Korea. Further, TTPI can bring different size and focus of PRIs to the same scale for comparison by double-normalizing. The paper tests the effectiveness of TT consortium for the escalation of TT performances in member PRIs by highlighting the differences of TTPI's between 2005 and 2001. As a result, the paper found that the escalation of TTPI for member PRIs was greater than that for non-member PRIs. As for the characteristics of TT consortia, their respective factors obtained by TT expert survey were computed with proportion tests of differences (Z tests) to compare two perspectives between intramural and extramural groups. One of key findings is that there is general homogeneity in stakeholder perspectives regarding motivations, facilitators, barriers, and challenges. Some notable responses are as follow; the most probable motivation to join TT consortium is to share or exchange TT competences for enhanced performance. Second, the most probable facilitator is professional capability of consortium-hired personnel. Third, the foremost probable barriers to effective TT consortium are frequent change of consortium director and passive participation of member PRIs. Lastly, both publicizing TT consortia and developing performance metrics are the most important for the improvement of TT consortia. The understanding of the characteristics of TT consortia increases the likelihood of accelerated success, because TT consortia path from formation to termination encompasses many concepts, processes, principles, and factors. Finally, an analysis of the survey data combined with expert interview and observation data led the authors to derive five conditions as being critical to viable TT consortia in Korea at early stage of technology transfer systems. These conditions include policy infrastructure, proactive participation, excellent professionals, personal motivation, and teaming mechanisms. It is expected that the Korean evidence is a starting point to develop and refine the theory of TT consortia and for additional studies in other countries.

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The Effects of Health Promotion Initiatives with Community Participation and Parterships: The Case of Sabong-Myeon in Jinju City (지역사회참여와 파트너쉽에 기반을 둔 지역건강증진사업의 효과: 진주시 사봉면 사례)

  • Jeong, Baekgeun;Kim, Jang-Rak;Kang, Yune-Sik;Park, Ki-Soo
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.39 no.4
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    • pp.209-221
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    • 2014
  • Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the effects of area-based health promotion initiatives with community participation and partnerships conducted in Sabong-Myeon, Jinju City for three years. Methods: We used data from the '2008 Sabong-Myeon Health Survey' and the '2011 Health Plus Happiness Plus Community Health Survey'. The study comprised 520 systematically sampled individuals, composed of 300 adults in 2008 and 200 adults in 2011. We compared some health behavior and mental health indicators as well as social capital levels between these two surveys. Results: The prevalences of smoking and walking exercise in 2011 were significantly higher than those in 2008. The prevalences of high risk alcohol consumption in men, stress perception, depressive symptoms experience, and suicide ideation were significantly lower than those in 2008. The proportion of people having a high level of social capital in 2011 was significantly higher than that in 2008, regardless of sex or marital status. However, the difference in the proportion was not statistically significant among people with a high educational background. Conclusions: This study suggested that the 3 years' implementation of area-based health promotion initiatives conducted in Sabong-Myeon might help to improve the mental health and social capital level of this community. The long-term health effects of area-based health promotion initiatives with community participation and partnerships need to be studied further, and lessons from these initiatives can be obtained by adapting proper evaluation methods.

The Weight Analysis of Evaluation Indicators for Assessing Livestock Manure Treatment System and its Technology by AHP (AHP를 활용한 가축분뇨 처리시설 및 관련기술 평가지표 가중치 설정)

  • Kim, J.H.;Cho, S.H.;Kwag, J.H.;Choi, D.Y.;Jeong, K.H.;Cheon, D.W.;Lee, S.H.;Kim, J.H.;So, K.H.;Park, C.H.
    • Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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    • v.17 no.sup
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    • pp.51-60
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    • 2011
  • The objective of this study was to suggest strategies for improving "Livestock Manure Treatment Systems and Related Technologies Assessment Program". Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to evaluate reasonableness of applied weight value for assessment and improve program management strategies. Results of mail survey collected from animal manure treatment technology specialists of 30 companies nationwide were used for AHP. Company's ability, technological prowess, facility's convenience, economic feasibility are four important aspects of assessment program evaluation using AHP. More than 70% of the respondents said they were overall satisfied with the objectivity of assessment program regarding above four evaluation aspects. However, only 36% of them answered that they were very satisfied with the objectivity of assessment program in terms of economic feasibility. The evaluation results revealed that the assessment program needs to be made up for the weak points regarding economic feasibility. The AHP weight calculation results showed that the current assessment program overestimates the technological prowess, especially livestock manure treatment efficiency. It suggests that the weight value of current assessment program in terms of technological prowess needs to be determined carefully. The current assessment program combined with AHP weight value determination approach will be very useful to improve objectivity and reliability of assessment.

