• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.183-189
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• 1991

The present study was performed to elucidate the factors which modulate uterine prostaglandin synthesis during the implantation period in rats, by employing delayed implantation model. Administration of estradiol sharply increased uterine cAMP concentration 4 hrs later during the delayed implantation process. Concentrations of uterine PGE and $PGF_2{\alpha}$ were increased at 12 hrs after the estradiol treatment although an increase in $PGF_2{\alpha}$ was not statistically significant. The concomitant treatment of indomethacin with estradiol significantly suppressed estradiol-induced PGE and $PGF_2{\alpha}$ at 12 hrs, while uterine cAMP concentration was not suppressed. The treatment of dbcAMP without estradiol gradually increased uterine PGE and $PGF_2{\alpha}$ showing the maximum 8 hrs later, suggesting that cAMP minics estradiol effect on uterine prostaglandin synthesis during the implantation process. Furthermore, the pretreatment of theophylline, phosphodiesterase inhibitor, induced significantly greater concentrations of uterine PGE and $PGF_2{\alpha}$, compared with estradiol-only treated group. These results suggest that estradiol stimulates uterine prostaglandin synthesis and this process may be mediated by an elevation of cAMP during the delayed implantation process in rats.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2017

Regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotype plays an essential role in many cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, we provide evidence that $kr{\ddot{u}}ppel$-like factor 8 (KLF8) is essential for tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}$ ($TNF{\alpha}$)-induced phenotypic conversion of VSMC obtained from thoracic aorta from 4-week-old SD rats. Stimulation of the contractile phenotype of VSMCs with $TNF{\alpha}$ significantly reduced the VSMC marker gene expression and KLF8. The gene expression of KLF8 was blocked by $TNF{\alpha}$ stimulation in an ERK-dependent manner. The promoter region of KLF8 contained putative Sp1, KLF4, and $NF{\kappa}B$ binding sites. Myocardin significantly enhanced the promoter activity of KLF4 and KLF8. The ectopic expression of KLF4 strongly enhanced the promoter activity of KLF8. Moreover, silencing of Akt1 significantly attenuated the promoter activity of KLF8; conversely, the overexpression of Akt1 significantly enhanced the promoter activity of KLF8. The promoter activity of SMA, $SM22{\alpha}$, and KLF8 was significantly elevated in the contractile phenotype of VSMCs. The ectopic expression of KLF8 markedly enhanced the expression of SMA and $SM22{\alpha}$ concomitant with morphological changes. The overexpression of KLF8 stimulated the promoter activity of SMA. Stimulation of VSMCs with $TNF{\alpha}$ enhanced the expression of KLF5, and the promoter activity of KLF5 was markedly suppressed by KLF8 ectopic expression. Finally, the overexpression of KLF5 suppressed the promoter activity of SMA and $SM22{\alpha}$, thereby reduced the contractility in response to the stimulation of angiotensin II. These results suggest that cross-regulation of KLF family of transcription factors plays an essential role in the VSMC phenotype.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.140-148
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• 1994

Indentification of IMP was carried out and changes in ATP breakdown products during storage at $0^{\circ}C\;ad\;20^{\circ}C$ were investigated in the muscles of ascidian Halocynthia roretzi. For identifying IMP, the ion-exchange column chromatographic method was applied to the perchloric acid extract of the muscle of cultured ascidian collected at the southern coast near Chungmu of Korea in April 1989. The IMP of sample was eluted a little earlier than that of the reference standard, but absorption spectra of both fractions agreed each other. In addition, both fractions gave the identical retention time of HPLC. These results reconfirmed that the ascidian muscle did contain IMP, indicating that ATP was degraded through IMP breakdown pathway, such as $ATP{\to}ADP{\to}AMP{\to}IMP{\to}Ino{\to}Hyp$. Ado was detected in some samples and IMP was detected throughout the experimental periods at both temperatures, but their levels were always very low; they did not increase significantly even when the decreasing rate of AMP was very rapid and concomitant remarkable increase in Ino were observed at the early stage of storage. Those changes in ATP suggest that AMP deaminase activity was present in the ascidian muscle, though it was very low. The main breakdwon pathway of ATP was assumed to be $ATP{\to}ADP{\to}AMP{\to}Ado{\to}Ino{\to}Hyp$. In conclusion, there were two breakdown pathways of ATP in the muscle of ascidian as was the case for the muscle of many marine crustaceans.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 1997

