• Title/Summary/Keyword: Screening system

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How to Reflect Sustainable Development, exemplified by the Equator Principles, in Overseas Investment (해외투자(海外投資)와 지속가능발전 원칙 - 프로젝트 파이낸스의 적도원칙(赤道原則)을 중심으로 -)

  • Park, Whon-Il
    • THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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    • v.31
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    • pp.27-56
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    • 2006
  • Today's financial institutions usually take environmental issues seriously into consideration as they could not evade lender liability in an increasing number of cases. On the international scene, a brand-new concept of the "Equator Principles" in the New Millenium has driven more and more international banks to adopt these Principles in project financing. Sustainable development has been a key word in understanding new trends of the governments, financial institutions, corporations and civic groups in the 21st century. The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental and social guidelines for sustainable finance. These Principles commit bank officers to avoid financial support to projects that fail to meet these guidelines. The Principles were conceived in 2002 on an initiative of the International Finance Corporation(IFC), and launched in June 2003. Since then, dozens of major banks, accounting for up to 80 percent of project loan market, have adopted the Principles. Accordingly, the Principles have become the de facto standard for all banks and investors on how to deal with potential social and environmental issues of projects to be financed. Compliance with the Equator Principles facilitates for endorsing banks to participate in the syndicated loan and help them to manage the risks associated with large-scale projects. The Equator Principles call for financial institutions to provide loans to projects under the following circumstances: - The risk of the project is categorized in accordance with internal guidelines based upon the environmental and social screening criteria of the IFC. - For Category A and B projects, borrowers or sponsors are required to conduct a Social and Environmental Assessment, the preparation of which must meet certain requirements and satisfactorily address key social and environmental issues. - The Social and Environmental Assessment report should address baseline social and environmental conditions, requirements under host country laws and regulations, sustainable development, and, as appropriate, IFC's Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines, etc. - Based on the Social and Environmental Assessment, Equator banks then make agreements with borrowers on how they mitigate, monitor and manage the risks through a Social and Environmental Management System. Compliance with the plan is included in the covenant clause of loan agreements. If the borrower doesn't comply with the agreed terms, the bank will take corrective actions. The Equator Principles are not a mere declaration of cautious banks but a full commitment of lenders. A violation of the Principles in the process of project financing, which led to an unexpected damage to the affected community, would not give rise to any specific legal remedies other than ordinary lawsuits. So it is more effective for banks to ensure consistent implementation of the Principles and to have them take responsible measures to solve social and environmental issues. Public interests have recently mounted up with respect to environmental issues on the occasion of the Supreme Court's decision (2006Du330) on the fiercely debated reclamation project at Saemangeum. The majority Justices said that the expected environmental damages like probable pollution of water and soil were not believed so serious and that the Administration should continue to implement the project seeking ways to make it more environment friendly. In this case, though the Category A Saemangeum Project was carried out by a government agency, the Supreme Court behaved itself as a signal giver to approve or stop the environment-related project like an Equator bank in project financing. At present, there is no Equator bank in Korea in contrast to three big banks in Japan. Also Korean contractors, which are aggressively bidding for Category A-type projects in South East Asia and Mideast, might find themselves in a disadvantageous position because they are generally ignorant of the environmental assessment associated with project financing. In this regard, Korean banks and overseas project contractors should care for the revised Equator Principles and the latest developments in project financing more seriously. It's because its scope has expanded to the capital cost of US$10 million or more across all industry sectors regardless of developing countries or not. It should be noted that, for a Korean bank, being an Equator bank is more or less burdensome in a short-term period, but it must be conducive to minimizing risks and building up good reputation in the long run.

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The Comparison of the Solar Radiation and the Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) under the Shade of Landscaping Trees in Summertime (하절기 조경용 녹음수 수관 하부의 일사와 평균복사온도 비교)

