• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.69-76
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• 2013

The incidence of globally infectious and pathogenic diseases such as H1N1 (swine flu) and Avian Influenza (AI) has recently increased. An infectious disease is a pathogen-caused disease, which can be passed from the infected person to the susceptible host. Pathogens of infectious diseases, which are bacillus, spirochaeta, rickettsia, virus, fungus, and parasite, etc., cause various symptoms such as respiratory disease, gastrointestinal disease, liver disease, and acute febrile illness. They can be spread through various means such as food, water, insect, breathing and contact with other persons. Recently, most countries around the world use a mathematical model to predict and prepare for the spread of infectious diseases. In a modern society, however, infectious diseases are spread in a fast and complicated manner because of rapid development of transportation (both ground and underground). Therefore, we do not have enough time to predict the fast spreading and complicated infectious diseases. Therefore, new system, which can prevent the spread of infectious diseases by predicting its pathway, needs to be developed. In this study, to solve this kind of problem, an integrated monitoring system, which can track and predict the pathway of infectious diseases for its realtime monitoring and control, is developed. This system is implemented based on the conventional mathematical model called by 'Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered (SIR) Model.' The proposed model has characteristics that both inter- and intra-city modes of transportation to express interpersonal contact (i.e., migration flow) are considered. They include the means of transportation such as bus, train, car and airplane. Also, modified real data according to the geographical characteristics of Korea are employed to reflect realistic circumstances of possible disease spreading in Korea. We can predict where and when vaccination needs to be performed by parameters control in this model. The simulation includes several assumptions and scenarios. Using the data of Statistics Korea, five major cities, which are assumed to have the most population migration have been chosen; Seoul, Incheon (Incheon International Airport), Gangneung, Pyeongchang and Wonju. It was assumed that the cities were connected in one network, and infectious disease was spread through denoted transportation methods only. In terms of traffic volume, daily traffic volume was obtained from Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS). In addition, the population of each city was acquired from Statistics Korea. Moreover, data on H1N1 (swine flu) were provided by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and air transport statistics were obtained from Aeronautical Information Portal System. As mentioned above, daily traffic volume, population statistics, H1N1 (swine flu) and air transport statistics data have been adjusted in consideration of the current conditions in Korea and several realistic assumptions and scenarios. Three scenarios (occurrence of H1N1 in Incheon International Airport, not-vaccinated in all cities and vaccinated in Seoul and Pyeongchang respectively) were simulated, and the number of days taken for the number of the infected to reach its peak and proportion of Infectious (I) were compared. According to the simulation, the number of days was the fastest in Seoul with 37 days and the slowest in Pyeongchang with 43 days when vaccination was not considered. In terms of the proportion of I, Seoul was the highest while Pyeongchang was the lowest. When they were vaccinated in Seoul, the number of days taken for the number of the infected to reach at its peak was the fastest in Seoul with 37 days and the slowest in Pyeongchang with 43 days. In terms of the proportion of I, Gangneung was the highest while Pyeongchang was the lowest. When they were vaccinated in Pyeongchang, the number of days was the fastest in Seoul with 37 days and the slowest in Pyeongchang with 43 days. In terms of the proportion of I, Gangneung was the highest while Pyeongchang was the lowest. Based on the results above, it has been confirmed that H1N1, upon the first occurrence, is proportionally spread by the traffic volume in each city. Because the infection pathway is different by the traffic volume in each city, therefore, it is possible to come up with a preventive measurement against infectious disease by tracking and predicting its pathway through the analysis of traffic volume.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.247-268
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• 1996