Minor Physical Anomalies in Patients with Schizophrenia (정신분열병 환자에서 신체미세기형에 관한 연구)

  • Joo, Eun-Jeong;Jeong, Seong Hoon;Maeng, So Jin;Yoon, Se Chang;Kim, Jong Hoon;Kim, Chul Eung;Shin, Youngmin;Kim, Yong Sik
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.140-151
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    • 2002
  • Object and Method:Minor physical anomalies(MPAs) are frequently seen in patients with schizophrenia. MPAs are considered to arise from the anomalous development of ectoderm-originated tissues in the developing fetus. Since the central nervous system originates from ectoderm, MPAs can be regarded as externally observable and objective indicators of the aberrant development which might have taken place in the central nervous system. To investigate whether MPAs are more frequent in schizophrenic patients, the frequencies of MPAs were compared between schizophrenic patients and normal controls. Total 245 schizophrenic patients diagnosed with DSM-IV(male : 158, female : 87), and 418 normal control subjects(male : 216, female : 202) were included in this study. The MPAs were measured using the modified Waldrop scale with fifteen items in six bodily regions; head, eye, ear, mouth, hand, and foot. Result:The total scores of Waldrop scale were $4.40{\pm}1.93$($mean{\pm}standard$ deviation) in patients and $3.43{\pm}1.68$ in controls for females, and for males, $4.58{\pm}1.75$ in patients and $4.28{\pm}1.59$ in controls. For females, the excess of MPAs in schizophrenic patients was statistically significant(t-test : p<0.001). For males, schizophrenic patients also showed more MPAs than normal controls, but this tendency did not reach statistical significance (t-test : p=0.094). When the modified Waldrop total scores excluding head circumference were compared, the total scores in schizophrenic patients were significantly higher for both male and female subjects(t-test : male p<0.001, female p=0.001). The individual anomaly items included in Waldrop scale were also investigated. The items of epicanthus, hypertelorism, malformed ears, syndactylia were significantly more frequent in schizophrenic patients. In contrast, the items of adherent ear lobes, asymmetric ears, furrowed tongue, curved fifth finger, single palmar crease and big gap between toes did not show any differences in frequency between schizophrenic patients and normal controls. Since a lot of statistical analyses showed different results between male and female subjects, it seems to be necessary to consider gender as an important controlling variable for the analysis, however only the item of head circumference showed statistically significant gender-related difference according to log-linear analysis. Conclusion:With a relatively large sample size, the frequencies of MPAs enlisted in Waldrop scale were compared between schizophrenic patients and normal controls in this study. MPAs were more frequently seen in schizophrenic patients and, especially, several specific items in the Waldrop scale showed prominent excess in schizophrenic patients. Although definite conclusions cannot be drawn due to the inherent limitation of the study using Waldrop scale, these results seem to support the possibility that aberrant neurodevelopmental process might be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia in some of the patients.

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Applicability of Vegetation Index and SPAD Reading to Nondestructive Diagnosis of Rice Growth and Nitrogen Nutrition Status (식생지수와 SPAD를 이용한 벼 생육 및 질소영양상태의 비파괴적 진단 가능성 검토)

  • Kim Min-Ho;Shin Jin-Chul;Lee Byun-Woo
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.50 no.6
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    • pp.369-377
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    • 2005
  • Precise application of topdressing nitrogen (N) fertilizer is indispensible for securing high yield and good quality of rice and minimizing N losses to the environment as well. For precise N management, growth and nitrogen nutrition status (NNS) should be diagnosed rapidly and accurately. The objective of the study was to evaluate the applicability of vegetation index (VI) calculated from hyperspectral canopy reflectance measurement and SPAD reading to nondestructive in situ diagnosis of growth and NNS of rice. Canopy reflectance, SPAD read­ing, growth parameters, and NNS characteristics were measured from various N treatments to evaluate the relationships among them for two cropping seasons from 2001 to 2002. The correlation coefficient of VIs with variables of growth and NNS increased positively as rice canopy became more closed. Regardless of growth stages, VIs had significantly high correlations with LAI, shoot dry weight (DW), shoot N content and nitrogen nutrition index (NNI). Those correlation coefficients increased steadily before heading stage as rice grew up. However, tiller number and leaf N concentration showed significantly high correlations with VIs only at and after panicle initiation stage (PIS). Among the VIs, RVIgreen had significantly higher correlation with the measured parameters than the other VIs: it showed correlation coefficients greater than 0.8 with leaf and shoot N concentration and DW, and much higher coefficients greater than 0.9 with LAI, shoot N content, and NNI. At LAI of below 2.5, VIs had non-significant or low correlations with the growth and NNS indicators due to the background effects. SPAD reading had significantly high correlation with leaf N concentration and NNI at each growth stage. In addition, it had significant correlations with variables of growth and NNS at PIS and booting stage, particularly, at booting stage. Though SPAD reading had a significantly high correlation value at a given growth stage in each year, it showed very weak relationship with variables of growth and NNS when pooled across growth stages and years. In conclusion, RVIgreen was found to be the most reliable VI to estimate the growth and NNS of rice around at PIS, but SPAD reading had much limitations.

