• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.398-403
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• 2013

Inflammatory conditions mediated by activated microglia lead to chronic neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases. This study was conducted to determine the effect of floridoside isolated from marine red algae Laurencia undulata on LPS (100 ng/ml) activated inflammatory responses in BV-2 microglia cells. The results show that floridoside has the ability to suppress pro-inflammatory responses in microglia by markedly inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, floridoside down-regulated the protein and gene expression levels of iNOS and COX-2 by significantly blocking the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK in BV-2 cells. Collectively, these results indicate that floridoside has the potential to be developed as an active agent for the treatment of neuro-inflammation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.39-44
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• 1985

For the application of (actory automation, a UNIX system with satellite processor, which can be categorized into master / slave hierarchical structure, is studied and implemented. The kernel part of UHIX is modified for the master/slavc structure, but it is designed fully compatible with the existing UNIX systems. 4 special user process is created to make easy to down load developed program from host to satellite processor with the concept of co-process. Also satellite processor can send messages and request retrain seNices from host computer. The design principles considered here art reliability, expamibility, and con-currency.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2004

Background : Pulmonary hypertension is a poor prognostic factor in patients with chronic respiratory disease. However, diagnosing pulmonary hypertension is a difficult procedure which often requires an invasive test. Thus new alternative biochemical markers would be useful in clinical field and are in search. We sought to assess the role of plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP) in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Method : We measured plasma NT-proBNP level in twenty nine patients suspected for pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension was defined as being right ventricular systolic pressure more than 35 mm Hg estimated by Doppler echocardiography. Plasma NT-proBNP level was measured by electrochemiluminescence sandwich immunoassay. Results : The log-transformed values for plasma NT-proBNP levels showed a linear correlation (correlation coefficiency: 0.783, p-value <0.001) with right ventricular systolic pressure. Plasma NT-proBNP levels closely correlated with right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, interventricular septal flattening and right ventricular dilatation. Conclusion : Our results suggest that the measurement of plasma NT-proBNP level is an useful marker of the presence of pulmonary hypertension.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2021

Background: Chromogranin A (CgA) levels have been reported to predict mortality in patients with heart failure. However, information on the prognostic value and clinical availability of CgA is limited. We compared the prognostic value of CgA to that of previously proven natriuretic peptide biomarkers in patients with acute heart failure. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 272 patients (mean age, 68.5±15.6 years; 62.9% male) who underwent CgA test in the acute stage of heart failure hospitalization between June 2017 and June 2018. The median follow-up period was 348 days. Prognosis was assessed using the composite events of 1-year death and heart failure hospitalization. Results: In-hospital mortality rate during index admission was 7.0% (n=19). During the 1-year follow-up, a composite event rate was observed in 12.1% (n=33) of the patients. The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves for predicting 1-year adverse events were 0.737 and 0.697 for N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and CgA, respectively. During follow-up, patients with high CgA levels (>158 pmol/L) had worse outcomes than those with low CgA levels (≤158 pmol/L) (85.2% vs. 58.6%, p<0.001). When stratifying the patients into four subgroups based on CgA and NT-proBNP levels, patients with high NT-proBNP and high CgA had the worst outcome. CgA had an incremental prognostic value when added to the combination of NT-proBNP and clinically relevant risk factors. Conclusion: The prognostic power of CgA was comparable to that of NT-proBNP in patients with acute heart failure. The combination of CgA and NT-proBNP can improve prognosis prediction in these patients.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.257-261
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• 2013

A total of 96 pigs [(Landrace ${\times}$ Yorkshire) ${\times}$ Duroc] with an initial BW of $27.94{\pm}0.92kg$ were used in a 6-week experiment to determine the effects of dietary supplementation with fruit by-product extracts on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in growing pigs. Pigs were randomly allotted to four treatments : 1) CON (basal diet), 2) PRO (CON + 0.5% procyanidin), 3) HES (CON + 0.5% hesperidin), 4) TAN (CON + 0.5% tannin). There were six replications per treatment with four pigs per pen. Supplementation had no effect (p>0.05) on average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and G/F. The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter and nitrogen was increased (p<0.05) in the HES treatment relative to the PRO treatment. Pigs fed the HES and TAN diets had greater (p<0.05) ATTD of energy than pigs fed PRO diet. The ATTD of ash was greatest (p<0.05) in HES treatments. In addition, the ATTD of calcium was greater (p<0.05) in HES treatments than in CON and PRO treatments. Overall, the results of this study indicated that dietary supplementation with 0.5% fruit by-products did not affect growth performance, but inclusion of 0.5% hesperidin increased nutrient digestibility in growing pigs.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 1998

Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) plays a central role in the intracellular degradation of neutral lipids derived from plasma lipoproteins. In this study, we investigated the missense mutation within exon 2 of human LAL gene changing of codon -6 of prepeptide from threonine to proline. The Thr-6Pro mutation was detected by the HaeIII restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). We analyzed the mutation in subjects with 221 unrelated randomly selected control samples and 86 patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in Korea. We observed that mutation is present with high frequency in Korea compared to other populations studied previously. The frequency of PP homozygote in the FH group was observed considerably higher than that of control. However, there was no significant difference of genotype frequency between two groups. These results, together with the fact that plasma lipids and lipoproteins levels between genotypes showed no statistical difference, suggest that the Thr-6Pro mutation in the LAL gene may have no association with the increased risk of FH development.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.51.1-51.10
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• 2020