It has been known for a long time that gonadotropins and steroid hormones play a pivotal role in a series of reproductive biological phenomena including the maturation of ovarian follicles and oocytes, ovulation and implantation, maintenance of pregnancy and fetal growth & development, parturition and mammary development and lactation. Recent investigations, however, have elucidated that in addition to these classic hormones, multiple growth factors also are involved in these phenomena. Most growth factors in reproductive organs mediate the actions of gonadotropins and steroid hormones or synergize with them in an autocrine/paracrine manner. The insulin-like growth factor(IGF) system, which is one of the most actively investigated areas lately in the reproductive organs, has been found to have important roles in a wide gamut of reproductive phenomena. In the present communication, published literature pertaining to the intrauterine IGF system will be reviewed preceded by general information of the IGF system. The IGF family comprises of IGF-I & IGF-II ligands, two types of IGF receptors and six classes of IGF-binding proteins(IGFBPs) that are known to date. IGF-I and IGF-II peptides, which are structurally homologous to proinsulin, possess the insulin-like activity including the stimulatory effect of glucose and amino acid transport. Besides, IGFs as mitogens stimulate cell division, and also play a role in cellular differentiation and functions in a variety of cell lines. IGFs are expressed mainly in the liver and messenchymal cells, and act on almost all types of tissues in an autocrine/paracrine as well as endocrine mode. There are two types of IGF receptors. Type I IGF receptors, which are tyrosine kinase receptors having high-affinity for IGF-I and IGF-II, mediate almost all the IGF actions that are described above. Type II IGF receptors or IGF-II/mannose-6-phosphate receptors have two distinct binding sites; the IGF-II binding site exhibits a high affinity only for IGF-II. The principal role of the type II IGF receptor is to destroy IGF-II by targeting the ligand to the lysosome. IGFs in biological fluids are mostly bound to IGFBP. IGFBPs, in general, are IGF storage/carrier proteins or modulators of IGF actions; however, as for distinct roles for individual IGFBPs, only limited information is available. IGFBPs inhibit IGF actions under most in vitro situations, seemingly because affinities of IGFBPs for IGFs are greater than those of IGF receptors. How IGF is released from IGFBP to reach IGF receptors is not known; however, various IGFBP protease activities that are present in blood and interstitial fluids are believed to play an important role in the process of IGF release from the IGFBP. According to latest reports, there is evidence that under certain in vitro circumstances, IGFBP-1, -3, -5 have their own biological activities independent of the IGF. This may add another dimension of complexity of the already complicated IGF system. Messenger ribonucleic acids and proteins of the IGF family members are expressed in the uterine tissue and conceptus of the primates, rodents and farm animals to play important roles in growth and development of the uterus and fetus. Expression of the uterine IGF system is regulated by gonadal hormones and local regulatory substances with temporal and spatial specificities. Locally expressed IGFs and IGFBPs act on the uterine tissue in an autocrine/paracrine manner, or are secreted into the uterine lumen to participate in conceptus growth and development. Conceptus also expresses the IGF system beginning from the peri-implantation period. When an IGF family member is expressed in the conceptus, however, is determined by the presence or absence of maternally inherited mRNAs, genetic programming of the conceptus itself and an interaction with the maternal tissue. The site of IGF action also follows temporal (physiological status) and spatial specificities. These facts that expression of the IGF system is temporally and spatially regulated support indirectly a hypothesis that IGFs play a role in conceptus growth and development. Uterine and conceptus-derived IGFs stimulate cell division and differentiation, glucose and amino acid transport, general protein synthesis and the biosynthesis of mammotropic hormones including placental lactogen and prolactin, and also play a role in steroidogenesis. The suggested role for IGFs in conceptus growth and development has been proven by the result of IGF-I, IGF-II or IGF receptor gene disruption(targeting) of murine embryos by the homologous recombination technique. Mice carrying a null mutation for IGF-I and/or IGF-II or type I IGF receptor undergo delayed prenatal and postnatal growth and development with 30-60% normal weights at birth. Moreover, mice lacking the type I IGF receptor or IGF-I plus IGF-II die soon after birth. Intrauterine IGFBPs generally are believed to sequester IGF ligands within the uterus or to play a role of negative regulators of IGF actions by inhibiting IGF binding to cognate receptors. However, when it is taken into account that IGFBP-1 is expressed and secreted in primate uteri in amounts assessedly far exceeding those of local IGFs and that IGFBP-1 is one of the major secretory proteins of the primate decidua, the possibility that this IGFBP may have its own biological activity independent of IGF cannot be excluded. Evidently, elucidating the exact role of each IGFBP is an essential step into understanding the whole IGF system. As such, further research in this area is awaited with a lot of anticipation and attention.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.91-116