A Study on the ICAO international aviation safety policy, a change of paradigm and the government response to the direction (ICAO 국제항공안전정책 패러다임의 변화 분석과 우리나라 신국제항공안전정책 검토)

  • Chang, Man-Heui;Hwang, Ho-Won
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.73-96
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    • 2013
  • ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) was initially launched in January 1995, in response to widespread concerns about the adequacy of aviation safety oversight around the world. The recent reduction in aircraft accidents and effective role that is evaluated on the basis of these results, and in 2013 the existing 'snapshot approach' to 'regular monitoring system (USOAP-Continuous Monitoring Approach)' was converted to. ICAO aviation safety assessment of the state in today's international community 'aviation safety credibility' as objective indicators to judge the enormous impact on the aviation industry, the state is not satisfactory, especially if the results of the evaluation and expansion of code-share airline ban, reduced international air transit passengers, including premium increases business and economic penalties should. In addition, ICAO implementation of the existing laws and regulations(Prescriptive Approach), but based on the Risk-based prevention model, Proactive Approach introduced the concept of aviation safety system, including international aviation safety policy has been to switch paradigms. This new ICAO international aviation safety policy also applies to the Government of the Republic of Korea in line with the aviation safey policies have changed. In particular, the systematic implementation of safety management for the existing laws and regulations in the center of the safety oversight system of risk-based introduction of the concept of proactive safety management, and According to international standards ICAO aviation service providers operate their own Safety Management System was set out in Aviation Law ever. In addition, the aviation safety is at the center of the field of the safety of aircraft operations and maintenance for the promotion is promoting various safety policies. This new paradigm shift in the international aviation safety policy in line with our state in the international community with the most exemplary aviation safety system firmly established itself as a model, the Government will strengthen the competitiveness of our aviation plans to support. To do this, the government, airlines, aviation officials try all the practical effect would be expected.

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A Study on the Development of a Competency-Based Intervention Course Curriculum of the Korean Academy of Sensory Integration (대한감각통합치료학회 역량기반 중재과정 교육커리큘럼 개발연구)

  • Namkung, Young;Kim, Kyeong-Mi;Kim, Misun;Lee, Jiyoung
    • The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.26-45
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    • 2019
  • Objective : The purpose of this study is to develop educational goals, training content, and training methods for the intervention course of the Korean Academy of Sensory Integration (KASI) and to conduct competency-based intervention courses based on the competency model for sensory integration intervention. Methods : This study was conducted on work therapists who participated in the 2019 intervention course of KASI. In the first phase, educational needs were analyzed to set goals for the interventional course. In the second phase, a meeting of researchers drafted the intervention course education program and the methods of education, and the intervention course was conducted. In the third phase, the changes in educational satisfaction and performance level pre- and post-intervention course for each competency index were investigated. Results : The educational goals of "learning and applying the clinical reasoning process of sensory integration intervention" and "intervention by applying the principle of sensory integration intervention" were set after reflecting on the results of the analysis of the educational requirements. The length of the competency-based intervention course was 42 hours. The average education satisfaction level of participants in the arbitration process was 4.48±0.73, and the average education satisfaction level of the supervisor was 3.92±0.71. In both groups, the most satisfying curriculums were the data-driven decision-making process and the intervention goal-setting lecture. But the satisfaction level of was the lowest. Before and after the intervention course, there were significant changes in the performance of the two behavioral indicators of the analytic skills in the expertise competency cluster of the competency model. Conclusion : This study is meaningful in that it conducted a survey of educational needs, the development and implementation of an educational curriculum, and an education satisfaction survey through systematic courses necessary for education development.

