• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.169-177
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• 2020

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of mixed grafts in lumbar posterolateral fusion (PLF) by comparing the bone union rates of an autobone with a bone substitute mixed graft. Materials and Methods: The patients were followed-up for at least two years after PLF and divided into four groups according to the mixed graft retrospectively. Group I was 48 cases using a femoral head allobone. Group II was 38 cases using β-tricalcium phosphate. Group III was 92 cases using biphasic calcium phosphate. Group IV was 38 cases using biphasic calcium phosphate and autologous bone marrow. Union was evaluated by the work up simple radiographs after two years from PLF. Union was defined if the radiographs demonstrated a bilateral continuity in the fusion mass between the cephalad and caudal transverse processes with less than 2° of angular motion and no translation between the vertebrae at the level of fusion on the lateral flexion-extension radiographs. Results: According to simple radiographs after two years from PLF, the rate of union was highest in Group IV using local autobone, biphasic calcium phosphate and autologous bone marrow mixed graft. Conclusion: Biphasic calcium phosphate is an osteoconductive bone substitute that increases the bio-absorbability and mechanical strength. Autologous bone marrow has osteoinductive and osteogenic properties. These features can increase the rate of bone union. Therefore, a local autobone, biphasic calcium phosphate and autologous bone marrow mixed graft can be considered an effective bone graft substitute for lumbar PLF instead of an autobone graft.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.67 no.3
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• pp.180-188
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• 2022

This study was conducted to determine the optimal sowing date for seed yield of summer oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivars "Darkhorse (DH)" and "Highspeed (HS)" in Wanju, Jeonbuk province between 2017 and 2018. We investigated seed yield from 4 sowing dates: July 15, July 30, August 15, and August 30. We evaluated the agronomic characteristics of summer oats (DH and HS). We found the heading date of all cultivars to be within 50 days. Delayed sowing resulted in significantly increased plant height for both years and cultivars. There was no significant difference in spike length of DH and HS which ranged from 12.8 to 17.8 cm. The sowing date of July 30 produced a higher number of grains per spike, but this yield differed significantly by year and cultivars. In 2017, the first sowing resulted in the lowest DH yield at 132 kg per 10a, while the second sowing had the highest yield at 227 kg. HS yield was the lowest in the first sowing at 126 kg and the highest in the third sowing at 219 kg. In 2018, DH had the lowest yield from the first sowing at 184 kg per 10a, and the highest from the second sowing at 240 kg, but there was no significant difference between these yields. The first sowing for HS gave the lowest yield at 160 kg, and the second sowing produced the highest at 258 kg. The germination rate of harvested seeds from each sowing date in 2017 and 2018 was found to be higher than 85% and there was no significant difference between the two cultivars in the 2018 germination rate test. Thus, we found the optimal sowing date for summer cultivation of oats for the highest seed yield to be between July 30 (second sowing) and August 15 (third sowing).

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.3-106
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• 2023

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in Korea and the world. Since 2004, this is the 4th gastric cancer guideline published in Korea which is the revised version of previous evidence-based approach in 2018. Current guideline is a collaborative work of the interdisciplinary working group including experts in the field of gastric surgery, gastroenterology, endoscopy, medical oncology, abdominal radiology, pathology, nuclear medicine, radiation oncology and guideline development methodology. Total of 33 key questions were updated or proposed after a collaborative review by the working group and 40 statements were developed according to the systematic review using the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library and KoreaMed database. The level of evidence and the grading of recommendations were categorized according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation proposition. Evidence level, benefit, harm, and clinical applicability was considered as the significant factors for recommendation. The working group reviewed recommendations and discussed for consensus. In the earlier part, general consideration discusses screening, diagnosis and staging of endoscopy, pathology, radiology, and nuclear medicine. Flowchart is depicted with statements which is supported by meta-analysis and references. Since clinical trial and systematic review was not suitable for postoperative oncologic and nutritional follow-up, working group agreed to conduct a nationwide survey investigating the clinical practice of all tertiary or general hospitals in Korea. The purpose of this survey was to provide baseline information on follow up. Herein we present a multidisciplinary-evidence based gastric cancer guideline.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.17-27
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• 2023

