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Toll-like receptor 9 expression and interferon-α secretion upon CpG-ODN stimulation in allergic subjects (알레르기 환자에서 TLR9 ligand인 CpG-ODN 자극에 의한 IFN-α 분비와 TLR9 발현)

  • Han, Man Yong;Jee, Hye Mi;Kim, Hyeong Yoon;Lee, Cho Ae;Cho, Hyo-Jin;Hwang, Seong-Gyu;Kim, Kyu-Earn
    • Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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    • v.52 no.9
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    • pp.1015-1020
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    • 2009
  • Purpose:The aim of this study is to explore the effect of the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) expressed in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) that respond to antigen to Th2 immune deviation in allergic patients. Methods:Subjects consisted of 19 allergic patients and 17 healthy volunteers. Skin prick tests and nasal provocation tests were performed for the two groups. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from subjects and analyzed for the Lineage Cocktail (CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD20, CD56) (-), HLA-DR (+), and CD123 (+) using flow cytometry. In addition, we analyzed TLR9 mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The level of $interferon-{\alpha}$ ($IFN-{\alpha}$) of the PBMCs following stimulation with the TLR9 ligand CpG-ODN 2216 was also evaluated. Results:Analyses of CD123 (+) revealed a nearly similar distribution for the classical pDC markers in the allergic group ($0.1%{\pm}0.04%$) and in the controls ($0.25%{\pm}0.23%$). The mRNA levels of TLR9 on PBMCs were not different between the allergic group and the controls ($1.29{\pm}0.41$ vs. $1.25{\pm}0.23$, respectively). Additionally, the level of $IFN-{\alpha}$ in PBMCs exposed to stimuli of the TLR9 ligand CpG-ODN 2216 was not significantly different between the two groups ($911{\pm}829$ vs. $1,095{\pm}888pg/mL$, respectively). Conclusion:We found no evidence that TLR9-dependent immune responses in human pDCs are associated with allergic status.

Hepatogenic Potential of Umbilical Cord Derived-Stem Cells and Human Amnion Derived-Stem Cells (사람의 제대 및 양막유래 줄기세포의 간세포로의 분화)

  • Kim, Ji-Young;Lee, Yoon-Jung;Park, Se-Ah;Kang, Hyun-Mi;Kim, Kyung-Sik;Cho, Dong-Jae;Kim, Hae-Kwon
    • Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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    • v.35 no.4
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    • pp.247-265
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    • 2008
  • Objectives: Many types of liver diseases can damage regenerative potential of mature hepatocytes, hepatic progenitor cells or oval cells. In such cases, a stem cell-based therapy can be an alternative therapeutic option. We examined whether human amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HAM) and human umbilical cord-derived stem cells (HUC) could differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells as therapeutic cells for the liver diseases. Methods: HAM and HUC were isolated from the amnion and umbilical cord of the volunteers after a caesarean section with informed consent. In order to differentiate these cells into hepatocyte-like cells, cells were cultivated in hepatogenic medium using culture plates coated with fibronectin. Effects of hepatocyte growth factor, L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, insulin premixture fibroblast growth gactor 4, dimethylsulfoxide, oncostatin M and/or dexamethasone were examined on the hepatic differentiation. After differentiation, the cells were analyzed by RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting, albumin ELISA, urea assay and periodic acid-schiffs staining. Results: Initial fibroblast-like appearance of HAM and HUC changed to a round shape during culture in the hepatogenic medium. However, in all hepatogenic conditions examined, HUC secreted more amounts of albumin or urea into medium than HAM. Expression of some of hepatocyte-specific genes increased and expression of new genes were observed in HUC following cultivation in hepatogenic medium. Results of immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting analyses demonstrated that HUC secreted albumin into the culture medium. PAS staining further demonstrated that HUC could store glycogen inside of the cells. Conclusions: Both HUC and HAM could differentiate into albumin-secreting, hepatocyte-like cells. Under the same hepatogenic conditions examined, HUC more efficiently differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells compared with the HAM. The results suggest that HUC and HAM could be used as sources of stem cells for the cell-based therapeutics such as in liver diseases.

