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A Study on the Accelerated Life Test for the Estimation of Licorice Durability in Cosmetics (화장품 중 유용성감초추출물의 유통기한 예측을 위한 가속수명 시험연구)

  • Lee, So-Mi;Joo, Kyeong-Mi;Park, Jong-Eun;Jeong, Hye-Jin;Chang, Ih-Seop
    • Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.197-201
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    • 2007
  • Oil soluble licorice extract(licorice extract) is an officially approved cosmetic component as a whitening ingredient in Korea. The durability of licorice, during which the whitening effect can be maintained in optimum condition, must be accurately defined. Since the cosmetics durability under real condition is relatively longer than its development time. It is needed to predict the real durability interval from the experimental measurement under simulated operating conditions. We analyzed the relationship between the licorice lifetime and the high temperature condition by using Arrhenius equation. We have established the constant stress test with temperature of $50^{\circ}C$, $55^{\circ}C$, and $60^{\circ}C$ condition, within which no formulation change of licorice products is expected for the accelerated stress test. In this paper, the lifetime of licorice in cosmetics was defined as time period for its 10% contents reduction. We observed that the lifetime of licorice is 580 h at $50^{\circ}C$, 319 h at $55^{\circ}C$ and 166 h at $60^{\circ}C$. Using the above experimental data, we obtained the equation for the relationship between the licorice lifetime and temperature as follows; log(lifetime)=-35.0243 + 1.15322$\times$(11604.83/temperature). From this equation, the lifetime of licorice at $25^{\circ}C$ can be estimated as 26 months. The estimated result was verified by measuring full lifetime of licorice. In fact, there was no significant difference between the estimated lifetime and real measurement within 95 % significance level. This study can be applied to other useful cosmetic components for the fast estimation of the exact durability.

Study on economic effects of outsourcing of food materials on the hotel kitchen - Focus on cooking Western food in the first class hotel - (식재료 아웃소싱이 경제적 주방에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구 - 특1급호텔 양식조리를 중심으로 -)

  • 성태종
    • Journal of Applied Tourism Food and Beverage Management and Research
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.45-69
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    • 2002
  • This study is designed to examine feasibility and limitation of outsourcing in cooking Western food in a hotel, to interpret importance of outsourcing(eg. outside order, outside procurement, outside supply) in a broad sense in order to reinforce the core capacity in the cooking department, and to know whether the cooking human power is efficiently used and how much the chefs recognize outsourcing of food materials. As many companies conduct restructuring to cut down its size, the reduction of human power led the Western food cooking in the hotel to lower core capacities, lower quality, and lower efficiency. In addition, the sagging morale of chefs undermined creativity. To change from the traditional kitchen to an economic kitchen needs to look into importance of outsourcing, cognitive attitude of chefs, relation with outside suppliers. Here suggests performance of positive changes in the structure The study examined feasibility and limitation of outsourcing in the hotel kitchen as well as chefs' cognitive attitude toward outsourcing of food materials to reinforce core capabilities of the hotel kitchen. 1. Companies of outsourcing are selected according to variability of price conditions, flexibility of contract conditions, popularity of the outsourcing company, and reputation of the outsourcing company. 2. The importance of outsourcing in the Western food cooking is divided into 4 factors such as standard of selecting outsourcing companies, policies of cooking manu, quality of cooking, and quantity of cooking. 3. The most feasible section in outsourcing of food materials is a process of kneading flour for bread, which shows that many Western-food chefs expect to put higher possibility of outsourcing on the kneading. In other words, when it comes to confectionery and bakery, there are many outside expert processing companies supplying high quality products. In the order of outsourcing feasibility, sauce is followed by processed vegetable, garnish of main dish, and soup. The least feasible section in outsourcing of food materials is appetize. Appetize includes a concept of a improvised dish and needs speed. Due to its color, freshness, and sensibility of taste, the appetize plays a key role in the Western food cooking. 4. When outsourcing is taken in place, the highest risk is to lower the inner cooking skills. Therefore chefs in charge of the Western food sequently recognize both internal problems including storage of cooking skills, unstability of layoffs, and loss of cooperation between departments, and external problems including inferior goods, difficulty of differentiating manu, delay of delivery, and expiration date. It shows that most of the Western food chefs consider risks of the internal problems at first. 5. A effective outsourcing needs appropriate selection of outsourcing companies, maintenance of credibility, active communication, check and management of hygiene. However regardless of their position or career, chefs in charge of the Western food have the same cognitive attitude toward selecting successful outsourcing companies after the outsourcing system is enforced. The core of cooking, or a final stage in the full process of so-called artistic cooking, should be treated with insourcing. Reduction of several cooking processes resulted in shortened cooking time, increased efficiency, faster cooking, cutting the waiting-lines, and finally more room for customers. The outsourcing system can reduce or eliminate the following processes in cooking: buying various food materials, checking, storing, preparing, and processing. Especially in the Western food cooking department of a hotel, the outsourcing system should be enforced to make an economic kitchen and to efficiently manage it. Wow it's time to change from the traditional kitchen to an economic kitchen in the hotel cooking department. For that, the cooking department should become a small but strong organization by outsourcing except its core work.