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• 1979

This paper is to investigate the standing crops and microfungal flora in soil in Phyllostachys reticulata forests in both the Yesan area (A) and the Kwangsan area (B). The stand density of the bamboo revealed 17,250 shoots per ha in area A, and in area B 14,780 shoots which were 16.1% less in number than area A. In respect to the environmental factors between the two areas, the mean temperature during the growth period was $1.5{\sim}2^{\circ}C$ higher in area B than in area A, soil tempeature also was $1{\sim}2^{\circ}C$ higher in area B, and the total quantities of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and organic compounds contained in the soil of area B were also slightly higher than those of area A. In area B the quantities of dried leaf matter, humus, and vegetation in the bamboo forest were also larger than in area A. In addition, five more species of microfungi which playa role in the decomposition of the various organic materials in the bamboo forests were identified in area B: Mortierella elongata, Mucor circinelloides, Aspergillus japonicus, Penicillium waksmani and Trichoderma lignorum. The atmospheric temperature in the inner portions of the bamboo forests was lower than the outside temperature, but the humidity was higher. The rates of relative illuminance were measured in area A at 4.19%, and in area B at 2.7%. These values revealed that the photosynthetic acitivity in the lower part of the bamboo was lost but it was considered that lower illuminance increased the microfungal activities in the vicinity of the surface soil. Since the productive structure of the bamboo showed that the maximum amount of photosynthesis was located in the upper portion of the bamboo in area B, it was considered to be an effective structure in maintaining the high productivity of the bamboo. The allometric relation between $D^2H$ and dry weight of stems(Ws), branches(Wb) and leaves(Wl) of the bamboo in area A were appoximated by log Ws=0.5262 log $D^2H$+1.9546; log Wb=0.6288 log $D^2H$+1.5723; log Wl=0.5181 log $D^2H$+1.8732, and those of the bamboo in area B were approximated by log Ws=0.5433 log $D^2H$+1.8610; log Wb=0.1630 log $D^2H$+2.3475; log Wl=0.4509 log $D^2H$+2.0041. From the above, the standing crops in area A were measured thus: Ws was 1,128. 83kg; Wb, 689.05kg; Wl, 926.69kg and Wl, 2,744.57kg per 10a. In area B, Ws was 1,206. 66kg; Wb, 679.92kg; Wl, 1,112.51kg and Wt, 2.999kg per l0a. Significant differences from the result of t-test were for $D^2H$ Ws, Wl and Wt between areas A and B. But no significant difference was found for Wb. In order to record as completely as possible the microfungal flora of the areas, every possible means was tried, and 158 strains of fungi were isolated, and of these, the microfungi of 55 species were identified. The dominant species were Trichoderma viride, Penicillium janthinellum, P. commune, Aspergillus oryzae, A. niger, A. gigantus, A. fumigatus, Mortierella ramaniana, var. anguliFPora, Mucor hiemalis and Zygorhynchus moelleri. According to the above results, it was revealed that optimum soil, the increases of soil materials, more species of soil microfungi, and the atmospheric temperature during the growth period have made the bamboo flourish and bring more species and larger quantities of vegetation in the bamboo forests. The correlation between the standing crops and environmental factors in the bamboo forest is considered to be a complicated relationship of all the factors, but the stand density is thought to be the most important factor involved.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2006