Comparision of Signal-Averaged Electrocardiography (SAECG) Determined by Flank Lead System (FLS) and Pyramidal Lead System (PLS) in Healthy Young Adults (정상 성인의 직교유도체제와 피라미드유도체제에 의한 신호 가산 평균심전도의 비교)

  • Jang, Byeong-Ik;Kang, Seung-Ho;Kim, Hyeung-Il;Shin, Dong-Gu;Kim, Young-Jo;Shim, Bong-Sup;Lee, Hyun-Woo
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.179-189
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    • 1993
  • It has recently become possible to record electrical activity originating from abnormally conducting myocardium from the body surface with high - gain amplification and averaging technique. These signals, which result from delayed ventricular activation(late potentials), have been recorded in patients with documented ventricular tachyarrythmia. Several electrode lead system for detecting ventricular late potential were introduced. Pyramidal electrode lead system(PLS) is useful. Also interpretation of SAECG in the young could be of value in detecting those at risk for episodic ventricular tachycardia, but suffer from a lack of data in normal young people. Selection of subjects : For this study, normal healthy young adult volunteers (age: mean 24 years) were recruited from the medical students at Yeungnam University Hospital, Internal Medicine. Twenty fourths male and seventeenths female subjects were selected. All subjects had normal resting ECGs as judged from both the standard 12 channel lead and echocardiography, and none had a history of cardiovascular disease. All subjects were considered to be in good general physical condition. Signal-averaged electrocardiography : In order to obtain low noise recordings with a small number of averaging cycles, all subject ware asked to relax completely in the supine position. Silver/silver chloride electrodes were attached after the skin was cleaned with alcohol, to constitute classic flank lead system(FLS) and pyramidal lead system(PLS). Signals were recorded and processed using a commercially available microprocessor-augmented ECG cart(Marquette Electronics, USA) suitable for portable bedside recording. There was no difference between normal values, determined by FLS and PLS at high pass filtering of 25 Hz and 80 Hz, but significant, difference was found in HFLAD and RMS-40 of 40 Hz(p<0.05). These results will provide a basis for interpretations of SAECG, determined by FLS and PLS in healthy young adults with normal QRS duration.

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Studies on Radiation Protection Effect of the Beer (맥주의 방사선방어효과에 관한 연구)

  • Sohn, Jong-Gi;Ha, Tae-Young;Hwang, Chul-Hyan;Lee, Young-Hwa
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.83-90
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    • 2007
  • Purpose: In this study, it was investigated whether commercially produced beer is able to prevent a lymphocyte from radiation induced apoptosis. Materials and Methods: Whole blood samples were acquired from 5 healthy volunteers (male, 26$\sim$38 years old) and the lymphocyte were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Radiation induced apoptosis of the lymphocyte were investigated by 0.5 Gy, 1.0 Gy, 2.0 Gy, 3.0 Gy to 5.0 Gy irradiation. In some experiments, the donor drunk beer and then blood samples were collected. In other experiments, melatonin or glycine betain was added to lymphocyte culture medium. Treated or untreated lymphocytes were cultured for 60 hours and radiation induced apoptosis of the lymphocyte was analyzed by annexin-V staining through flow cytometery. Results: Relative radiation induced apoptosis ratio of the untreated lymphocytes is 1.22$\pm$1.1, 1.22$\pm$1.1, 1.38$\pm$1.0, 1.47$\pm$1.1, 1.50$\pm$1.2 by radiation dose of 0.5 Gy, 1.0 Gy, 2.0 Gy, 3.0 Gy and 5.0 Gy respectively. Relative radiation induced apoptosis ratio of lymphocytes is isolated from beer drunken donors is 0.97$\pm$1.0, 0.99$\pm$1.0, 1.11$\pm$0.9, 1.29$\pm$1.1, 1.15$\pm$1.1 by radiation doses respectively which are reduced 21.5% compared with untreated lymphocyte. Relative radiation induced apoptosis ratio of the lymphocytes is isolated from non-alcohol beer drunken donors is 1.22$\pm$1.1, 1.17$\pm$1.1, 1.13$\pm$1.3, 1.38$\pm$1.2, 1.32$\pm$1.1 by radiation dose of 0.5 Gy, 1.0 Gy, 2.0 Gy, 3.0 Gy and 5.0 Gy respectively which are reduced 10.8% compared with the untreated lymphocyte. Conclusion: As a result, it is suggested that beer may protect the lymphocyte from radiation damage and inhibit apoptosis.