Weeds are one of the factors that reduce crop yield through nutrient and photosynthetic competition. Quantification of weed density are an important part of making accurate decisions for precision weeding. In this study, we tried to quantify the density of weeds in images of maize fields taken by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). UAV image data collection took place in maize fields from May 17 to June 4, 2021, when maize was in its early growth stage. UAV images were labeled with pixels from maize and those without and the cropped to be used as the input data of the semantic segmentation network for the maize detection model. We trained a model to separate maize from background using the deep learning segmentation networks DeepLabV3+, U-Net, Linknet, and FPN. All four models showed pixel accuracy of 0.97, and the mIOU score was 0.76 and 0.74 in DeepLabV3+ and U-Net, higher than 0.69 for Linknet and FPN. Weed density was calculated as the difference between the green area classified as ExGR (Excess green-Excess red) and the maize area predicted by the model. Each image evaluated for weed density was recombined to quantify and visualize the distribution and density of weeds in a wide range of maize fields. We propose a method to quantify weed density for accurate weeding by effectively separating weeds, maize, and background from UAV images of maize fields.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.2
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• pp.258-266
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• 2023

Pine wilt disease is caused by the pine wood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) and has killed many pine trees in Europe and Northeast Asia, including South Korea. Resistance to pine wilt disease varies among species. Previous studies were mostly conducted in nature or greenhouses and only a few in test fields. In this study, seedlings of six pine species (Pinus thunbergii, P. koraiensis, P. densiflora, P. parviflora, P. rigida × P. taeda, and P. strobus) were artificially inoculated by pine wood nematodes in the test field. The Wilt Index was measured every 2 weeks after inoculation in addition to the mortality rate, detection rate, and pine wood nematode concentration measurement after 24 weeks. The pine wilt disease mortality rates were P. thunbergii (80%), P. koraiensis (77.8%), P. densiflora (62.5%), and P. parviflora (22.0%), and both P. rigida × P. taeda and P. strobus survived. The pine nematode detection rates were the same among the species except for P. rigida × P. taeda pine (22.2%). High Wilt-Index values were obtained for P. thunbergii, P. koraiensis, and P. densiflora, which had mortality rates higher than the other species. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the Wilt Indexes between P. parviflora, P. rigida × P. taeda, P. strobus, and the control group. Statistically, P. thunbergii and P. koraiensis showed high susceptibility to pine wilt disease, P. densiflora and P. parviflora showed moderate susceptibility, and P. rigida × P. taeda and P. strobus showed apparent resistance. These results provide basic data for pine wood nematode resistance breeding or as evidence of the need for afforestation of P. rigida × P. taeda and P. strobus.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.455-463
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• 2022

To understand functional changes of forest ecosystems due to climate change, correlation between decomposition rate of leaf litter, an important function of forest ecosystems, and microclimatic factors was analyzed. After 48 months elapsed, percent remaining weight of Quercus mongolica leaf litter was 27.1% in the east aspect and 37.0% in the west aspects. Decay constant of Q. mongolica leaf litter was 0.33 in the east aspect and 0.25 in the west aspect after 48 months elapsed. Initial C/N ratio of Q. mongolica leaf litter was 38.5. After 48 months elapsed, C/N ratio of decomposing Q. mongolica leaf litter decreased to 13.43 in the east aspect and 16.72 in the west aspect. Average air temperature and soil temperature during the investigation period of the research site were 8.2±9.0 and 9.1±9.3 in the east and 8.5±7.4 and 9.3±7.3℃ in the west aspect, respectively, with the west aspect showing higher air and soil temperatures. Soil moisture showed no significant difference between east and west aspects (average soil moisture: 19.4±11.0% vs. 20.5±5.7%). However, as a result of analyzing the correlation between decomposition rate and microclimatic factors, it was found that the decomposition rate and soil moisture has a positive correlation(r=0.426) in the east aspect but not in the west aspect. Our study shows that the correlation between decomposition rate and microclimatic factors can be significantly different depending on the direction of the aspect.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2022

Regulation of the hair follicle cycle in association with dermal papilla cells is one of the most interesting targets for promoting hair regrowth. In this study, we examined whether steam-dried Betula platyphylla extracts (BPE) promote hair growth by upregulating in vitro and in vivo responses of dermal papilla cells. The data showed that BPE3 contained high amounts of phenolic compounds with higher antioxidant effects and increased hair growth-related genes, including fibroblast growth factor7 and Wnt7b, in dermal papilla cells. Notably, BPE3 effectively enhanced the formation of hair follicles by increasing FGF7, Wnt7b, and vascular endothelial growth factor in C57BL/6N dorsal skins. Additionally, BPE3 significantly decreased the expression of inflammatory repertoires, inducible nitric oxide synthase, interleukin-6, and cyclooxygenase 2. Several small molecules, such as betulin and unsaturated fatty acids, support the pharmacological activity of BPE3. In conclusion, BPE3 effectively promoted hair growth by activating dermal papilla cells and enhancing hair follicle cycles by attenuating the inflammatory environment in the scalp.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.21-29
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• 2023