  • Lee, Chun-Seok;Ryu, Nam-Hyung
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.42 no.5
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    • pp.22-30
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    • 2014
  • The purpose of this study was to compare the Solar Radiation(SR) and the Mean Radiant Temperature(MRT) under the shades of the three landscaping trees in clear summer daytimes. The trees were Lagerstroemia indica, Quercus palustris and Ulmus parvifolia. The solar radiation, the globe temperature and the air temperature were recorded every minute from the $1^{st}$ of April to the $30^{th}$ of September 2013 at a height of 1.1m above on the four monitoring stations, with four same measuring system consisting of a solar radiation sensor, two resistance temperature detectors(Pt-100), a black brass globe (${\phi}50mm$) and data acquisition systems. At the same time, the sky view photos were taken automatically hourly by three scouting cameras(lens angle: $60^{\circ}$) fixed at each monitoring station. Based on the 258 daily sky view photos and 6,640 records of middays(10 A.M.~2 P.M.) from the $1^{st}$ of June to the $30^{th}$ of August, the time serial differences of SR and MRT under the trees were analysed and compared with those of open sky, The major findings were as follows; 1. The average ratio of sky views screened by the canopies of Quercus palustris, Lagerstroemia indica and Ulmus parvifolia were 99%, 98% and 97%, and the SR were $106W/m^2$, $163W/m^2$ and $202W/m^2$ respectively, while the SR of open sky was $823W/m^2$. Which shows the canopies blocked at least 70% of natural SR. 2. The average MRT under the canopies of Quercus palustris, Lagerstroemia indica and Ulmus parvifolia were $30.34^{\circ}C$, $33.34^{\circ}C$ and $34.77^{\circ}C$ respectively, while that of open sky was $46.0^{\circ}C$. Therefore, it can be said that the tree canopies can reduce the MRT around $10{\sim}16^{\circ}C$. 3. The regression test showed significant linear relationship between the SR and MRT. In summary, the performances of the landscaping shade trees were very good at screening the SR and reducing the MRT at the outdoor of summer middays. Therefore, it can be apparently said that the more shade trees or forest at the outdoor, the more effective in conditioning the outdoor space reducing the MRT and the useless SR for human activities in summertime.

Simultaneous estimation of fatty acids contents from soybean seeds using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography by multivariate analysis (적외선 분광스펙트럼 및 기체크로마토그라피 분석 데이터의 다변량 통계분석을 이용한 대두 종자 지방산 함량예측)

  • Ahn, Myung Suk;Ji, Eun Yee;Song, Seung Yeob;Ahn, Joon Woo;Jeong, Won Joong;Min, Sung Ran;Kim, Suk Weon
    • Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.60-70
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    • 2015
  • The aim of this study was to investigate whether fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy can be applied to simultaneous determination of fatty acids contents in different soybean cultivars. Total 153 lines of soybean (Glycine max Merrill) were examined by FT-IR spectroscopy. Quantification of fatty acids from the soybean lines was confirmed by quantitative gas chromatography (GC) analysis. The quantitative spectral variation among different soybean lines was observed in the amide bond region ($1,700{\sim}1,500cm^{-1}$), phosphodiester groups ($1,500{\sim}1,300cm^{-1}$) and sugar region ($1,200{\sim}1,000cm^{-1}$) of FT-IR spectra. The quantitative prediction modeling of 5 individual fatty acids contents (palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid) from soybean lines were established using partial least square regression algorithm from FT-IR spectra. In cross validation, there were high correlations ($R^2{\geq}0.97$) between predicted content of 5 individual fatty acids by PLS regression modeling from FT-IR spectra and measured content by GC. In external validation, palmitic acid ($R^2=0.8002$), oleic acid ($R^2=0.8909$) and linoleic acid ($R^2=0.815$) were predicted with good accuracy, while prediction for stearic acid ($R^2=0.4598$), linolenic acid ($R^2=0.6868$) had relatively lower accuracy. These results clearly show that FT-IR spectra combined with multivariate analysis can be used to accurately predict fatty acids contents in soybean lines. Therefore, we suggest that the PLS prediction system for fatty acid contents using FT-IR analysis could be applied as a rapid and high throughput screening tool for the breeding for modified Fatty acid composition in soybean and contribute to accelerating the conventional breeding.

Analysis of 1,000 Cases of Abdominal Ultrasonography Performed by a Pediatrician (소아과 의사에 의해 시행된 복부 초음파 검사 1,000예에 대한 분석)