Purpose: The $p21^{Waf1/Cip1}$ protein Inhibits the cell cycle by Inhibiting the phosphorylation at the $G1{\rightarrow}S$ check point, and the $p27^{kip1}$ protein similarly performs the suppressor function by controlling the p27-mediated G1 arrest. In this study, we analysed the clinical status and survival rates in correlations with p21 and p27 expression patterns in gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Between 1993 and 1997, 192 patients who underwent surgeries in Catholic Medical Center were analysed retrospectively in this study. Immunohistochemical staining was performed and if the nuclei of the tumor cells were stained, we assumed those as positive results. Statistical analysis was based on clinicopathological findings and differences in survival rates. Results: The expression rate of p27 was 28.1% and 15.6% in p21 each. The ratio of T1-2(80.0%) was significantly high in p21 (+), but the ratio of T3-4 (50.6%) was slightly high in p21 (-). There was no statistical significance regarding other factors. The results in p27 was not much different from expression rate of p21 in T-stage. In addition, p27 expression in diffuse type (91.3%) was higher than in intestinal type (62.7%) by Lauren's classification (P<0.05). Also, there was no statistical significance in other factors. In the correlation of p21 and p27, p27 was positive when p21 was positive (53.5%). Conversely, p27 was negative when p21 was negative (76.5%, p<0.05). In the p21 and p27 combination test, there was higher rate of T1-2 (87.5%) in p21 (+)/p27 (+), and higher rate of T3-4 (58.1%) in p21 (-)/p27 (-) (P<0.05). Results showed higher rate of intestinal type (100%) in p21 (+)/p27 (+), and diffuse type (87.0%) was dominant in p21 (-)/p27 (-) (P<0.05) by Lauren's classification. Moreover, there was no statistical significance in the 5-year survival rate in the expression of p21 and p27, and the 5-year survival rate was highest in the case of p21 (+)/p27 (+) without statistical significance. Conclusion: In our study, $p21^{Waf1/Cip1}\;and\;p27^{kip1}$ expressed similar patterns. The expression of $p21^{Waf1/Cip1}\;and\;p27^{kip1}$ affected the degree of invasiveness of the tumor, and. Combined examination result revealed the correlation of $p21^{Waf1/Cip1}\;and\;p27^{kip1}$ with Lauren's classification and depth of invasion of the tumor. However, we assumed that little difference between the survival rates depending on expression of $p21^{Waf1/Cip1}\;and\;p27^{kip1}$ has limited their value as predictable prognostic indicators.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1265-1276
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• 1998

Background : Nitric oxide(NO) is an endogenously produced free radical that plays an important role in regulating vascular tone, inhibition of platelet aggregation and white blood cell adhesion to endothelial cells, and host defense against infection. The highly reactive nature of NO with oxygen radicals suggests that it may either promote or reduce oxidant-induced cell injury in several biological pathways. Oxidant injury and interactions between pulmonary vascular endothelium and leukocytes are important in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury, including acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS). In ARDS, therapeutic administration of NO is a clinical condition providing exogenous NO in oxidant-induced endothelial injury. The role of exogenous NO from NO donor or the suppression of endogenous NO production was evaluated in oxidant-induced endothelial injury. Method : The oxidant injury in cultured rat lung microvascular endothelial cells(RLMVC) was induced by hydrogen peroxide generated from glucose oxidase(GO). Cell injury was evaluated by $^{51}$chromium($^{51}Cr$) release technique. NO donor, such as S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine(SNAP) or sodium nitroprusside(SNP), was added to the endothelial cells as a source of exogenous NO. Endogenous production of NO was suppressed with N-monomethyl-L-arginine(L-NMMA) which is an NO synthase inhibitor. L-NMMA was also used in increased endogenous NO production induced by combined stimulation with interferon-$\gamma$(INF-$\gamma$), tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$(TNF-$\alpha$), and lipopolysaccharide(LPS). NO generation from NO donor or from the endothelial cells was evaluated by measuring nitrite concentration. Result : $^{51}Cr$ release was $8.7{\pm}0.5%$ in GO 5 mU/ml, $14.4{\pm}2.9%$ in GO 10 mU/ml, $32.3{\pm}2.9%$ in GO 15 mU/ml, $55.5{\pm}0.3%$ in GO 20 mU/ml and $67.8{\pm}0.9%$ in GO 30 mU/ml ; it was significantly increased in GO 15 mU/ml or higher concentrations when compared with $9.6{\pm}0.7%$ in control(p < 0.05; n=6). L-NMMA(0.5 mM) did not affect the $^{51}Cr$ release by GO. Nitrite concentration was increased to $3.9{\pm}0.3\;{\mu}M$ in culture media of RLMVC treated with INF-$\gamma$ (500 U/ml), TNF-$\alpha$(150 U/ml) and LPS($1\;{\mu}g/ml$) for 24 hours ; it was significantly suppressed by the addition of L-NMMA. The presence of L-NMMA did not affect $^{51}Cr$ release induced by GO in RLMVC pretreated with INF-$\gamma$, TNF-$\alpha$ and LPS. The increase of $^{51}Cr$ release with GO(20 mU/ml) was prevented completely by adding 100 ${\mu}M$ SNAP. But the add of SNP, potassium ferrocyanate or potassium ferricyanate did not protect the oxidant injury. Nitrite accumulation was $23{\pm}1.0\;{\mu}M$ from 100 ${\mu}M$ SNAP at 4 hours in phenol red free Hanks' balanced salt solution. But nitrite was not detectable from SNP upto 1 mM The presence of SNAP did not affect the time dependent generation of hydrogen peroxide by GO in phenol red free Hanks' balanced salt solution. Conclusion : Hydrogen peroxide generated by GO causes oxidant injury in RLMVC. Exogenous NO from NO donor prevents oxidant injury, and the protective effect may be related to the ability to release NO. These results suggest that the exogenous NO may be protective on oxidant injury to the endothelium.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.846-854