In this study, the stress characteristics of temporary fixed steel rods were analyzed in the "temporary fixing system using internal prestressing tension", which is mainly applied to the construction of superstructures by FCM. It was difficult to confirm the changes in initial tensile force in this system because the steel rod was internally connected to the pier and the PSC BOX. Therefore, measurement was performed before and after the completion of each segment using an FBG sensor to measure the change in the micro length of the steel rod. The results of the analysis showed that 75% to 90% of the maximum vertical contraction of the steel rod that occurred until the completion of the cantilever segment occurred in the fixing ~ 1segment, and the maximum loss of initial prestressing force was 39%. Such excessive loss of tension force to 1 segment means that tension is needed to improve the precision of construction during the fixation, and re-tension is needed to secure stability for conduction of cantilever segments after the completion of 1segment. In the 2 ~ last segment, the stress of the steel rod decreased gradually, and in the summer, the decrease in stress tended to partially recover due to the increase in the length of the steel rod corresponding to the increase in the vertical volume of PSC BOX. The dominant factor in the stress change in 2~ last segment in this phenomenon is judged to be the change in the length of the steel rod according to the temperature. Unlike the change in length, the relaxation was 1.2-2.7%, which was mostly offset by the opposite stress corresponding to the temperature stress. Therefore, a plan was proposed to improve the internal stress, such as adjusting the fixation time.

• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 2012

Background: Measurement of HbA_1c levels is widely used to diagnose diabetes mellitus and to evaluate and monitor plasma-glucose concentrations over 6-8 weeks. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of the newly developed latex immunoturbidimetric method by using Autolab HbA_1c. Methods: We analyzed and compared the diagnostic performance of Autolab HbA_1c with that of Toshiba 200FR between April 2009 and July 2009. According to guidelines (EP5-A2, EP6-P, EP9-A2) of the clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI), we compared linearity, precision and correlation of Autolab HbA_1c with those of G7 (Tosoh Corp., Kyoto, Japan) by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Results: Data obtained using Autolab HbA_1c showed good linearity in mixtures of samples with low (3.1%) and high (15.1%) levels of HbA_1c (r²=0.9997). In the analysis of within-run precision of the samples with HbA_1c levels of 5.1% and 12.1%, the SDs were 0.04 and 0.06 and covariances of these samples were 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. In the Deming regression model, the regression equation was as follows: Autolab HbA_1c=1.0859×Tosoh HPLC-0.6957. Conclusions: In this study, Autolab HbA_1c method showed better performance characteristics than Tosoh G7 did. In reference review, there was no interference of variant hemoglobin. The data acquisition time of Autolab HbA_1c was lower than that of Tosoh G7. The advantages of Autolab HbA_1c are that it can be used as an autoanlyzer in routine chemical analysis, it does not require pre-analytical treatment, and the samples are automatically treated with distilled water for hemolysis.

• Annals of Clinical Microbiology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2019

Background: The isolation of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) has become increasingly common. Continuous surveillance for these organisms is essential because their infections are closely related to outbreaks of illness and are associated with high mortality rates. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate multiplex PCR as a means of detecting several important CPE genes simultaneously. Methods: We aimed to develop a multiplex PCR that could detect seven CPE genes simultaneously. The multiplex PCR was composed of seven primer sets for the detection of KPC, IMP, VIM, NDM-1, GES, OXA-23, and OXA-48. We designed different PCR product sizes of at least 100 bp. We evaluated the performance of this new test using 69 CPE-positive clinical isolates. Also, we confirmed the specificity to rule out false-positive reactions by using 71 carbapenem-susceptible clinical strains. Results: A total of 69 CPE clinical isolates showed positive results and were correctly identified as KPC (N=14), IMP (N=13), OXA-23 (N=12), OXA-48 (N=11), VIM (N=9), GES (N=5), and NDM (N=5) by the multiplex PCR. All 71 carbapenem-susceptible clinical isolates, including Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, showed negative results. Conclusion: This multiplex PCR can detect seven CPE genes at a time and will be useful in clinical laboratories.