Attention to the Internet: The Impact of Active Information Search on Investment Decisions (인터넷 주의효과: 능동적 정보 검색이 투자 결정에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Chang, Young Bong;Kwon, YoungOk;Cho, Wooje
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.117-129
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    • 2015
  • As the Internet becomes ubiquitous, a large volume of information is posted on the Internet with exponential growth every day. Accordingly, it is not unusual that investors in stock markets gather and compile firm-specific or market-wide information through online searches. Importantly, it becomes easier for investors to acquire value-relevant information for their investment decision with the help of powerful search tools on the Internet. Our study examines whether or not the Internet helps investors assess a firm's value better by using firm-level data over long periods spanning from January 2004 to December 2013. To this end, we construct weekly-based search volume for information technology (IT) services firms on the Internet. We limit our focus to IT firms since they are often equipped with intangible assets and relatively less recognized to the public which makes them hard-to measure. To obtain the information on those firms, investors are more likely to consult the Internet and use the information to appreciate the firms more accurately and eventually improve their investment decisions. Prior studies have shown that changes in search volumes can reflect the various aspects of the complex human behaviors and forecast near-term values of economic indicators, including automobile sales, unemployment claims, and etc. Moreover, search volume of firm names or stock ticker symbols has been used as a direct proxy of individual investors' attention in financial markets since, different from indirect measures such as turnover and extreme returns, they can reveal and quantify the interest of investors in an objective way. Following this line of research, this study aims to gauge whether the information retrieved from the Internet is value relevant in assessing a firm. We also use search volume for analysis but, distinguished from prior studies, explore its impact on return comovements with market returns. Given that a firm's returns tend to comove with market returns excessively when investors are less informed about the firm, we empirically test the value of information by examining the association between Internet searches and the extent to which a firm's returns comove. Our results show that Internet searches are negatively associated with return comovements as expected. When sample is split by the size of firms, the impact of Internet searches on return comovements is shown to be greater for large firms than small ones. Interestingly, we find a greater impact of Internet searches on return comovements for years from 2009 to 2013 than earlier years possibly due to more aggressive and informative exploit of Internet searches in obtaining financial information. We also complement our analyses by examining the association between return volatility and Internet search volumes. If Internet searches capture investors' attention associated with a change in firm-specific fundamentals such as new product releases, stock splits and so on, a firm's return volatility is likely to increase while search results can provide value-relevant information to investors. Our results suggest that in general, an increase in the volume of Internet searches is not positively associated with return volatility. However, we find a positive association between Internet searches and return volatility when the sample is limited to larger firms. A stronger result from larger firms implies that investors still pay less attention to the information obtained from Internet searches for small firms while the information is value relevant in assessing stock values. However, we do find any systematic differences in the magnitude of Internet searches impact on return volatility by time periods. Taken together, our results shed new light on the value of information searched from the Internet in assessing stock values. Given the informational role of the Internet in stock markets, we believe the results would guide investors to exploit Internet search tools to be better informed, as a result improving their investment decisions.

Study of Quality Control of Traditional Wine Using IT Sensing Technology (IT 센싱 기술을 이용한 전통주 발효의 품질관리 연구)

  • Song, Hyeji;Choi, Jihee;Park, Chan-Won;Shin, Dong-Beom;Kang, Sung-Soo;Oh, Sung Hoon;Hwang, Kwontack
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.44 no.6
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    • pp.904-911
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    • 2015
  • The objective of this study was to investigate the quality characteristics of traditional wine using an radio-frequency identification (RFID) system annexed to a fermenter. In this study, we proposed an RFID-based data transmission scheme for monitoring fermentation of traditional alcoholic beverages. The pH, total acidity, total sugar, soluble sugar, free sugar, alcohol content, and organic acids of were investigated and subjected to fermentation of traditional alcoholic beverages three times. The pH ranged from 7.98, 7.95, and 7.68 at day 0, decreased drastically to 3.31~2.96 at day 2, and then slowly increased to the end point, finally reaching 3.34 at day 20. Acidity tended to increase quickly with time, especially for all samples after day 2. The fermentation environment induced a sudden increase acidity in reactants and indicated a low pH. The total sugars during fermentation quickly decreased to the range of 20.3, 22.43, and 19.2% at day 2, and the slope of reduction steadily decreased to 5.1, 6.1, and 4.8% at day 10. On the other hand, the alcohol content showed the reverse trend as total sugars. The alcohol content also showed the same pattern as total acids, showing the highest alcohol content of 17.3% (v/v) on day 20. In this study on traditional wine fermentation using an RFID system, we showed that pH, soluble sugar, and alcohol content can be adopted as key indicators for quality control and standardization of traditional wine manufacturing.