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Effects of Combined Exercise on Irisin, Body Composition and Glucose Metabolism in Obese Elderly Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (복합운동이 제2형 당뇨병 비만 여성노인의 Irisin, 신체조성 및 당 대사에 미치는 영향)

  • Ha, Soo-Min;Kim, Jung-Sook;Ha, Min-Seong;Kim, Bo-Sung;Kim, Do-Yeon
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.1268-1280
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    • 2019
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combined exercise on irisin, body composition and glucose metabolism in obese elderly women with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The subjects were thirty-six obese elderly women with type 2 diabetes volunteers, aged 65 to 85 years, composed of the combined exercise type 2 diabetes mellitus group (n=20) and non-exercise type 2 diabetes mellitus group (n=16). The 60 minute combined exercise program (outdoor walking exercise & elastic-band exercise) was performed 3 times per week for 12 weeks. Exercise intensity of outdoor walking exercise was performed as medium intensity (RPE 5~6) and elastic-band exercise was progressively increased every four weeks (1-4 weeks: OMNI-RES 3~4, 5-8 weeks: OMNI-RES 5~6, 9-12 weeks: OMNI-RES 7~8). The results of the study in the combined exercise type 2 diabetes mellitus group were as follows; Irisin and skeletal muscle mass had significantly increased (p<.001), percentage of body fat had significantly decreased (p<.001). Further, HbA1c (p=.020) and fasting glucose (p<.001) was significantly decreased, and HOMA-β was significantly increased (p<.001). Correlation results showed that change of irisin had a significant negative correlation between percentage of body fat mass (r=-.423, p=.010), HbA1c (r=-.351, p=.036) and fasting glucose (r=-.424, p=.010). Also, irisin changes showed a positive correlation with aerobic endurance (r=.355, p=.034) and HOMA-β (r=.411, p=.013). In conclusion, the practice of regular combined exercise was found to increase the level of irisin in elderly women with type 2 diabetes and have a positive effect on body composition changes. In addition, HbA1c, fasting glucose and insulin secretion was improved, which helped to regulate glucose metabolism. Walking exercise and elastic band exercise are recommended as effective exercise for the prevention and management of diabetes in obese elderly women with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

An Efficient Estimation of Place Brand Image Power Based on Text Mining Technology (텍스트마이닝 기반의 효율적인 장소 브랜드 이미지 강도 측정 방법)

  • Choi, Sukjae;Jeon, Jongshik;Subrata, Biswas;Kwon, Ohbyung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.113-129
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    • 2015
  • Location branding is a very important income making activity, by giving special meanings to a specific location while producing identity and communal value which are based around the understanding of a place's location branding concept methodology. Many other areas, such as marketing, architecture, and city construction, exert an influence creating an impressive brand image. A place brand which shows great recognition to both native people of S. Korea and foreigners creates significant economic effects. There has been research on creating a strategically and detailed place brand image, and the representative research has been carried out by Anholt who surveyed two million people from 50 different countries. However, the investigation, including survey research, required a great deal of effort from the workforce and required significant expense. As a result, there is a need to make more affordable, objective and effective research methods. The purpose of this paper is to find a way to measure the intensity of the image of the brand objective and at a low cost through text mining purposes. The proposed method extracts the keyword and the factors constructing the location brand image from the related web documents. In this way, we can measure the brand image intensity of the specific location. The performance of the proposed methodology was verified through comparison with Anholt's 50 city image consistency index ranking around the world. Four methods are applied to the test. First, RNADOM method artificially ranks the cities included in the experiment. HUMAN method firstly makes a questionnaire and selects 9 volunteers who are well acquainted with brand management and at the same time cities to evaluate. Then they are requested to rank the cities and compared with the Anholt's evaluation results. TM method applies the proposed method to evaluate the cities with all evaluation criteria. TM-LEARN, which is the extended method of TM, selects significant evaluation items from the items in every criterion. Then the method evaluates the cities with all selected evaluation criteria. RMSE is used to as a metric to compare the evaluation results. Experimental results suggested by this paper's methodology are as follows: Firstly, compared to the evaluation method that targets ordinary people, this method appeared to be more accurate. Secondly, compared to the traditional survey method, the time and the cost are much less because in this research we used automated means. Thirdly, this proposed methodology is very timely because it can be evaluated from time to time. Fourthly, compared to Anholt's method which evaluated only for an already specified city, this proposed methodology is applicable to any location. Finally, this proposed methodology has a relatively high objectivity because our research was conducted based on open source data. As a result, our city image evaluation text mining approach has found validity in terms of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, timeliness, scalability, and reliability. The proposed method provides managers with clear guidelines regarding brand management in public and private sectors. As public sectors such as local officers, the proposed method could be used to formulate strategies and enhance the image of their places in an efficient manner. Rather than conducting heavy questionnaires, the local officers could monitor the current place image very shortly a priori, than may make decisions to go over the formal place image test only if the evaluation results from the proposed method are not ordinary no matter what the results indicate opportunity or threat to the place. Moreover, with co-using the morphological analysis, extracting meaningful facets of place brand from text, sentiment analysis and more with the proposed method, marketing strategy planners or civil engineering professionals may obtain deeper and more abundant insights for better place rand images. In the future, a prototype system will be implemented to show the feasibility of the idea proposed in this paper.