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• 1995

Background: Cytokeratin 19 is a subunit of cytokeratin intermediate filament expressed in simple epithelia such as respiratory epithelial cells and their malignant counterparts. An immunoradiometric assay is available to detect a fragment of the cytokeratin, referred to as Cyfra 21-1 in the serum. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical utility of this new marker in the diagnosis of lung cancer compared with established markers of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC Ag) and carcino-embryonic antigen(CEA). In addition, we compared the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of Cyfra 21-1 with those of SCC Ag in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. We also measured the level of Cyfra 21-1 in the different stages of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Method: We measured Cyfra 21-1(ELSA-CYFRA 21-1), SCC Ag(ABBOTT SCC RIABEAD) and CEA(ELSA2-CEA) in 79 patients with primary lung cancer and in 78 persons as a comparison group including 32 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 23 patients with benign lung disease and 23 cases with healthy individual. Cyfra 21-1 is measured by a solid-phase immunoradiometric assay(CIS Bio International, France) based on the two-site sandwich method. SCC Ag is measured by a radioimmunoassay(Abbott Laboratories, USA). CEA is measured by a immunoradiometric assay(CIS Bio International, France). All data were expressed as the mean$\pm$standard deviation. Results: 1) The mean value of Cyfra 21-1 was $18.38{\pm}3.65\;ng/mL$ in the lung cancer and $1.l6{\pm}0.53\;ng/mL$ in the comparison group(p<0.0001). SCC Ag was $3.53{\pm}6.06\;ng/mL$ in the lung cancer and $1.19{\pm}0.5\;ng/mL$ in the comparison group(p<0.01). CEA was $35.03{\pm}13.9\;ng/mL$ in the lung cancer and $2.89{\pm}1.01\;ng/mL$ in the comparison group(p<0.0001). 2) Cyfra 21-1 level in squamous cell carcinoma($31.52{\pm}40.13\;ng/mL$) was higher than that in adenocarcinoma($2.41{\pm}1.34\;ng/mL$)(p<0.0001) and small cell carcinoma($2.15{\pm}2.05\;ng/mL$)(p=0.007). SCC Ag level in squamous cell carcinoma($5.1{\pm}7.68\;ng/mL$) was higher than that in adenocarcinoma($1.36{\pm}0.69\;ng/mL$)(p=0.009) and small cell carcinoma($1.1{\pm}0.24\;ng/mL$) (p=0.024). 3) The level of Cyfra 21-1 was not correlated with the progression of stage in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. 4) Using the cut-off value of 3.3ng/mL, the diagnostic sensitivity of Cyfra 21-1 was 83% in squamous cell carcinoma, 22% in adenocarcinoma and 17% in small cell carcinoma. The sensitivity of SCC Ag and CEA were 39% and 20%, respectively in squamous cell carcinoma, 11% and 39% in adenocarcinoma, and 0% and 33% in small cell carcinoma. 5) Comparison of the receiver operating characteristics curves(ROC curve) for Cyfra 21-1, SCC Ag and CEA revealed that Cyfra 21-1 showed highest diagnostic sensitivity among them in the diagnosis of lung cancer. Conclusion: Cyfra 21-1 is thought to be a better tumor marker for the diagnosis of lung cancer than SCC Ag and CEA, especially in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.691-702
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• 2000

Background : Acute lung injury (ALI) is a commonly encountered respiratory disease and its prognosis is poor when the treatment is not provided promptly and properly. However no specific pharmacologic treatment is currently available for ALI, although recently several supportive drugs have been under scrutiny. We studied anti-inflammatory effects of pentoxifylline (PF), a methylated xanthine, and ONO-5046, a synthetic neutrophil elastase inhibitor on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in vitro. Methods : To establish an in vitro model of LPS-induced ALI, primary rat alveolar macrophages and peripheral neutrophils in various ratios (1:0, 5:1, 1:1, 1:5, 0:1) were co-cultured with transformed rat alveolar epithelial cells (L2 cell line) or vascular endothelial cells (IP2-E4 cell line) under LPS stimulation. Each experiment was divided into five groups-control, LPS, LPS+PF, LPS+ONO, and LPS+PF+ONO. We compared LPS-induced