  • Bae, Sang-In;Park, Jae-Hong
    • Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.28-35
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    • 2007
  • Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of ultrasound examination of children performed by a pediatrician. Methods: One thousand children who presented with symptoms of a gastrointestinal disorder and underwent abdominal ultrasound evaluation in the Department of Pediatrics, between January 2003 and June 2006, were included in this study. We analyzed the patient's medical records and ultrasound results retrospectively. Results: Among the 1,000 patients, 58.4% were male and 41.6% were female. The mean age of the patients was $4.7{\pm}4.0$ years. The main reasons for ultrasound were abdominal pain (43.9%), vomiting (17.3%), elevated liver enzymes (11.8%), and jaundice (9.8%). Abnormal ultrasound findings were present in 57.9% of cases. The major abnormal findings were mesenteric lymphadenitis (29.2%), fatty liver (12.1%), hepatitis (6.4%), hepatosplenomegaly (6.2%), and acute appendicitis (4.8%). The time interval between the initial medical evaluation and the ultrasound evaluation was within 24 hours in most cases (78.5%). The main findings in children with abdominal pain were mesenteric lymphadenitis (32.6%), fatty liver (5.9%), intussusception (2.7%), and acute appendicitis (2.7%). The main findings in children with vomiting were mesenteric lymphadenitis (12.7%), hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (10.4%), and acute appendicitis (3.5%). The major ultrasound findings in children with urinary tract diseases were hydronephrosis (45.4%), urolithiasis (21.5%) and cystic renal disease (18.1%). Conclusion: Ultrasound examination played an important role as a non-invasive and prompt screening examination for detection of abdominal diseases. Ultrasound was an important tool for pediatricians to determine timely information for patient management.

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Responses of Root Growth Characters to Waterlogging in Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] (과습에 따른 콩 지하부 생육반응)

  • Lee, Jae-Eun;Kim, Hong-Sig;Kwon, Young-Up;Jung, Gun-Ho;Lee, Chun-Ki;Yun, Hong-Tai;Kim, Chung-Kon
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.55 no.1
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    • pp.1-7
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    • 2010
  • Stress from excess water is one of the most harmful limiting factor in soybean yield during the wet season under the climate conditions. Soybean is very sensitive to excess water compare to other crops. This experiment was carried out to identify the growth responses for establishing a screening system related to waterlogging tolerance in soybean from 2003 to 2004. The root dry weight accumulation rate of per day for 21 days after waterlogging at V5 stage was the highest in Pungsannamulkong (47~56% of control) and was the lowest in Jangyeobkong (26~27% of control). The nodules dry weight recovery rate was the highest in Pungsannamulkong (83~91% of control), while the lowest in Myungjunamulkong (48~66% of control). After waterlogging, recovery rate of roots was high, which increased the root/shoot ratio of Pungsannamulkong, which also produced significantly more adventitious roots than in Jangyeobkong. The percentage of adventitious roots fresh weight to the total roots fresh weight was the lowest in Myungjunamulkong (14%), while the highest in Pungsannamulkong (38%). This results implies that the water and nutrients absorbing ability of Pungsannamulkong is more higher than that of Myungjunamulkong during late growth period.

A Study on the Effect of Luffae Fructus Retinervus Herbal-Acupuncture at ST36 on Collagen-induced Arthritis in Mice (족삼리(足三里) 사과락약침(絲瓜絡藥鍼)이 생쥐의 Collagen-induccd Arthritis에 미치는 영향)

  • Chae, Choong-heon;Choi, Sun-mi;Yim, Yun-kyoung
    • Journal of Acupuncture Research
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.131-144
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    • 2005
  • Objective : The aim of this study is to observe the effect of Herbal-acupuncture(HA) with Luffae Fructus Retinervus Herbal-Acupuncture Solution(LFR-HAS) at ST36(Joksamni) on Collagen Ⅱ -induced arthritis(CIA) in mice. Methods : DBA1/J mice were immunized with bovine type Ⅱ collagen(CⅡ) on days 0 and 21 to induce an arthritis. The mice were divided into 5 groups. They were Normal group(wild type), Control group(CIA), Saline group(CIA +saline injection), Needle Prick group(CIA +single Prick with an injection needle) and LFR-HA group(CIA +LFR-HA treatment). The saline injection, needle prick and LFR-HA were made on the right ST36(Joksamni) of mice for 5 weeks, 3 times a week beginning 4 weeks after the booster immunization. Results : 1. The highest synovial rate of lung fibroblasts was measured in the 1% LFR-HAS. 2. TNF-${\alpha}$ expression of survival cells from CIA mouse joint was significantly reduced in the 1% LFR-HAS. 3. The incidence of arthritis and the spleen weight of CIA mouse were significantly reduced by the Luffae Fructus Retinervus Herbal-Acupuncture (LFR-HA) at ST36. 4. The concentrations of IL-6, INF-${\alpha}$, INF-${\alpha}$, IgG, IgM, and anti-collagen Ⅱ in the CIA mouse serum were significantly reduced by the LFR-HA at ST36. 5. The histological examination showed that, in the LFR-HA group, the cartilage destruction and the synoviocyte proliferation in the CIA mouse joint were not significant compared to the control group, and the collagen fiber was similarly expressed as the normal group. 6. In the LFR-HA group, the ratio of CD3e+ to CD19+ cell, and the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ cell in the lymph node were similarly maintained as those of the normal group. 7. CD69+/CD3e+ and CD11a+/CD19+ cells in the CIA mouse lymph node were significantly reduced by the LFR-HA at ST36. 8. CD11b+/Gr-1+ cells in the CIA mouse joint were significantly reduced by the LFR-HA at ST36. Conclusions : These results indicate that Luffae Fructus Retinervus Herbal-Acupuncture (LFR-HA) at ST36 may regulate the immune system and have a therapeutic effect on Collagen-induced arthritis(CIA) in mice.