Effects of the Mixture of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Pycnogenol and Evening Primrose Oil on the UV-Induced Pigmentation and Wrinkle Reductions in Human Skin (비타민과 불포화지방산, 그리고 피크노제놀을 함유한 복합제제의 주름 완화 및 자외선에 의한 색소침착 개선 효과)

  • Chang, Min-Youl;Park, Sang-Ki;Kwak, Taek-Jong;Park, Hyoung-Kook;Lee, Cheon-Koo;Lee, Heon-Sik;Ly, Sun-Yung;Kim, Seong-Jin
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.42 no.6
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    • pp.516-522
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    • 2009
  • In this study, the effects of a mixture consisting of vitamin E, vitamin C, pycnogenol and evening primrose oil (mixture LGNC-5) on ultraviolet light (UV) induced pigmentation and wrinkle reductions of normal healthy volunteers were studied. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, each of 54 subjects took daily either 4 capsules of the mixture LGNC-5 (Group ABC; 282.5 mg/capsule) or placebo (Group Ganada). We irradiated 2.5 MED UV on the upper arms and measured the whitening effect by colorimeter-based L value. The level of wrinkle reduction was determined by image analysis using skin replica around the crow' feet, and the level of serum vitamin E was determined at baseline and 12 weeks. After 12-week oral administration, the treated group showed a significant reduction in skin pigmentation and wrinkles compared with the placebo group (p = 0.011 and p = 0.000005, respectively). Also, the level of serum vitamin E was significantly increased in the treated group after 12-week oral adminstration of the mixture compared with that in the placebo group (p = 0.0001). In conclusion, 12-week oral administration of LGNC-5 as a dietary supplement could be effective to reduce both UV induced pigmentation and skin wrinkle without side effects.

The research for the yachting development of Korean Marina operation plans (요트 발전을 위한 한국형 마리나 운영방안에 관한 연구)

  • Jeong Jong-Seok;Hugh Ihl
    • Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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    • v.28 no.10 s.96
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    • pp.899-908
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    • 2004
  • The rise of income and introduction of 5 day a week working system give korean people opportunities to enjoy their leisure time. And many korean people have much interest in oceanic sports such as yachting and also oceanic leisure equipments. With the popularization and development of the equipments, the scope of oceanic activities has been expanding in Korea just as in the advanced oceanic countries. However, The current conditions for the sports in Korea are not advanced and even worse than underdeveloped countries. In order to develop the underdeveloped resources of Korean marina, we need to customize the marina models of advanced nations to serve the specific needs and circumstances of Korea As such we have carried out a comparative analysis of how Austrailia, Newzealand, Singapore, japan and Malaysia operate their marina, reaching the following conclusions. Firstly, in marina operations, in order to protect personal property rights and to preserve the environment, we must operate membership and non-membership, profit and non-profit schemes separately, yet without regulating the dress code entering or leaving the club house. Secondly, in order to accumulate greater value added, new sporting events should be hosted each year. There is also the need for an active use of volunteers, the generation of greater interest in yacht tourism, and the simplification of CIQ procedures for foreign yachts as well as the provision of language services. Thirdly, a permanent yacht school should be established, and classes should be taught by qualified instructors. Beginners, intermediary, and advanced learner classes should be managed separately with special emphasis on the dinghy yacht program for children. Fourthly, arrival and departure at the moorings must be regulated autonomically, and there must be systematic measures for the marina to be able, in part, to compensate for loss and damages to equipment, security and surveillance after usage fees have been paid for. Fifthly, marine safety personnel must be formed in accordance with Korea's current circumstances from civilian organizations in order to be used actively in benchmarking, rescue operations, and oceanic searches at times of disaster at sea.

