• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.889-899
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• 2017

Independent component analysis is a multivariate approach to separate mixed signals into original signals. It is the most widely used method of blind source separation technique. ICA uses linear transformations such as principal component analysis and factor analysis, but differs in that ICA requires statistical independence and non-Gaussian assumptions of original signals. PCA have a natural ordering based on cumulative proportion of explained variance; howerver, ICA algorithms cannot identify the unique optimal ordering of the components. It is meaningful to set order because major components can be used for further analysis such as clustering and low-dimensional graphs. In this paper, we compare the performance of several criteria to determine the order of the components. Kurtosis, absolute value of kurtosis, negentropy, Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic and sum of squared coefficients are considered. The criteria are evaluated by their ability to classify known groups. Two types of data are analyzed for illustration.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the balance differences between skilled players and less-skilled players during Hakdariseogi motion of Keumgang Poomsae in Taekwondo. To achieve the study goal, total of 10 Taekwondo athletes; 5 skilled players(S, body mass: $67.0{\pm}5.7$ kg, height: $174.0{\pm}4.8$ cm, age: $20.0{\pm}2.0$ yrs) and 5 less-skilled players(LS, body mass: $73.0{\pm}4.9$ kg, height: $176.4{\pm}6.1$ cm, age: $20.8{\pm}1.3$ yrs) participated in this study. A three-dimensional motion analysis with 8 infrared cameras and one force plate whose sampling frequency as 30 Hz and 300 Hz, respectively, were performed. Participants' motion were divided into three phases which were preparation phase(P1), performing phase(P2) and maintaining phase(P3). The range and velocities of COP, the range and RMS of ground reaction torque and displacement between COM and center of BOS of each phase were computed. In this study, at P1 and P3 which were double and single stance, respectively, the range and M-L velocities of COP revealed significantly higher in LS compared with those of S(p<.05). At P2 which was single stance, LS indicated significantly higher in range of COP and ground reaction torque, and M-L velocities of COP than those of S(p<.05). The significantly shorter displacement between COM and center of BOS, however, was found in LS compared with that of S(p<.05). The results from our study indicated that S revealed more stable performance and a better posture control ability during performing Hakdariseogi motion.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 2009

Objectives : To compare the performance of three comorbidity measurements (Charlson comorbidity index, Elixhauser s comorbidity and comorbidity selection) with the effect of different comorbidity lookback periods when predicting in-hospital mortality for patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods : This was a retrospective study on patients aged 40 years and older who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. To distinguish comorbidity from complications, the records of diagnosis were drawn from the National Health Insurance Database excluding diagnosis that admitted to the hospital. C-statistic values were used as measures for in comparing the predictability of comorbidity measures with lookback period, and a bootstrapping procedure with 1,000 replications was done to determine approximate 95% confidence interval. Results : Of the 61,815 patients included in this study, the mean age was 63.3 years (standard deviation: ${\pm}$10.2) and 64.8% of the population was male. Among them, 1,598 2.6%) had died in hospital. While the predictive ability of the Elixhauser's comorbidity and comorbidity selection was better than that of the Charlson comorbidity index, there was no significant difference among the three comorbidity measurements. Although the prevalence of comorbidity increased in 3 years of lookback periods, there was no significant improvement compared to 1 year of a lookback period. Conclusions : In a health outcome study for patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention using National Health Insurance Database, the Charlson comorbidity index was easy to apply without significant difference in predictability compared to the other methods. The one year of observation period was adequate to adjust the comorbidity. Further work to select adequate comorbidity measurements and lookback periods on other diseases and procedures are needed.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.151-170
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• 2009

The purpose of the study is to analyze the sixth graders' understanding of concepts and operation about fraction. The test was administered and analyzed to 707 sixth graders' performance on fractions after the fraction instructions in elementary schools in Seoul, Korea. The participants are asked to answer two sets of questions for 40 minutes. First, they are asked to answer to 16 problems about the concepts of fraction with respect to part-whole, ratio, operator, measure, quotient, equivalent, and operations. Second, specially, to investigate sixth graders' ability of drawing and describing the situation of division including fraction, the descriptive problem asked students (1) to describe $3\;{\div}\;\frac{1}{2}$ into pictorial representation and (2) to write the solving process. The participants of this study didn't show deep understandings about the concepts and operation of fraction. The degree of understanding of subconstructs of fraction shows that their knowledge of ratio concept with respect to fraction was highest while their understanding of measure with respect to fraction was lowest. Considering their wrong answers, about 59% of participants showed misconception to the question of naming one fraction that appears between $\frac{1}{5}$ and $\frac{1}{6}$. Further, they didn't explain their understanding with drawing about the division of fraction ($3\;{\div}\;\frac{1}{2}$).

• School Mathematics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.259-277
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• 2008

Conventional assessments only provide a single summary score that indicates the overall performance level or achievement level of a student in a single learning area. For assessments to be more effective, test should provide useful diagnostic information in addition to single overall scores. Cognitive diagnosis modeling provides useful information by estimating individual knowledge states by assessing whether an examinee has mastered specific attributes measured by the test(Embretson, 1990; DiBello, Stout, & Rousses, 1995; Tatsuoka, 1995). Attributes are skills or cognitive processes that are required to perform correctly on a particular item. By the results of this study, students, parents, and teachers would be able to see where a student stands with respect to mastering the attributes. Such information could be used to guide the learner and teacher toward areas requiring more study. By being able to assess where they stand in regard to the attributes that compose an item, students can plan a more effective learning path to be desired proficiency levels. It would be very helpful to the examinee if score reports can provide the scale scores as well as the skill profiles. While the scale scores are believed to provide students' math ability by reporting only one score point, the skill profiles can offer a skill level of strong, weak or mixed for each student for each skill.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.281-287
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• 2007