Stomach contents of 518 specimens of the yellow goosefish, Lophius litulon caught by the off-shore stownet in the southern waters of Korea were examined by means of the calculation of the frequency of occurrence number and weight percentages, and index of relative importance (IRI) in each prey organisms. Prey organisms of the yellow goosefish consist of fishes, crustaceans, cephalopods. Fishes were dominant prey group, and occupied $98.8\%$ in IRI of prey organisms. Four species of fish, Pseudosciaena manchurica Collichthys niveatus, Engraulis japonica, Trichiurus lepturus were dominant as to the IRI and occupied $87.2\%$ of the total IRI. P. manchurica was a dominant prey organism in predator's stomach through the year, and the other dominant prey organisms occurred intermittently with seasonal progress. P. manchurica was a dominant prey organism to all fish size, too. C. niveatus and E. japonica decreased in importance in the diet as the fish size increased concomitant with an increase in importance of T. lepturus. Mean species number and mean individual number of prey organisms increased with the fish size.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.16
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• pp.1-20
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• 2009

This paper explores the research trends in the area of the comics studies in Korea. In this article, the 664 academic articles are examined in terms of the characteristics of the researchers, the field of comics studies, the research theme and the research methodology. This study is on the basis of the recognition that there have been no consensus on what the core essence of comics studies is. As a result, there are a few articles on the academic identity of the comics studies. The comics studies have not consider the distinctive characteristics of the Korean comics significantly. In Korea, over 50% of the academic articles on the comics have been published by comics scholarships in the field of pedagogy and human sciences. Since the 1990's, comics studies have started to consider the value of the comics positively. The comics text studies also have increased since the 1990's in Korea. The comics studies on the comics policy and comics industries have been increased since 2000. The rise of comics studies is concomitant with the increased awareness of comics in Korea. The article concludes that the comics studies need to become an independent academic discipline in the future. The interdisciplinary studies on the comics is necessary to study the diverse aspects of the comics. In addition, the infrastructure for the comics studies should be established in order to improve the comics studies.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.16-26
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• 2015

This study aims to suggest possible policy options for collection of post-consumer diapers as a sustainable prerequisite to implementation of public recycling system with the desktop monitoring results and analysis of collection cost involved. By conducting a diaper collection pilot test on daycare centers and households in the Seoul Nowon-gu, this study revealed that the odor issues did not stand out as an important hindering factor and that the collection rate was the largest contributing factor regarding collection costs. The exploratory cost analysis result shows that the implemented recycling system must guarantee collection rate over 50% via twice-a-week collection frequency, to be comparable or even superior to the current food waste collection cost. Also the pilot demonstration test showed that the final collection rate can be achieved as much as over 50%. The promising data thus obtained cost economically viable future diaper recycling system implementation in the entire Seoul metropolis and adjacent areas of dense population. With the concomitant development of recycling technology and related infrastructure for systematic collection of diaper waste, it makes our society much more sustainable.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.136-143
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• 2012