Comparison of Brain Activation Images Associated with Sexual Arousal Induced by Visual Stimulation and SP6 Acupuncture : fMRI at 3 Tesla (시각자극과 삼음교 자침으로 유발된 성적 흥분의 대뇌 활성화 영상의 비교 : 3 테슬라 기능적 자기공명영상법)

  • Choi, Nam-Gil;Han, Jae-Bok;Jang, Seong-Joo
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.183-194
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    • 2009
  • Purpose : This study was performed not only to compare the brain activation regions associated with sexual arousal induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture, but also to evaluate its differential neuro-anatomical mechanism in healthy women using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 Tesla (T). Subjects and methods : A total of 21 healthy right-handed female volunteers (mean age 22 years, range 19 to 32) underwent fMRI on a 3T MR scanner. The stimulation paradigm for sexual arousal consisted of two alternating periods of rest and activation. It began with a 1-minute rest period, 3 minutes of stimulation with either of an erotic video film or SP6 acupuncture, followed by 1-minute rest. In addition, a comparative study on the brain activation patterns between an acupoint and a shampoint nearby GB37 was performed. The fMRI data were obtained from 20 slices parallel to the AC-PC line on an axial plane, giving a total of 2,000 images. The mean activation maps were constructed and analyzed by using the statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software. Results : As comparison with the shampoint, the acupoint showed 5 times and 2 times higher activities in the neocortex and limbic system, respectively. Note that brain activation in response to stimulation with the shampoint was not observed in the regions including the HTHL in the diencephalon, GLO and AMYG in the basal ganglia, and SMG in the parietal lobe. In the comparative study of visual stimulation vs. SP6 acupuncture, the mean activation ratio of stimulus was not significantly different to each other in both the neocortex and the limbic system (p < 0.05). The mean activities induced by both stimuli were not significantly different in the neocortex, whereas the acupunctural stimulation showed higher activity in the limbic system (p < 0.05). Conclusions : This study compared the differential brain activation patterns and the neural mechanisms for sexual arousal, which were induced by visual stimulation and SP6 acupuncture by using 3T fMRI. These findings will be useful to understand the theory of traditional acupuncture and acupoint channel in scientific point of view.

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Radiation-Induced Apoptosis of Lymphocytes in Peripheral Blood (말초혈액 내 림프구의 방사선에 의한 아포프토시스)

  • Oh, Yoon-Kyeong;Lee, Tae-Bum;Nam, Taek-Keun;Kee, Keun-Hong;Choi, Cheol-Hee
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.75-81
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    • 2003
  • Purpose : This study quantitatively evaluated the apoptosis In human peripheral blood lymphocytes using flow cytometry, and investigated the possibility of using this method, with a small amount of blood, and the time and dose dependence of radiation-induced apoptosls. Materials and Methods : Peripheral blood lymphocyes were isolated from the heparinized venous blood of 11 healthy volunteers, 8 men and 3 women, with each 10 ml of blood being divided Into IS samples. The blood lymphocytes were Irradiated using a linear accelerator at a dose rate of 2.4 Gy/min, to deliver doses of 0.5, 1, 2 and S Gy. The control samples, and Irradiated cells, were maintained in culture medium for 24, 48 and 72 hours fellowing the Irradiation. The number of apoptotic cells after the in vitro X-irradiation was measured by flow cytometry after Incubation periods of 24, 48 and 72 hours. We also observed the apoptotic cells using a DNA fragmentation assay and electron microscopy. Results : The rate oi spontaneous apoptosis increased in relation to the time interval following irradiation (1.761 ${\pm}$0.161, 3.563${\pm}$0.554, 11.098${\pm}$2.849, at 24, 48, and 72 hours). The apoptotli cells also increased In the samples irradiated with 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 Gy, In a radiation dose and time interval after Irradiation manner, with the apoptosls being too great at 72 hours after Irradiation. The dose-response curves were characterized by an Initial steep Increase In the number of apoptotic cells for Irradiation doses below 2 Gy, with a flattening of the curves as the dose approached towards 5 Gy. Conclusion :The flow cytometric assay technique yielded adequate data, and required less than 1 mL of blood. The time and dose dependence of the radiation-induced apoptosis, was also shown. It is suggested that the adequate time Interval required for the evaluation of apoptosis would be 24 to 48 hours after blood sampling.