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THE PREVALENCE OF CLEFT LIP AND/OR CLEFT PALATE IN KOREAN MALE ADULT (한국인 성인 남자에게 구순열 및 구개열의 유병률에 관한 연구)

  • Baik, Hyoung-Seon;Keem, Jae-Hoon;Kim, Dong-Jun
    • The korean journal of orthodontics
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    • v.31 no.1 s.84
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    • pp.63-69
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    • 2001
  • Cleft lip and/or palate(CLP) is the most common congenital deformity in the craniofacial region. For a practical public health system for these patients it is necessary to have an understanding on the prevalence of CLP. However, it was difficult to estimate the exact number of CLP patients due to problems in sample selection, higher miscarriage and still birth rate, difficulty in classification, and adoptions to foreign countries. Therefore this study was to estimate the prevalence of CLP and the rate of orthodontic treatment, which is usually necessary in cleft lip and/or palate patients. The samples consisted of 218,322 Korean male adults from Seoul, Kwangju, Taegu and Pusan, all born in 1979. The screening method for recognizing the CLP patients was proceeded in steps and the results are as follows. 1. The prevalence of cleft lip and/or palate in Korean male adults born in 1979 was 0.65 out of the 1000 samples. 2. In the anteroposterior aspect of the 1000 samples, the prevalence of cleft lip, cleft lip and palate, and cleft palate was 0.26, 0.36 and 0.03 respectively. 3. In the transverse aspect of the 1000 samples, the prevalence of left, right and bilateral cleft was 0.35, 0.16, 0.12 respectively. The cleft in the left showed a much higher prevalence than in the rirht, while bilateral cleft showed a lower prevalence than unilateral cleft. 4. The orthodontic treatment rate of Korean male adults among cleft lip and/or palate Patients was $35\%$, and it was in the order of cleft lip and Palate, cleft lip, and cleft Palate, being $67\%,\;29\%\;and\;29\%$ respectively. The orthodontic treatment rate in patients with the more severe cleft lip and palate was higher than in patients solely having cleft lip or cleft palate.

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In Vitro AChE Inhibition Tests of Insecticides Using Electric eel and Housefly AChE (전기뱀장어 및 집파리 AChE를 이용한 살충제의 In Vitro AChE 저해 시험)

  • 이시혁;이준호;조광연
    • Korean journal of applied entomology
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.122-132
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    • 1992
  • Experiments were conducted to establish an in vitro AChE inhibition test system to evaluate the potency of AChE inhibition of new chemical compounds. For a fixed time inhibition test, optimal inhibition (incubation) time to evaluate their AChE inhibition potency was 10 min. for AChE inhibitors such as DFP, DDVP, and paraoxon. The concentration of new chemical compounds with an ester group for evaluation of their inhibition potency was 10 $\mu$M under 10 min. preincubation conditions. However, the stepwise inhibition test with higher concentrations seemed to be needed for other chemical compounds. For a progressive inhibition test to calculate inhibition constants such as $K_d$, $K_3$ and $K_i$, extremely low $K_d(1.3\times10-^85.6\times10^{-7})$ and $K_3$(0. 21-0.27 $min^{-1}$) were observed under lagged preincubation time (0.8-13.3 min) and low in¬hibitor concentrations $(1\times10-^92\times10-^6M)$. However, this method seemed to be useful for comparison of AChE inhibition potency among inhibitors. Differences in inhibition potency among DFP, paraoxon, and KH501 were due to the differences in $K_d$, in other words, differences in affinities between inhibitors and AChEs. Therefore, AntiChE screening should consist of two steps. The first step is to evaluate the potency of AChE inhibition based on $I_50$ valuse obtained from fixed time inhibition tests. The second step is to study inhibition patterns and characteristics of chemical compounds selected in the first step.