Microorganisms were isolated from earthworm intestine and examined for their ability to degrade 3-methyl-4-nitrophenol (MNP), a main degradation product of the insecticide fenitrothion. An isolate that showed the best degradation of MNP was selected for further study. The 16S rRNA analysis showed that the isolate belongs to the genus of Burkholderia, close to phenanthrene-degrading Burkholderia sp. S4.9, and is named Burkholderia sp. SH-1. When time-course degradation of MNP by SH-1 was examined by high performance liquid chromatographic analysis, almost complete degradation of MNP was observed within 26 h. Colony forming unit value assays indicated that the isolate SH-1 was capable of utilizing MNP as a sole carbon source. SH-1 could also degrade p-nitrophenol (PNP) but could not degrade ortho-substituted nitroaromatics such as 2,4-, 2,6- and 2,5-dinitrophenol. Catechol was detected as the main degration product of MNP and PNP. SH-1 was also found in the soil from which earthworms were obtained. These results suggest that the dispersal of Burkholderia sp. SH-1 into different environment with the aid of earthworms is likely to play a role in bioremediation of the soil contaminated with MNP.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2017

The Monascus azaphilone (MAz) pigment is a well-known food colorant that has yellow, orange and red components. The structures of the yellow and orange MAz differ by two hydride reductions, with yellow MAz being the reduced form. Orange MAz can be non-enzymatically converted to red MAz in the presence of amine derivatives. It was previously demonstrated that mppE and mppG are involved in the biosynthesis of yellow and orange MAz, respectively. However, ${\Delta}mppE$ and ${\Delta}mppG$ knockout mutants maintained residual production of yellow and orange MAz, respectively. In this study, we deleted the region encompassing mppD, mppE and mppG in M. purpureus and compared the phenotype of the resulting mutant (${\Delta}mppDEG$) with that of an mppD knockout mutant (${\Delta}mppD$). It was previously reported that the ${\Delta}mppD$ strain retained the ability to produce MAz but at approximately 10% of the level observed in the wildtype strain. A chemical analysis demonstrated that the ${\Delta}mppDEG$ strain was still capable of producing both yellow and orange MAz, suggesting the presence of minor MAz route(s) not involving mppE or mppG. Unexpectedly, the ${\Delta}mppDEG$ strain was observed to accumulate fast-eluting pigments in a reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. A LC-MS analysis identified these pigments as ethanolamine derivatives of red MAz, which had been previously identified in an mppE knockout mutant that produces high amounts of orange MAz. Although the underlying mechanism is largely unknown, this study has yielded an M. purpureus strain that selectively accumulates red MAz.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2012

The ability of clay mineral to remove non-point sources such as SS, COD, T-N. T-P in the urban runoff has been tested to develop the porous filter material. The diameter of 3mm ball type filters were made of clay minerals for the tests. The experiments were carried out to measure the concentration of non-point sources of contaminants with flow rate of effluents. The test results show that clay filter has good response to remove SS, COD comparing to those of activated carbon filter. Also the performance of the clay filter to remove T-N and T-P is almost the same when using the activated carbon filter.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.65-73
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• 2013

PURPOSES : As a research to develop a cement treated base course for an airport pavement which can enhance its drainage, this paper investigated the strength, infiltration performance and durability of the pervious concrete with respect to maximum coarse aggregate sizes and compaction methods. METHODS : This study measured compressive strength, infiltration rate, continuous porosity and freeze-thaw resistance of pervious concrete specimens, which were fabricated with five different compaction methods and different maximum aggregate sizes. In addition, in order to reduce the usage of Portland cement content and to enhance environment-friendliness, a portion of the cement was replaced with Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS). RESULTS: Compressive strength requirement, 5 MPa at 7 days, was met for all applied compaction methods and aggregate sizes, except for the case of self-compaction. Infiltration rate became increased as the size of aggregate increased. The measured continuous porosities varied with the different compaction methods but the variation was not significant. When GGBS was incorporated, the strength requirement was successfully satisfied and the resistance to freezing-thawing was also superior to the required limit. CONCLUSIONS: The infiltration rate increased as the maximum size of aggregate increased but considering construct ability and supply of course aggregate, its size is recommended to be 25mm. With the suggested mix proportions, the developed pervious concrete is expected to successfully meet requirements for strength, drainage and durability for cement treated base or subbase course of an airport pavement.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2018

Liquiritigenin (LQ) is a flavonoid that can be isolated from Glycyrrhiza radix. It is frequently used as a tranditional oriental medicine herbal treatment for swelling and injury and for detoxification. However, the effects of LQ on cognitive function have not been fully explored. In this study, we evaluated the memory-enhancing effects of LQ and the underlying mechanisms with a focus on the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR) in mice. Learning and memory ability were evaluated with the Y-maze and passive avoidance tests following administration of LQ. In addition, the expression of NMDAR subunits 1, 2A, and 2B; postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95); phosphorylation of $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII); phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK 1/2); and phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding (CREB) proteins were examined by Western blot. In vivo, we found that treatment with LQ significantly improved memory performance in both behavioral tests. In vitro, LQ significantly increased NMDARs in the hippocampus. Furthermore, LQ significantly increased PSD-95 expression as well as CaMKII, ERK, and CREB phosphorylation in the hippocampus. Taken together, our results suggest that LQ has cognition enhancing activities and that these effects are mediated, in part, by activation of the NMDAR and CREB signaling pathways.