superoxide anion productions from primary rat alveolar macrophages and peripheral neutrophils in various ratios, and the resultant cytotoxicity on L2 cells or IP2-E4 cells between groups. In addition we also compared the productions of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-$\alpha$ interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, monocyte chemotactic protein(MCP)-1, IL-6, and IL-10 as well as mRNA expressions of TNF-$\alpha$ inducible nitric oxide synthetase(iNOS), and MCP-1 from LPS-stimulated primary rat alveolar macrophages between groups. Results : (1) PF and ONO-5046 in each or both showed a trend to suppress LPS-induced superoxide anion productions from primary rat alveolar macrophages and peripheral neutrophils regardless of their ratio, except for the LPS+PF+ONO group with the 1:5 ratio, although statistical significance was limited to a few selected experimental conditions. (2) PF and ONO-5046 in each or both showed a trend to prevent IP2-E4 cells from LPS-induced cytotoxicity by primary rat alveolar macrophages and peripheral neutrophils regardless their ratio, although statistical significance was limited to a few selected experimental conditions. the effects of PF and/or ONO-5046 on LPS-induced L2 cell cytotoxicity varied according to experimental conditions. (3) PF showed a trend to inhibit LPS-induced productions of INF-$\alpha$ MCP-1, and IL-10 from primary rat alveolar macrophages. ONO-5046 alone didnot affect the LPS-induced productions of proinflammatory cytokines from primary rat alveolar macrophages but the combination of PF and ONO-5046 showed a trend to suppress LPS-induced productions of INF-$\alpha$ and IL-10 PF and ONO-5046 in each or both showed a trend to increase LPS-induced IL-$\beta$ and IL-6 productions from primary rat alveolar macrophages. (4) PF and ONO-5046 in each or both showed a trend to attenuate LPS-induced mRNA expressions of TNF-$\alpha$ and MCP-1 from primary rat alveolar macrophages but at the same time showed a trend increase iNOS mRNA expression. Conclusion : These results suggest that PF and ONO-5046 may play a role in attenuating inflammation in LPS-induced ALI and that further study is needed to use these drugs as a new supportive therapeutic strategy for ALI.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-23
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• 2013

To discover significant social issues such as unemployment, economy crisis, social welfare etc. that are urgent issues to be solved in a modern society, in the existing approach, researchers usually collect opinions from professional experts and scholars through either online or offline surveys. However, such a method does not seem to be effective from time to time. As usual, due to the problem of expense, a large number of survey replies are seldom gathered. In some cases, it is also hard to find out professional persons dealing with specific social issues. Thus, the sample set is often small and may have some bias. Furthermore, regarding a social issue, several experts may make totally different conclusions because each expert has his subjective point of view and different background. In this case, it is considerably hard to figure out what current social issues are and which social issues are really important. To surmount the shortcomings of the current approach, in this paper, we develop a prototype system that semi-automatically detects social issue keywords representing social issues and problems from about 1.3 million news articles issued by about 10 major domestic presses in Korea from June 2009 until July 2012. Our proposed system consists of (1) collecting and extracting texts from the collected news articles, (2) identifying only news articles related to social issues, (3) analyzing the lexical items of Korean sentences, (4) finding a set of topics regarding social keywords over time based on probabilistic topic modeling, (5) matching relevant paragraphs to a given topic, and (6) visualizing social keywords for easy understanding. In particular, we propose a novel matching algorithm relying on generative models. The goal of our proposed matching algorithm is to best match paragraphs to each topic. Technically, using a topic model such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we can obtain a set of topics, each of which has relevant terms and their probability values. In our problem, given a set of text documents (e.g., news articles), LDA shows a set of topic clusters, and then each topic cluster is labeled by human annotators, where each topic label stands for a social keyword. For example, suppose there is a topic (e.g., Topic1 = {(unemployment, 0.4), (layoff, 0.3), (business, 0.3)}) and then a human annotator labels "Unemployment Problem" on Topic1. In this example, it is non-trivial to understand what happened to the unemployment