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Microsatellite Alterations of Plasma DNA in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (비소세포폐암 환자의 혈장 DNA를 이용한 Microsatellite 분석)

  • Kim, Kyu-Sik;Kim, Eun-Jung;Kim, Soo-Ock;Oh, In-Jae;Park, Chang-Min;Jeong, Ju-Yeon;Kim, Yu-Il;Lim, Sung-Chul;Park, Jong-Tae;Kim, Young-Chul
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.58 no.4
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    • pp.352-358
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    • 2005
  • Microsatellites are short tandem repeated nucleotide sequences that are present throughout the human genome. Variations in the repeat number or a loss of heterozygosity around the microsatellites have been termed a microsatellite alteration (MA). A MA reflects the genetic instability caused by an impairment in the DNA mismatch repair system and is suggested to be a novel tumorigenic mechanism. A number of studies have reported that MA in the DNA extracted from the plasma occurs at varying frequencies among patients with a non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The genomic DNA from 9 subjects with a non-small cell lung cancer (squamous cell cancer 6, adenocarcinoma 2, non-small cell lung cancer1) and 9 age matched non-cancer control subjects (AMC: tuberculosis 3, other inflammatory lung disease 6) and 12 normal control subjects (NC) were extracted from the peripheral blood leukocytes and plasma. Three microsatellite loci were amplified with the primers targeting the Gene Bank sequence D21S1245, D3S1300, and D3S1234. MA in the form of an allelic loss or a band shift was examined with 6% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining. None (0/12) of the NC subjects less than 40 years of age showed a MA in any of the three markers, while 88.9%(8/9) of the AMC above 40 showed a MA in at least one of the three markers (p<0.05). Sixty percent(6/10) of the control subjects with a smoking history showed a MA in one of the three markers, while 9.1%(1/11) of the control subjects without smoking history showed a MA (p<0.05). However, not only did 66.7%(6/9) of lung cancer patients show a MA in at least one of the three markers but so did 88.9%(8/21) of the AMC patients (p>0.05). In conclusion, a MA in the D21S1245, D3S1300, and D3S1234 loci using DNA extracted from the plasma was detected in 66.7% of lung cancer while no MA was found in the young non-smoking control subjects. However, many of the non-cancer control subjects (aged smokers) also showed a MA, which compromised the specificity of the MA analysis as a screening test. Therefore, a further study with a larger sample size will be needed.

The Role of the Endometrium and Embryo in Human Implantation (인간 착상 과정에 자궁내막과 배아의 역할)

  • Jee, Byung-Chul
    • Development and Reproduction
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2009
  • Implantation itself is governed by an array of endocrine, paracrine and autocrine modulators, of embryonic and maternal origin. Window of implantation is the unique temporal and spatial expression of factors allows the embryo to implant via signaling, appositioning, attachment, and invasion in a specific time frame of $2{\sim}4$ days. When the embryo has arrived in the uterine cavity, a preprogrammed sequence of events occurs, which involves the production and secretion of a multitude of biochemical factors such as cytokines, growth factors, and adhesion molecules by the endometrium and the embryo, thus leading to the formation of a receptive endometrium. Cytokines such as LIF, CSF-1, and IL-1 have all been shown to play important roles in the cascade of events that leads to implantation. Integrin, L-selectin ligands, glycodelin, mucin-1, HB-EGF and pinopodes are involved in appositioning and attachment. The embryo also produces cytokines and growth factors (ILs, VEGF) and receptors for endometrial signals such as LIF, CSF-1, IGF and HB-EGF. The immune system and angiogenesis play an important role. The usefulness of these factors to assess endometrial receptivity and to estimate the prognosis for pregnancy in natural and artificial cycles remains to be proven. Integrins, pinopodes, glycodelin and LIF (from biopsies) are promising candidates; from uterine flushings, glycodelin and LIF are also candidates. The ideal serum marker is not available, but VEGF, glycodelin and CSF have some clinical implications. Further evaluation that includes larger groups of infertile women and fertile controls are needed to elucidate whether their presence in plasma, flushing fluid, or endometrial samples can be used as some kind of a screening tool to assess endometrial function and prognosis for pregnancy before and after artificial reproductive therapy. A better understanding of their function in human implantation may lead to therapeutic intervention, thereby improving the success rate in reproduction treatment. New molecular techniques are becoming available for measuring both embryonic and endometrial changes prior to and during implantation. The use of predictive sets of markers may prove to be more reliable than a single marker. Ultimately, the aim is to use these tools to increase implantation in artificial cycles and consequently improve live-birth rates.

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