• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.38-49
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• 2021

Airway mucus secretion is an essential innate immune response for host protection. However, overproduction and hypersecretion of mucus, mainly composed of the gel-forming MUC5AC protein, are significant risk factors for patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling pathway negatively regulates MUC5AC expression; however, the underlying molecular mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we showed that TGFβ significantly reduces the expression of MUC5AC mRNA and its protein in NCI-H292 cells, a human mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line. This reduced MUC5AC expression was restored by a TGFβ receptor inhibitor (SB431542), but not by the inhibition of NF-κB (BAY11-7082 or Triptolide) or PI3K (LY294002) activities. TGFβ-activated Smad3 dose-dependently bound to MUC5AC promoter. Notably, TGFβ-activated Smad3 recruited HDAC2 and facilitated nuclear translocation of HDAC2, thereby inducing the deacetylation of NF-κB at K310, which is essential for a reduction in NF-κB transcriptional activity. Both TGFβ-induced nuclear translocation of Smad3/HDAC2 and deacetylation of NF-κB at K310 were suppressed by a Smad3 inhibitor (SIS3). These results suggest that the TGFβ-activated Smad3/HDAC2 complex is an essential negative regulator for MUC5AC expression and an epigenetic regulator for NF-κB acetylation. Therefore, these results collectively suggest that modulation of the TGFβ1/Smad3/HDAC2/NF-κB pathway axis can be a promising way to improve lung function as a treatment strategy for asthma and COPD.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.225-235
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• 2021

To attain the long-term benefits of forest restoration in North Korea, it is important to present the economic value of reforestation. This study as aimed to evaluate the economic value based on cost-benefit analysis from the ecosystem services perspective. The benefits of reforestation were classified into ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water supply, soil erosion control, and disaster risk reduction, and were converted into economic values to calculate comprehensive benefits. In the forest restoration scenario, an "independent forest restoration scenario (IFS)" and a "cooperation-based forest restoration scenario (CFS)" were composed in consideration of recent afforestation performance and forest policy, and the difference in the quantity of afforestation was derived as a scenario despite the same restoration period. In the IFS, it is estimated that over the next two decades, 800 thousand ha of the forest will be restored at a cost of KRW 3,829 billion, resulting in a benefit of KRW 6.87 trillion. The present benefit net value is KRW 3,39 trillion. In the CFS, it is estimated that the benefits of KRW 18,890 billion will be generated by restoring 2.2 million ha of the forest at a cost of KRW 10,053 billion. The present benefit net value is KRW 8,359 billion. In both scenarios, BCR had an economic feasibility value greater than 1, but there was a big difference in the expected benefits. In conclusion, forest restoration can have higher benefits than cost, and its value could be enhanced through forest cooperation.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.583-589
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• 2021

This study is a study on the development of virtual reality to prepare for the increase in disasters of households living with companion animals due to the increase of companion animals. The increase in single-person households and DINKs(Double Income, No Kid) along with the low birth rate and aging population is raising the risk of disasters caused by companion animals in particular. Among these disasters, there is an increase in the occurrence of fires primarily due to the raising of companion animals. Electric stove fires caused by pets are the most common fires. In particular, the frequency of electric stove fires caused by cats is the highest. Careful precautions by the owner are necessary to reduce fires caused by pets. Parenting of companion animals causes pet loss syndrome due to emotional exchange. There are injuries to pets in escalators and injuries to owners in elevators due to disasters caused by the owner's negligence. In order to reduce injuries on escalators and elevators, basic etiquette for using escalators and elevators with pets is required as basic etiquette. It is necessary to utilize virtual reality to reduce disasters caused by such companion animals. Virtual reality can be experienced without a physical space in advance training to overcome disasters, so real disaster cases can be experienced immersively. Therefore, learning how to reduce fires caused by companion animals, disasters caused by owner's negligence, and petloss syndrome through virtual reality will greatly contribute to disaster prevention and reduction of social costs.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.415-427
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• 2021