Objectives: No studies have yet assessed vibration characteristics according to endodontic file length. Accordingly, the objective of the present study was to examine the vibration characteristics according to nickel-titanium file length and to compare these characteristics between different file systems. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 root canal models were divided into 3 experimental groups (n = 15 each) based on the file system used (ProTaper Gold [PTG], ProTaper Next, or WaveOne Gold [WOG]). Each experimental group was further divided into 3 subgroups according to file length (21, 25, or 31 mm). An electric motor (X-SMART PLUS) was used in the experiment. For each file system, vibrations generated when using a size 25 file were measured and used to calculate the average vibration acceleration. The differences in vibrations were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance and the Scheffé post hoc test with a confidence interval of 95%. Results: In the PTG file system, significantly lower vibration acceleration was observed when using a 21-mm file than when using a 31-mm file. In the WOG file system, significantly stronger vibration acceleration was observed when using a 31-mm file than when using 21- or 25-mm files. Regardless of the file length, the WOG group exhibited significantly stronger vibration acceleration than the other 2 experimental groups. Conclusions: In clinical practice, choosing a file with the shortest length possible could help reduce vibrations. Additionally, consideration should be given to vibrations that could be generated when using WOG files with reciprocating motion.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2018

A cold-active and alkaline serine protease (Pro21717) was partially purified from the Antarctic marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas arctica PAMC 21717. On a zymogram gel containing skim milk, Pro21717 produced two distinct clear-zones of approximately 37 kDa (low intensity) and 74 kDa (high intensity). These were found to have identical N-terminal sequences, suggesting they arose from an identical precursor and that the 37 kDa protease might homodimerize to the more active 74 kDa form of the protein. Pro21717 displayed proteolytic activity at $0-40^{\circ}C$ (optimal temperature of $40^{\circ}C$) and maintained this activity at pH 5.0-10.0 (optimal pH of 9.0). Notably, relative activities of 30% and 45% were observed at $0^{\circ}C$ and $10^{\circ}C$, respectively, in comparison to the 100% activity observed at $40^{\circ}C$, and this enzyme showed a broad substrate range against synthetic peptides with a preference for proline in the cleavage reaction. Pro21717 activity was enhanced by $Cu^{2+}$ and remained stable in the presence of detergent surfactants (linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and sodium dodecyl sulfate) and other chemical components ($Na_2SO_4$ and metal ions, such as $Ba^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, $K^+$, and $Na^{2+}$), which are often included in commercial detergent formulations. These data indicate that the psychrophilic Pro21717 has properties comparable to the well-characterized mesophilic subtilisin Carlsberg, which is commercially produced by Novozymes as the trademark Alcalase. Thus it has the potential to be used as a new additive enzyme in laundry detergents that must work well in cold tap water below $15^{\circ}C$.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.262-274
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• 2007

Objective : It has been reported that two-repeats ($IL1RN^{\ast}2$) of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) gene is associated with ischemic stroke, and that Ala allele of the common Pro12Ala polymorphism in $PPAR-{\gamma}2$ isoform is associated with reduced risk for type 2 DM and its complications. The aim of the present study is to assess the association of IL-1Ra and $PPAR-{\gamma}2$ Pro12Ala polymorphism with the presence of ischemic stroke in the case of diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Methods : Genomic DNA was obtained from 373 healthy subjects, 157 DM subjects without ischemic stroke (known DM duration ${\ge}10$ years) and 302 ischemic stroke patients (including with DM). IL-1Ra polymorphism was analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and $PPAR-{\gamma}2$ polymorphism by restriction fragment length polymorphism after PCR. Results : $IL1RN^{\ast}1/IL1RN^{\ast}2$ genotype was associated with significantly increased risk for DM (OR=2.86, P = 0.0008) and ischemic stroke (OR=2.74, P = 0.0016). Pro/Ala genotype was associated with the reduced risk for DM (OR=0.53, P = 0.0491) and ischemic stroke (OR=0.38, P = 0.0039). They were also associated with the reduced risk for ischemic stroke in the DM patients compared with DM without ischemic stroke (OR=0.25, P = 0.0321). Conclusions : $IL1RN^{\ast}2$ allele could be an accelerating factor, not a predictive marker for ischemic stroke in type 2 DM. The Pro/Ala genotype of $PPAR-{\gamma}2$ Pro12Ala polymorphism may be associated with reduced risk for ischemic stroke with type 2 DM. Therefore it could be a useful predictive marker for ischemic stroke in Korean type 2 DM.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2017

The Jeju Olle Trail Route No. 1 has opened in 2007, and over one million visitors per year trek total of 26 Olle trails throughout the island of Jeju as of 2017. The Olle trekking is one of eco-friendly tourism activities in the era of social issues with environmental collapse and threats. Up until now, studies on the Jeju Olle trail are focused on the visitors while the studies on residents who are the other major pillar of Jeju Olle trail have been limited. The study aims to compare the visit types, satisfaction level and pro-environmental behaviors between the visitors and residents on Jeju Olle trails. Total of 290 survey was collected in three month period from December, 2016 to February, 2017. The survey result indicates the Jeju residents trek the Jeju Olle in a larger group than the Jeju Olle visiting trekkers and show lower level in the visit satisfaction and pro-environmental behaviors. The noticeable lower level in the pro-environmental behaviors of residents can directly connect to the issue of Jeju environment as a whole, and the continuing environmental education program and promotion for residents to improve the pro-environmental behavior level is essential.