• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.665-679
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• 2022

Objective : Patients with mild ischemic stroke experience various sequela and residual symptoms, such as anxious behavior and deficits in movement. Few approaches have been proved to be effective and safe therapeutic approaches for patients with mild ischemic stroke by acute stroke. Sildenafil (SIL), a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i), is a known remedy for neurodegenerative disorders and vascular dementia through its angiogenesis and neurogenesis effects. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of PDE5i in the emotional and behavioral abnormalities in rats with mild ischemic stroke. Methods : We divided the rats into four groups as follows (n=20, respectively) : group 1, naïve; group 2, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo30); group 3, MCAo30+SIL-pre; and group 4, MCAo30+SIL-post. In the case of drug administration groups, single dose of PDE5i (sildenafil citrate, 20 mg/kg) was given at 30-minute before and after reperfusion of MCAo in rats. After surgery, we investigated and confirmed the therapeutic effect of sildenafil on histology, immunofluorescence, behavioral assays and neural oscillations. Results : Sildenafil alleviated a neuronal loss and reduced the infarction volume. And results of behavior task and immunofluorescence shown possibility that anti-inflammation process and improve motor deficits sildenafil treatment after mild ischemic stroke. Furthermore, sildenafil treatment attenuated the alteration of theta-frequency rhythm in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, a known neural oscillatory marker for anxiety disorder in rodents, induced by mild ischemic stroke. Conclusion : PDE5i as effective therapeutic agents for anxiety and movement disorders and provide robust preclinical evidence to support the development and use of PDE5i for the treatment of mild ischemic stroke residual disorders.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.106-112
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• 2021

Catalyst poisoning by ionomers in membrane electrode assemblies of alkaline membrane fuel cells has been reported recently. We tried to improve the membrane electrode assembly's performance by controlling the solvent's ratio during electrode manufacturing. 4 Different mixing ratios of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and ethylene glycol (EG) gave four different cathode electrodes with platinum and Fuma-Tech ionomers. The electrode with higher EG improved polarization performance by about 36% compared to the NMP-based commercial ionomer. The dependence of the ionomer's dispersibility on the solvent seems responsible for the difference, which means that the non-uniform distribution of ionomers improves the performance of the electrode. High-frequency resistance, internal resistance corrected polarization curve, Tafel slope, mass activity, and impedance spectroscopy characterized the electrode. We can find that the existence of poor solvent improves cathode electrode performance. It seems to be the result of reduced poisoning of the catalyst according to the particle size distribution of the ionomer.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.70-85
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• 2023

Purpose: Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between green tea intake and metabolic syndrome. However, compared to the studies carried out internationally, there is inadequate research on the relationship between domestic green tea consumption and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, in this study, the general characteristics of Koreans according to their green tea intake and its association with metabolic syndrome were examined. Methods: A total of 44,611 subjects were included in the study, and analysis was carried out using data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) for Korean adults aged 40 or older. Green tea consumption was estimated using 106 verified food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Metabolic syndrome was defined using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) parameters. After adjusting for confounding variables by performing a Cox regression analysis, the association between green tea consumption and metabolic syndrome was confirmed through the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The average incidence of metabolic syndrome was 18.7% (20.8% in men and 17.8% in women). Compared to those who drank almost no green tea, in subject groups consuming more than one cup of green tea a day, the metabolic syndrome incidence was significantly reduced by 15% (HR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74-0.96; p trend = 0.0200) among men and by 19% (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.90; p trend < 0.0001) among women. In addition, the biomarkers related to metabolic syndrome also tended to decrease overall in these groups. Conclusion: This study concluded that as the intake of green tea increased, the incidence of metabolic syndrome and related indicators decreased. Therefore, green tea intake is believed to have a positive effect on the prevention and management of the metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2006

An experiment was conducted to examine how the response of dairy cows to a change from twice to thrice-daily milking is affected by deficiencies in the dietary supplies of three amino acids, His, Met and Lys. The amino acid deficiencies were obtained by feeding the cows a diet of grass silage and a cereal-based supplement containing feather meal as the sole protein supplement. Taken overall, the results show that when cows were given the feather meal diet, even though dietary ME was in considerable excess, a deficiency of specific amino acids prevented any increase in milk yield in response to increasing the frequency of milking from twice to thrice daily. The results of half-udder milking showed that when cows consumed the diet deficient in amino acids, milking one half of the gland more frequently reduced the secretion of protein and lactose by the control gland. Neither MBF nor the ratio of 3-MH/creatinine in urine was affected by thrice-daily milking. The present results go a stage further in showing that, against a background of insufficient dietary amino acids, the stimulus of thrice-daily milking is not sufficient to induce a measurable change in the partition of amino acid use between body and udder.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.67-75
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• 2022

This study compared voice range profiles (VRPs) of modal and falsetto register in 53 dysphonic and 53 non-dysphonic adult women with gliding vowel /a/'. The results shows that maximum fundamental frequency (F0_MAX), maximum intensity (I_MAX), F0 range (F0_RANGE), and intensity range (I_RANGE) are lower in the dysphonic group than in the non-dysphonic group. F0_MAX and F0_RANGE are significantly higher in falsetto register than modal register in both groups. I_MAX and I_RANGE are significantly higher in falsetto register in the non-dysphonic group, but those are not different between two registers in the dysphonic group. There was no statistically significant difference in minimum F0 (F0_MIN) and minimum intensity (I_MIN) between the two groups. Modal-falsetto register transition occurred at 378.86 Hz (F4#) in the dysphonic group and 557.79 Hz (C5#) in the non-dysphonic group, which was significantly lower in the dysphonic group. It can be seen that both modal and falsetto registers in dysphonic adult women are reduced compared to non-dysphoinc adult women, indicating that the vocal folds of dysphonic adult women are not easy to vibrate in high pitches. The results of this study would be the basic data for understanding the acoustic features of voice disorders.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.20-37
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• 2023

