• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2015

Osteoporosis induces a bone mineral density loss due to imbalance of bone homeostasis that is achieved by osteoclasts (which are involved in bone resorption) and osteoblasts (which are involved in bone formation). Thus, this study was performed to evaluate the effects of hot water extract of the Achyranthes bidentata Blume (ABB) and Panax ginseng (Gin) on osteoclast and osteoblast differentiation. In this study, there was no cytotoxicity by ABB, 50 and $100{\mu}g/ml$ of Gin significantly decreased cell viability of RANKL-induced osteoclast in RAW264.7 cell (p < 0.01). But, it was $50{\mu}g/ml$ of ABB and Gin mixtures increased due to protective action of ABB. Furthermore, Gin contained groups (Gin, ABB and Gin mixtures) were inhibitory effects on osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption, and increased in osteoblast differentiation activity. Gin clearly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation by decreased calcitonin and TRAP (p < 0.01). Also, these extracts significantly increased calcium accumulation formation of osteoblastic differentiation reagents-induced osteoblast in MC3T3-E1 cell (p < 0.05). These results suggest that ABB and Gin mixtures may be a potential as drug for the treatment of osteoporosis.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

In order to improve osseointegration for biomedical implants, it is crucial to understand the interactions between nanostructured surfaces and cells. In this study, $TiO_2$ nanowires were prepared via Vapor-Liquid-Solid (VLS) process with Sn as a metal catalyst in the tube furnace. Nanowires were grown with $N_2$ heat treatment with their size controlled by the agglomeration of Sn layers in various thicknesses. MC3T3-E1 (pre-osteoblast) were cultured on the $TiO_2$ nanowires for a week. Preliminary results of the cell culture showed that the cells adhere well on the $TiO_2$ nanowires.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.363-383
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• 2018

One-dimensional (1D) models of incompressible flows, can be of interest for many applications in which fast resolution times are demanded, such as fluid-structure interaction of flows in compliant pipes and hemodynamics. This work proposes a higher-order 1D theory for the flow-field analysis of incompressible, laminar, and viscous fluids in rigid pipes. This methodology is developed in the domain of the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), which was first employed in structural mechanics. In the framework of 1D modelling, CUF allows to express the primary variables (i.e., velocity and pressure fields in the case of incompressible flows) as arbitrary expansions of the generalized unknowns, which are functions of the 1D computational domain coordinate. As a consequence, the governing equations can be expressed in terms of fundamental nuclei, which are invariant of the theory approximation order. Several numerical examples are considered for validating this novel methodology, including simple Poiseuille flows in circular pipes and more complex velocity/pressure profiles of Stokes fluids into non-conventional computational domains. The attention is mainly focused on the use of hierarchical McLaurin polynomials as well as piece-wise nonlocal Lagrange expansions of the generalized unknowns across the pipe section. The preliminary results show the great advantages in terms of computational costs of the proposed method. Furthermore, they provide enough confidence for future extensions to more complex fluid-dynamics problems and fluid-structure interaction analysis.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.5
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• pp.1098-1113
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• 2021

Maturation process of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) could be prevented by the reduction of lignin content in terms of conventional breeding or transgenic technology. Alfalfa could exhibit higher leaf/stem ratio, with a concern of yield loss. The objective of this study was to compare forage yield and nutritive value of low lignin alfalfa and two reference varieties subjecting to two harvest intervals and three seeding rates. The experimental design was a randomized complete block in a split-split plot arrangement with four replicates, where harvest intervals (28-day and 35-day) were assigned to whole plots, seeding rates were subplots, and varieties were sub-subplots. The weighted mean nutritive value was applied to two production years of 2016 and 2017. Hi-Gest 360 (low lignin alfalfa) provided similar yield potential and increased nutritive value compared to two reference varieties. Over a two-year production period, alfalfa harvested at every 28-day interval provided more economic returns than those at 35-day interval. For the seeding year and first production year, five cuts made by the 28-day interval produced more yield than four cuts by the 35-day interval. Due to limited rainfall in May 2017, a sharp drop of the first cutting overturned the advantage of the five-cut system. Shorter intervals between harvests generally increased crude protein (CP) concentrations. The differences of relative feed value (RFV) between two harvest intervals tended to be great during the first and second cuttings. Overall, harvest interval had a large effect on nutritive value and a more significant effect on alfalfa dry matter yield than variety selection. Seeding rate did not affect alfalfa yield and nutritive value.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.799-814
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• 2021