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Diabetes is often initially managed by increasing exercise and dietary modification. As the condition progresses, medications may be needed such as oral sulfonylurea or others. Recently, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP- 4) Inhibitor is new drug which can control blood glucose by increasing the active levels of incretin hormone in the body. However, researches have been carried out for mostly Caucasian and Japanese, not for Koreans at all. Therefore, this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DPP-4 inhibitor (Sitagliptin, Vildagliptin) in patients with T2DM in Koreans. This study was carried out retrospectively with reviewing of medical records from the 141 patients who received sitagliptin or vildagliptin over 24 week periods from January 2009, to December 2009. Information including demographics, concomitant medication, disease duration, and exercise was evaluated. $HbA_{1c}$, random blood glucose, post prandial 2 hour glucose, blood pressure, AST, ALT, serum creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride levels were also collected at baseline and endpoint (at 24 weeks). In each post-treatment group, $HbA_{1c}$, random blood glucose and post prandial 2 hour glucose levels were decreased significantly from baseline in the sitagliptin group (-0.82%, -28.76 mg/dl, -46.65 mg/dl) and vildagliptin group(-1.22%, -27.96 mg/dl, -67.2 mg/dl). Greater $HbA_{1c}$ mean reductions from baseline to 24 weeks were seen in patients with higher baseline values (>7.0%), with shorter disease durations (${\leq}1$ year) compared with those with lower baseline values (<7.0%), with longer disease durations (>1 year) in both sitagliptin and vildagliptin groups. The incidences of hypoglycemia, headache and upper respiratory infection were 0%, 8.7%, 5.8% in sitagliptin group and 2.8%, 8.3%, 6.9% in vildagliptin group. In conclusion, our results showed DPP-4 inhibitor provided similar efficacy compared with sulfonylurea after 24 weeks of treatment and were safer than sulfonylurea in hypoglycemia for Korean T2DM. Also vildagliptin was associated with significant improvement in $HbA_{1c}$ reduction in Korean patient with subgroup (body mass index<25 $kg/m^2$, metformin dose${\geq}$1000 mg, p<0.05) compared to sitagliptin. Therefore, even though DPP-4 inhibitor use for Korean needs to be studied more consistently in the future, DPP-4 inhibitor is a safe and effective drug for Korean T2DM based on our result.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1102-1110
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• 1996

Between Oct. 1985 and July 1995, 230 patients underwent mitral valve replacement. There were 77 men and 153 women whose mean age was 35.7 years, range 9 to 62 The concomitant operations were 40 aortic valve replacements(17.4%), 25 tricuspid annuloplasties(10.4%), 8 aortic valve replacements & tricuspid annuloplasties(3.5%), 2 tricuspid valve replacements(0.9%) and others, We used 139 mechanical (76 51. Jude medical, 33 CarboMedics, 30 Sorin) and 91 tissue 386 Carpentier-Edwards, 5 lonescu-Shiley) valves. The early postoperative complications occurred in 28 cases. There were 8 low cardiac output syndrome, 5 pleural effusion, 3 significant arrhythmia, 2 cardiac rupture and others. There were 6 early hospital deaths (2.6%) due to low cardiac output syndrome(2), arrhythmia(2) and ventricul r rupture(2). The cuAmulative notal follow-up period was 764. 4 patient-years with a mean of 4).9 months. The long term follow-up information was available for 212 patients(94.6%). There were 21 cases of valve-related complications. Prosthetic valve failure(10), anti-coagulation related bleeding (5), prosthetic valve endocarditis (4), and thromboembolism (2) occurred at rates of 1.3, 0.7, 0.5, and 0.3%Ipt-yr respectively. Late death occurred In 5 cases (0.7%/pt-yr) associated with prosthetic valve endocarditis (2), heart failure (2) and anti-coagulation related bleeding (1). There was no difference in the rate of freedom from prosthetic valve failure between the mechanical and tissue valve group at 6 years (100%), but there was significant difference at 9 years between the tissue (34.4%) and mechanical valve (100%) group (p=0.032). Actuarial survival rates were 98. 8% in tissue valve. 9).7% in mechanical valve group and 96.6% in total patients at 9 years.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2012