Although traffic signal installations are continuously expanding, the effect of preventing traffic accidents remains unverified. Totally, 7,045 traffic accident data (such as signal violations) registered with TCS were manually searched for a 7-year period from 2013 to 2019 for 1,602 traffic signals in Daejeon Metropolitan City. The top 20 traffic accident intersections were identified, the traffic accident investigation records and field maps were viewed to compare the driving direction and signal phase of the violated vehicle, and the cause of the traffic accident was divided into insufficient signal operation design (operation) and driver negligence (intentional). Results of the analysis revealed that 75% of traffic accidents occurred in thru-left-turn traffic signals and overlap; moreover, extending the yellow time or operating all red signals due to countermeasures against traffic accidents occurring in yellow signals resulted in reduced traffic accidents. Data indicated that Permissive Left Turn requires improvement with the signal operation. In addition, since The Korean National Police Agency is not computerized for traffic accident sites and signal-related data, the lack of manpower necessitates improvement and utilization of TCS when establishing traffic accident prevention measures. It is believed that it will contribute to signal operation by analyzing vast amounts of data collected in the field and presenting improvement measures.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.287-301
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• 2009

The novel cut-and-cover tunnel construction method using rib-reinforced pre-cast arch segments has been recently developed and applied for practice to secure a structural stability of high covering and wide width section tunnels. Cut-and-cover tunnels are usually damaged by the seismic behavior of backfill grounds in case of a low covering condition. Seismic analyses are performed in this study to characterize the dynamic behavior of rib-reinforced pre-cast arch cut-and-cover tunnels. Seismic analyzes for 2 lane cast-in-place and rib-reinforced pre-cast arch cut-and-cover tunnels are carried out by using the commercial FDM program (FLAC2D) considering various field conditions such as the covering height embankment slope and excavation slope. It can be concluded that the amplification of seismic wave is reduced due to an increase in the structural stiffness induced by rib-reinforcement. The results show that the rib-reinforced pre-cast arch cut-and-cover tunnels are more effective against the seismic loading, compared to the cast-in-place cut-and-cover tunnels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.992-1001
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• 2023

OWEC (Overtopping Wave Energy Converter) is a wave power generation system using the wave overtopping. The performance and safety of the OWEC are affected by wave characteristics, such as wave height, period. To mitigate this issue, optimal OWEC designs based on wave characteristics must be investigated. In this study, the environmental conditions along the Ulleungdo coast were used. The hydraulic efficiency of the OWEC was calculated using SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) by comparing 4 models that changed the substructure. As a result, it was possible to change the substructure. Through design optimization, a new truss-type structure, which is a substructure capable of carrying the design load, was proposed. Through a case study using member diameter and thickness as design variables, structural safety was secured under allowable stress conditions. Considering wave load, the natural frequency of the proposed structure was compared with the wave period of the relevant sea area. Harmonic response analysis was performed using wave with a 1-year return period as the load. The proposed substructure had a reduced response magnitude at the same exciting force, and achieved weight reduction of more than 32%.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1327-1336
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• 2023

This case report presents the effectiveness of Korean medicine in the treatment of occipital neuralgia. The patient with occipital neuralgia was treated with acupuncture. Acupuncture treatment was administered to the occipital nerve area, which is commonly used in occipital nerve blocks by western medicine doctors. The severity of the symptoms was assessed daily using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score of pain. The patient received outpatient treatment a total of 7 times, and only received acupuncture treatment each time. According to the patient, his symptoms decreased by about 90% two days after acupuncture treatment, and the frequency and duration of the symptoms also decreased. Seven days after all acupuncture treatments, the severity of pain was reduced from NRS 6 to NRS 0. The findings of this case report suggest that treatment with Korean medicine can be an effective option for treating occipital neuralgia. Acupuncture can be a good treatment method for occipital neuralgia, along with western drug treatment and occipital nerve block.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 2024

The CRISPR-Cas9 system has significantly advanced regenerative medicine research by enabling genome editing in stem cells. Due to their desirable properties, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have recently emerged as highly promising therapeutic agents, which properties include differentiation ability and cytokine production. While CRISPR-Cas9 technology is applied to develop MSC-based therapeutics, MSCs exhibit inefficient genome editing, and susceptibility to plasmid DNA. In this study, we compared and optimized plasmid DNA and RNP approaches for efficient genome engineering in MSCs. The RNP-mediated approach enabled genome editing with high indel frequency and low cytotoxicity in MSCs. By utilizing Cas9 RNPs, we successfully generated B2M-knockout MSCs, which reduced T-cell differentiation, and improved MSC survival. Furthermore, this approach enhanced the immunomodulatory effect of IFN-r priming. These findings indicate that the RNP-mediated engineering of MSC genomes can achieve high efficiency, and engineered MSCs offer potential as a promising therapeutic strategy.