Information is lacking about the effect of date of a fall cut of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) on dry matter yield (DMY), forage nutritive value, and stands persistence. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of timing of a fall cut on DMY, forage nutritive value and stand persistence of three alfalfa varieties: low-lignin Hi-Gest 360, Roundup Ready Tonica, and conventional Gunner in Northeastern Kansas in the United States. The field study was carried out by splitting plot in randomized complete block design with four replications. The harvesting data of different maturity stages were collected in each year from 2015 to 2018. Three cuts were harvested based on the stage of maturity, and the last (fourth) cut was done on September 15, September 30, October 15, and October 30 of each year. The persistence of the alfalfa stands was determined each fall after the last cut, and each spring after the first cut, by counting the number of live plants in a randomly placed quadrat in each plot. Alfalfa cut on September 15 and September 30 had a higher stand persistence compared to alfalfa cut on October 15 and October 30. The DMY of the first cut in 2016 was significantly higher in roundup ready than the low-lignin alfalfa variety. In the second cut, DMY was significantly higher in conventional alfalfa than the roundup ready. There were no significant differences in DMY between alfalfa varieties in the rest of seasonal cuttings in 2016 and 2017 and annual total yield in both years. In general, low lignin alfalfa variety had higher crude protein and relative feed value and lower acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber contents than those in roundup ready and conventional alfalfa varieties. On average, nutritive value of alfalfa was generally affected by last cutting dates in 2017. Based on 3-year data the last cutting of alfalfa in the fall could be done by September 30-October 15 without harmful effect on DMY.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.390-394
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• 2018

Background: The nonsurgical treatment of chest wall deformity by a vacuum bell or external brace is gradual, with correction taking place over months. Monitoring the progress of nonsurgical treatment of chest wall deformity has relied on the ancient methods of measuring the depth of the excavatum and the protrusion of the carinatum. Patients, who are often adolescent, may become discouraged and abandon treatment. Methods: Optical scanning was utilized before and after the intervention to assess the effectiveness of treatment. The device measured the change in chest shape at each visit. In this pilot study, patients were included if they were willing to undergo scanning before and after treatment. Both surgical and nonsurgical treatment results were assessed. Results: Scanning was successful in 7 patients. Optical scanning allowed a visually clear, precise assessment of treatment, whether by operation, vacuum bell (for pectus excavatum), or external compression brace (for pectus carinatum). Millimeter-scale differences were identified and presented graphically to patients and families. Conclusion: Optical scanning with the digital subtraction of images obtained months apart allows a comparison of chest shape before and after treatment. For nonsurgical, gradual methods, this allows the patient to more easily appreciate progress. We speculate that this will increase adherence to these methods in adolescent patients.

• Psychiatry investigation
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.1053-1063
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• 2018

Objective This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Korean Anxiety Screening Assessment (K-ANX) developed for screening anxiety disorders. Methods Data from 613 participants were analyzed. The K-ANX was evaluated for reliability using Cronbach's alpha, item-total correlation, and test information curve, and for validity using focus group interviews, factor analysis, correlational analysis, and item characteristics based on item response theory (IRT). The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the K-ANX were compared with those of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Results The K-ANX showed excellent internal consistency (${\alpha}=0.97$) and item-total coefficients (0.92-0.97), and a one-factor structure was suggested. All items were highly correlated with the total scores of the BAI, GAD-7, and Penn State Worry Questionnaire. IRT analysis indicated the K-ANX was most informative as a screening tool for anxiety disorders at the range between 0.8 and 1.6 (i.e., top 21.2 to 5.5 percentiles). Higher sensitivity (0.795) and specificity (0.937) for identifying anxiety disorders were observed in the K-ANX compared to the BAI and GAD-7. Conclusion The K-ANX is a reliable and valid measure to screen anxiety disorders in a Korean sample, with greater sensitivity and specificity than current measures of anxiety symptoms.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.385-394
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• 2020