It is generally recognized that high stocking density can increase the risk of immune dysfunction and reduction in productivity cause of elevated stress in broiler farm. The domestic livestock industry is implementing a certification system for animal welfare and livestock farms to reduce the problem of dense breeding. This study compared broiler from the general farm and animal welfare farm to confirm the effectiveness of animal welfare farms against stress. Gas concentrations in a farm of general and animal welfare farms were analyzed, blood (n=10) of the 28-day-old broiler was collected, the partial pressure of the gas in the blood was analyzed using whole blood, and biochemical factors and hormones were analyzed using the serum. Glycogen and L-lactate are analyzed using ELISA kit on finely pulverized muscles (n=10). CO₂ and NH₃ levels in the farm were significantly higher in general farm. Partial carbon dioxide tension (PCO₂) in blood was significantly higher and partial oxygen tension (PO₂) was significantly lower in the general farm. Creatinine (CREA), glucose (GLU), aspartateaminotransferase (AST), and creatinekinase (CK) in the blood were significantly higher in the general farm, and total protein (TP) and globulin (GLOB) were significantly higher in animal welfare farm. Blood corticosterone and norepinephrine were significantly higher in general farm and epinephrine was significantly higher in animal welfare farm. These results imply that animal welfare farm provides a stress-reduced breeding environment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2022

Background: The health effects of particulate matter (PM_2.5) bonded with various harmful chemicals differ based on their composition, so investigating and managing their concentrations and composition is vital for long-term management. As industrial complexes emit considerable quantities of pollutants, higher PM_2.5 concentrations and chemical component effects are expected than in other places. Objectives: We investigated the concentration distribution ratios of PM_2.5 chemical components to provide basic data to inform future major emissions control and PM_2.5 reduction measures in industrial complexes. Methods: We monitored five sites near the Ansan and Siheung industrial complexes from August 2020 to July 2021. Samples were collected and analyzed twice per week in spring/winter and once per week in summer/autumn according to the National Institute of Environmental Research in the Ministry of Environments' Air Pollution Monitoring Network Installation and Operation Guidelines. We investigated and compared composition ratios of 29 ions, carbon, and elemental components in PM_2.5. Results: The analysis of PM_2.5 components at the five sites revealed that ion components accounted for the greatest total mass at approximately 50% while carbon components and elemental components contributed 23~28% and 8~10%, respectively. Among the ionic components, NO₃^- occupies the greatest proportion. OC occupies the greatest proportion of the carbon components and sulphur occupies the greatest proportion of elemental components. Conclusions: This study investigated the concentration distribution ratios of PM_2.5 chemical components in industrial complexes. We believe these results provide basic chemical component concentration ratio data for establishing future air management policies and plans for the Ansan and Siheung industrial complexes.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.5_3
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• pp.873-885
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• 2022

The particulate matter (PM) has emerged as a hot topic around the world as it has been reported that PM is related to an increase in mortality and prevalence rates. In South Korea, the importance of PM has been recognized since the late 1990s, and various studies on PM have been conducted. This study investigated the PM research topics and trends for papers (D=2,764) published in Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) using topic modeling based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). As a result, a total of 10 topics were identified in the whole papers, and the PM research topics were classified as 'PM reduction (Topic 1)', 'Government policy and management (Topic 2)', 'Characteristics of PM (Topic 3)', 'PM model (Topic 4)', 'Environmental education (Topic 5)', 'Bio (Topic 6)', 'Traffic (Topic 7)', 'Asian dust (Topic 8)', 'Indoor PM (Topic 9)', 'Human risk (Topic 10)'. In particular, the proportion of papers on topics 'Government policy and management (Topic 2)', 'PM model (Topic 4)', 'Environmental education (Topic 5)', and 'Bio (Topic 6)' to the toal number of papers increased over time (linear slope > 0). The results of this study provide the new literature review methodology related to particulate matter and the history and insight.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.215-225
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• 2022