problem in our society. In other words, taking a look at only social keywords, we have no idea of the detailed events occurring in our society. To tackle this matter, we develop the matching algorithm that computes the probability value of a paragraph given a topic, relying on (i) topic terms and (ii) their probability values. For instance, given a set of text documents, we segment each text document to paragraphs. In the meantime, using LDA, we can extract a set of topics from the text documents. Based on our matching process, each paragraph is assigned to a topic, indicating that the paragraph best matches the topic. Finally, each topic has several best matched paragraphs. Furthermore, assuming there are a topic (e.g., Unemployment Problem) and the best matched paragraph (e.g., Up to 300 workers lost their jobs in XXX company at Seoul). In this case, we can grasp the detailed information of the social keyword such as "300 workers", "unemployment", "XXX company", and "Seoul". In addition, our system visualizes social keywords over time. Therefore, through our matching process and keyword visualization, most researchers will be able to detect social issues easily and quickly. Through this prototype system, we have detected various social issues appearing in our society and also showed effectiveness of our proposed methods according to our experimental results. Note that you can also use our proof-of-concept system in http://dslab.snu.ac.kr/demo.html.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.11
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• pp.151-166
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• 1969

I. Fffects of nitrogen supplying level and culture condition on the top growth aod tubers formation of Ipomoea Batatas. 1) The low level nitrogen (A plot) 3 Milliequivalent per liter of nutrient solution stimulated tuber formation while the high level nitrogen ($B_1\;and\;B_2$ plot) of 10 milliequivalent per liter failed to form tuber though fibrous roots were seen much activated. The suppressive effect of nitrogen on tuber formation in presumed to result from the direct suppressive effect of nitrogen or a certain biocatalystic effect rather than from any indirect effect through the stimulation to growth of tops or the competition with carbohydrates. 2) The addition of milligram urea to nutrient solution stimulated the growth and increased fresh weight and dry weight of the aerial part while suppressed, a little, plant length. 3) The water culture method, which this experiment newly adopted, stimulated plant growth more than the gravel Culture method. And the treatment of low level nitrogen (A plot) in this water culture also saw a considerable degree of tuber formation, as in the case of gravel culture. 4) The foliar application of growth retardant B-nine suppressed the plant length only, with no other recognizable effect. II. Fffects of urea supplying level on the growth of IPOMOEA BATATAS. 1) The higher level of urea which was absorbed tby roots through nutrient solution suppressed top growth, such as plant length, number of leaves and fresh weight. And this can be attributed to the direct absorption of urea which was not ammonificated. 2) Although the higher level of nitrate nitrogen (B plot) made no tuber formation in previous experiment (Report-1), the higher level of urea nitrogen (A plot) made tuber formation possible in this experiment. The ratio of tuber to top was, however, less in higher level of urea than in lower level of urea, and the suppressing effect was larger on tuber than on top. 3) The foliar application of urea stimulated top growth while the higher level of urea absorbed by roots suppressed it, though the amounts of urea supplied in two experiments were same. Ratio of top to roots was larger in foliar application of urea (C plot) and less in root absorption of urea both of higher (B plot) and lower urea levels (A plot). III. Fffects of growth retardant etc. on the growth of IPOMOEA BATATAS in relation to urea application. 1) B-nine (N-dimethyl amino-succinamic acid) is recognized as a growth retardant, suppressed the plant length irrespective of urea levels. The treatment of gibberellin stimulated distinctly plant length, and the combined treatment of gibberellin and B-nine recovered completely the plant length which had been suppressed by B-nine. 2) B-nine increased fresh weight, especially, fresh weight of top both in lower and higher level of The degree of fresh weight increase varied according to concentrations of B-nine, of which the 0.15% of B-nine ($B_1$ plot) was the effective in higher level of urea. The effect of B-nine for increasing fresh weight was the largest in top next in tuber, and the least in fibrous roots. The ratio of fibrous roots to top was always decreased by B-nine application, which the ratio of tuber to top was contrary increased by B-nine in higher level of urea though decreased in lower level of urea. 3) Gibberellin treatment also increased fresh weight but the combined treatment ($B_3$+GA plot) of gibberellin and B-nine was even more effective than any of single treatments. Gibberellin and B-nine proved to be synergistic with fresh weight while reverse with plant length. 