Purpose: Patients with gastric cancer who receive neoadjuvant therapy are staged before treatment (cStage) and after treatment (ypStage). We aimed to compare the prognostic reliability of cStage and ypStage, alone and in combination. Materials and Methods: Data for all patients who received neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma from 2004 to 2015 were extracted from the National Cancer Database. Kaplan-Meier (KM)curves were used to model overall survival based on cStage alone, ypStage alone, cStage stratified by ypStage, and ypStage stratified by cStage. P-values were generated to summarize the differences in KM curves. The discriminatory power of survival prediction was examined using Harrell's C-statistics. Results: We included 8,977 patients in the analysis. As expected, increasing cStage and ypStage were associated with worse survival. The discriminatory prognostic power provided by cStage was poor (C-statistic 0.548), while that provided by ypStage was moderate (C-statistic 0.634). Within each cStage, the addition of ypStage information significantly altered the prognosis (P<0.0001 within cStages I-IV). However, for each ypStage, the addition of cStage information generally did not alter the prognosis (P=0.2874, 0.027, 0.061, 0.049, and 0.007 within ypStages 0-IV, respectively). The discriminatory prognostic power provided by the combination of cStage and ypStage was similar to that of ypStage alone (C-statistic 0.636 vs. 0.634). Conclusions: The cStage is unreliable for prognosis, and ypStage is moderately reliable. Combining cStage and ypStage does not improve the discriminatory prognostic power provided by ypStage alone. A ypStage-based prognosis is minimally affected by the initial cStage.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.305-318
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• 2021

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important forage legume grown in Kansas, USA and its productivity with cool-season grasses however is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the dry matter yield (DMY) and forage nutritive value of alfalfa-grass mixtures compared to those of alfalfa and grasses grown in monoculture with and without nitrogen fertilization. Three different alfalfa varieties were planted (reduced-lignin alfalfa, Roundup Ready, and conventional alfalfa) and two kinds of cool-season grasses (smooth brome, Bromus inermis Leyss, and tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea Schreb) were planted as a monoculture or in alfalfa-grass mixtures. Nitrogen fertilizer (urea) was applied at green-up at a rate of 56 kg/ha and after the second cutting at a rate of 56 kg/ha in 2016 and 2017, respectively. and control treatments received no nitrogen. DMY was significantly higher in monoculture alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixtures than in grass monocultures. Between alfalfa monoculture and alfalfa-grass mixtures, no significant differences in DMY were found. For all treatments, nitrogen application significantly increased DMY compared to the control. In 2016 and 2017, the low-lignin alfalfa monoculture had the lowest acid detergent fiber (ADF) and the grass monocultures had the highest ADF. In 2016 and 2017, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in smooth bromegrass and tall fescue was higher than in other species treatments. A low-lignin alfalfa monoculture had significantly lower NDF concentration compared to alfalfa-grass mixtures. When averaged over 2016 and 2017, relative feed value (RFV) was highest in low-lignin alfalfa and lowest in the grass monocultures. In both years, nitrogen fertilizer application did not affect nutritive values.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1312-1318
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• 2020

In this paper, we propose a video transmission scheme for exclusive OR based video streaming (XC) that can improve the efficiency of video streaming by using receivers' caches and coding of video data. Contrary to conventional streaming schemes such as multicast where video contents can be transmitted on single channel only when two clients request the same video, the proposed streaming scheme can transmit video contents on single channel conditionally according to the status of the clients' caches even though two clients request different video contents. We analyze the performance of the proposed transmission for XC in terms of the streaming efficiency through extensive computer simulations and compare it with a conventional scheme. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can enhance the streaming efficiency by 21%, compared with the conventional scheme.