Anaerobic digestion is an alternative method to digest food wastes and to produce methane that can be used as a renewable energy source. We investigated bacterial and archaeal community structures in a three-stage methane production process using food wastes with concomitant wastewater treatment. The three-stage methane process is composed of semianaerobic hydrolysis/acidogenic, anaerobic acidogenic, and strictly anaerobic methane production steps in which food wastes are converted methane and carbon dioxide. The microbial diversity was determined by the nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA gene library and quantitative real-time PCR. The major eubacterial population of the three-stage methane process was belonging to VFA-oxidizing bacteria. The archaeal community consisted mainly of two species of hydrogenotrophic methanogen (Methanoculleus). Family Picrophilaceae (Order Thermoplasmatales) was also observed as a minor population. The predominance of hydrogenotrophic methanogen suggests that the main degradation pathway of this process is different from the classical methane production systems that have the pathway based on acetogenesis. The domination of hydrogenotrophic methanogen (Methanoculleus) may be caused by mesophilic digestion, neutral pH, high concentration of ammonia, short HRT, and interaction with VFA-oxidizing bacteria (Tepidanaerobacter etc.).

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.207-227
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• 2001

스프린트는 치주처지료에서 부가적 처치법으로 널리 사용되고 있으며, 한편, 디지털 공제 활영술은 기존방사선촬영술의 한계점을 극복하기 위해 기발된 새로운 방법이다. 이번 연구에서는 치근활택술 단독시행시와 스피린트 병행 처치시의 효과를 임상적, 방사선학적으로 비교하였다. 중정도의 성인성 치주염을 가진 20명의 환자를 대상으로 하되 10명은 치근활택술 단독으로, 나머지 10명은 스프린트 병행처치로 처치하였다. 임상적, 방사선학적인 평가는 처치전, 처치후 6개월에 행하고, 임상적 평가의 경우 3개월에 추가로 실시하였다. 이번 연구에서 사용된 임상 지수로는 치태지수, 치은지수, 치은퇴축, 치주낭깊이, 임상부착수준, 임상부착증가, 탐침시출혈, 치아동요도 등이며, 방사선학적 평가는 기존 방사선촬영술에 의한 방법과 디지털 공제촬영수렝 의한 방법으로 행하였다. 디지털 공제 촬영술에 의한 평가시, 영상은 Digora 프로그램에 의해 획득하고 Emago 프로그램으로 처리 하여 다음과 같은 결론을 얻었다. 1. 처치후 3개월에 치태지수, 치은지수, 치은퇴축, 치주낭깊이, 임상적부착수준, 탐침시 출혈 등의 임상지수들이 변했으며, 특히 이러한 변화는 치주낭깊이, 치은퇴축, 탐침시출혈에서 유의성이 있었다. ( p<0.05 ) 그러나 두군간 차이는 인정되지 않았다. ( p>0.05 ) 2. 처치후 6개월에도 치태지수, 치은지수, 치은퇴축, 치주낭깊이, 임상적부착수준, 탐침시출혈, 치아동요도 등의 임상지수들이 변했으며, 특히 이러한 변화는 치주낭깊이, 치은퇴축, 탐침시출혈, 치태지수, 치아동요도에서 유의성이 있었다. ( p<0.05 ) 그러나 두 군간 차이는 인정되지 않았다. ( p>0.05 ) 3. 켄달 상관분석시, 임상적 평가와 기존 방사선 촬영술에 의한 평가사이의 관련성을 낮았으며 거의 0에 가까운 수치를 보였으며 (r=0.110, p=0.639 ) 임상적 평가와 디지털 공제 방사선 촬영술에 의한 평가사이에서 약간 높은 관련성을 보였다. ( r=0.257, p=0.315 ) 즉 치주치료후의 골변화는 디지털 공제 방사선 촬영술에 의한 평가시 기존 방사선 사진보다 임상적 부착증가와 더욱 긴밀한 관련성을 보여준다. 이상의 결과로 볼 때, 스프린팅 처치는 치주 치료에 있어 치근활택술에 부가적 표과를 제공하지 못한다.