4) Considerable influences were abserved mainly in the length of plants and their fresh weight after B-nine treatment. So that B-nine may be reguraded as a metabolic controller rather than as an antimetabolite. 5) The surpressed growth of plants cause by higher level of urea was normalized by B-nine treatment. This fact suggested a further study on the applicability for practical use.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.65-90
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• 1979

This study was conducted to establish the brewing method which would be useful for the production of Kochuzang. Kojis, which were made from various materials and microorganisms under a covered condition, were investigated and compared. Yeasts (Saccharomyces rouxii and Torulopsis versatilis) were added to Kochuzang, and the enzyme activity, microflora, chemical composition, nitrogen content, alcohol content and free sugars of Kochuzang were investigated and analysed. The results obtained are as follows: 1. Koji making (1) Glutinous rice-soybean group was superior to glutinous rice group in the saccharogenic and liquefying amylase activities of three day-Koji. (2) Protease activity (acid, neutral and alkaline) of glutinous rice-soybean Koji, which was inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae A, was increased till the 5th day, while other groups showed maximum activity after the 3rd day. (3) The maximum cellulose activity of Aspergillus oryzae B-Koji and A-Koji was observed after the 2nd day and the 3rd day, respectively. High cellulose activity of Aspergillus oryzae B-Koji and A-Koji was respectively shown in glutinous rice group and glutinous rice-soybean group at maximum. (4) Compared with glutinous rice Koji, glutinous rice-soybean Koji gave larger number of yeast and aerobic bacteria. 2. Kochuzang Fermentation (1) Each Kochuzang group shoved different liquefying and saccharogenic amylase activities. The highest activities were generally shown in 10 to 40 days after mashing and remarkably reduced in the last stage of aging. (2) Protease activities of each group were strong in order of acid, neutral and alkaline protease. Especially acid protease showed highest activity at the 40th to 50th day Kochuzang. (3) Each group showed maximum cellulase activity in the 40th and 50th day-Kochuzang and then decreased. (4) Osmophilic yeast of yeast-added Kochuzang after one-month aging was distinctively outnumbered compared with non-yeast-added Kochuzang, but two groups were similar after two months. (5) Yeast-added group and non-added group gave almost the same number of halophilic lactic acid bacteria in Kochuzang, but the non-added group gave slightly larger number of aerobic bacteria than the yeast-added group. (6) Amino nitrogen contents in all test group were increased rapidly till the 60th day of Kochuzang aged. After that the contents were increased slowly. (7) Ethyl alcohol contents of 20day-fermented Kochuzang were high in order of Saccharomyces rouxii-added group, Torulopsis versatilis-added group, Saccharomyces rouxii and Torulopsis versatilis mixed group and non-yeast-added group. But all test group showed about 2% in ethyl alcohol content after 40days of aging. (8) Alcohol content in the 7 month-aged Kochuzang of all test groups was high in order of ethyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol and iso-propyl alcohol. Torulopsis versatilis-added group had the highest value of ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol and n-butyl alcohol. (9) Reducing sugar in Kochuzang was increased after 20 days of aging compared with the 10days-ferment. The reducing sugar content in Saccharomyces rouxii-added group was distinctively small compared with that of other groups, decreasing after 30days of aging. (10) Rhamnose, fructose, glucose and maltose were isolated from the 10 day fermented Kochuzang. Raffinose was also found after 300 days-aged group, and fructose content was high in the 300days-aged Kochuzang. However, glucose content was smaller than that of 10days-fermented Kochuzang. (11) For the organoleptic tests of Kochuzang, taste, flavour and color of yeast-added group were superior to the non yeast-added group. Especially the complex yeast group among the yeast added groups were the best of all. Yeast-added group after 300 days of aging took higher paint in flavour test than that of non-added group. Therefore, brewing method like complex yeast added group seems to be advantageous for short time brewing Kochuzang.