Background: Patients with hematologic cancers have a risk of drug-related problems (DRPs) from medications associated with chemotherapy and supportive care. Although the role of oncology pharmacists has been widely documented in the literature, few studies have reported its impact on cost reduction. This study aimed to describe the activities of oncology pharmacists with respect to hematologic diseases and evaluate the associated cost avoidance. Methods: From January to July 2021, patients admitted to the department of hemato-oncology at Seoul National University, Bundang Hospital were studied. The activities of oncology pharmacists were reported by DRP type following the Pharmaceutical Care Network version 9.1 guidelines, and the acceptance rate was calculated. The avoided cost was estimated based on the cost of the pharmacy intervention, pharmacist manpower, and prescriptions associated with the intervention. Results: Pharmacists intervened in 584 prescriptions from 208 patients during the study period. The most prevalent DRP was "adverse drug event (possibly) occurring" (32.4%), followed by "effect of drug treatment not optimal" (28.6%). "Drug selection" (42.5%) and "dose selection" (30.3%) were the most common causes of DRPs. The acceptance rate of the interventions was 97.1%. The total avoidance cost was KRW 149,468,321; the net profit of the avoidance cost, excluding labor costs, was KRW 121,051,690; and the estimated cost saving was KRW 37,223,748. Conclusion: Oncology pharmacists identified and resolved various types of DRPs from prescriptions for patients with hematologic disease, by reviewing the prescriptions. Their clinical service contributed to enhanced patient safety and the avoidance of associated costs.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.419-429
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• 2022

Water accounts for the largest proportion of body weight and is an essential element for the physiological functioning of the human body. According to 2013-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data, the average water intake of Koreans was 2,167.3 mL/day and 62% of them did not meet the Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) for water. However, the consumption of beverages is continuously increasing. KDRIs sets the adequate intake (AI) for water, but tolerable upper intake level (UL) and chronic disease risk reduction intake (CDRR) are not provided. Compared to 2015, the AI of total water from both food and fluids in the 2020 KDRIs slightly increased or decreased according to age. The AI for children 1-2 years old, boys 6-8 years and 9-11 years old, and girls 6-8 years old decreased by 100 mL/day, while that of boys 12-14 years old increased by 100 mL/day. The AI of total water was the sum of the water intake from food and fluids reported by the KNHANES, with an extra milk intake of 200 mL/day. Therefore, it is not appropriate to use the AI of total water intakes for the reference of beverage intakes. It is preferable to consume water or milk rather than beverages containing sugar and others including caffeine, sodium, etc. when drinking fluid water. We suggest the following improvements in the future KDRIs for water: improving the adequacy of the water content ratio of Korean conventional foods, supplementing the fluid water intake survey, reflecting the current water intake status by life cycle, setting KDRIs for water for the elderly considering the physiological changes, health status and dietary habits, and promotion of research on the relationship between water intake and health for Koreans.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.87-106
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• 2022

Uncertainties in the energy market are increasing due to technology developments (shale revolution), trade wars, COVID-19, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Especially, since 2020, the risk of international trade in the energy market has increased significantly due to changes in the supply chain of transportation and due to prolonged demand reduction because of COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war. Considering these points, this study analyzed connectedness between energy price, tanker index, and uncertainty to understand the connectedness between international trade in the energy market. Main results are summarized as follows. First, as a result of analyzing stable period and unstable period of the energy price model using the MS-VAR model, it was confirmed that both the crude oil market model and the natural gas market model had a higher probability of maintaining stable period than unstable period, increasing volatility by specific events. Second, looking at the results of the analysis of the connectedness between stable period and unstable period of the energy market, it was confirmed that in the case of total connectedness, connectedness between variables was increased in the unstable period compared to the stable period. In the case of the energy market stable period, considering the degree of connectedness, it was confirmed that the effect of the tanker freight index, which represents the demand-side factor, was significant. Third, unstable period of the natural gas market model increases rapidly compared to the crude oil market model, indicating that the volatility spillover effect of the natural gas market is greater when uncertainties affecting energy prices increase compared to the crude oil market.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.574-578
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• 2019

For the treatment of a bony Bankart lesion accompanied by an acute traumatic shoulder dislocation, anatomical reduction and stable fixation of the bone fragment and glenohumeral ligament are essential to avoid chronic instability or degenerative changes. If the Bankart lesion has large bony pieces or comminuted fragments, it can be difficult to perform precise and secure fixation of the big intraarticular fragment to the fracture site because of the limited visualization of the arthroscopic procedure. In addition, in the case of the open procedure, it requires an extensive surgical dissection to access the fractured fragment, which may cause surgical approach-related morbidity, such as neurovascular complications, delayed subscapularis healing, and increased risk of stiffness. This paper describes an alternative open suture anchor technique for a large bony Bankart lesion, which was secured anatomically with squared knots after a shuttle relay through bony tunnels and adjacent soft tissue and labrum. This technique can achieve anatomical and firm fixation under direct vision, and reduce the number of surgery related morbidities.