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Adaptation Process to Menopause (폐경에 대한 적응 과정)

  • 이미라
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.623-634
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    • 1994
  • Although the average menopausal age has not changed, women's life span has increased. Today's women live longer after their menopause than those in the past, and this calls for attention in both nursing and medical fields. Many studies have revealed how women reacted to menopause and suffered from it. But they did not discriminate the menopausal meaning and effects from the climacteric phenomena. So, this author tried to clarify what menopause itself meant to the climacteric women, by means of grounded theory methodology. The interviewees were 21 women, whose ages were between 46 and 60 years. They were selected by theoretical sampling technique, and the author tried to include all levels of important variables such as age, educational background, religion and job. Data were collected by the author through in -depth interviews and observations in July, 1994. The interviews were mostly done in the homes of the subjects, or in some cases at the author's office or in a hospital. Interviews took from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed later by a research assistant. Data were analyzed as gathered, by the constant comparative method proposed by Strauss and Corbin. Eleven concepts were discovered from the data, and they were grouped under six higher order categories. These six categories were "to give menopause a meaning", "to experience value change", "to have self-help strategies", "to have no strategies", "to live a life worth living", "to have a sense of powerlessness" Among these "to experionce value change" was . selected as the core category. Five major categories were systematically integrated around the core category. Women's adaptation to menopause was defined as proceeding as follows : Most women felt relief and sorrow at the same time when they faced menopause, and some only sorrow or agony. Then, they consulted with others about menopausal symptoms, or tried to think of them by themselves. Finally, they gave menopause a meaning, which was that menopause and its symptoms were natural phenomena. But menopause made women reflect on them-selves and their past lives. As they reflected on themselves, their value on life began to change. As their value changed, some women seeked self help strategies. Those self help strategies were what they had learned from collegues, professionals or mass media. The quality of their lives depended on whether they practiced self help strategies or not. Three types of lives were found. Twelve women enjoyed a life worth living, and practiced the self help strategies, because they accepted menopause a chance to change. They were characterized by a high educational level, having a professional job and a sincere faith in God. Seven women were living as usual, because they did not have the necessity to change. They were high school graduates and house wives. Two women recognized menopause a chance to change, but they did not try self help strategies. Their characteristic was low educational level. Those who did not try self help strategies complained of powerlessness to varying degrees. The educational background, full-time jobs and faith helped women adapt to menopause positively. But social support was not helpful to women's adaptation to menepause. Three hypotheses were derived from the analysis. (1) The higher the educational level, the more theneed to change. (2) Women with higher educational background will practice self help strategies more than those with lower edcational background. (3) The more women practice self help strategies, the worthier lives they will live. Suggestions for further studies are as follows. (1) Studies to test hypotheses are needed. (2) A study to find the relationship between the degree of practicing self help strategies and locus of control. (3) Spiritual approaches would better be applied to help menopausal women. (4) Education through mass media should be given mere frequently.

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A Documentational Study on the Development of Chi-Kung-Hak (기공학(氣功學) 발달(發達)에 관한 문헌적(文獻的) 연구(硏究))

  • Kim Woo-Ho;Hong Won-Sik
    • Journal of Korean Medical Ki-Gong Academy
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.13-59
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    • 1996
  • Dep. of Classics &Medical History, College of Oriental Medicint, Kyung Hee University Today, many people are more interested Today, many people are more interested in preventing the disease than curing it. Chi-Kung(氣功) is the way of Life-Cultivation(養生法) peculiar to the orient, it is reported in china that Chi-Kung has an excellent curative value not only in curing the disease but also in preventing it. But the full-scale study of Chi-Kung is not be made up to now in Korea, so I studied the developmental history of chinese Chi-Kung through the oriental medical books. From this study, I reached the following conclusions; 1. Chi-Kung is naturally derived from the self-preservation instinct to adapt oneself to circumstances of the nature, but in the investigation from the documentational records, it is originated in the treatment method of the Sam-Huang-O-Jae(三皇五帝) period to cure the abnormal circulation of the vital force and blood caused by damp(濕). 2. As the principle and the method of the Life-Cultivation of the Chun-Chu-Jeon-Kook(春秋戰國) period were recorded in Huang-Jae-Nai-Gyung(黃帝內經) detailly and the remedy examples by ancient Chi-Kung such as Tao-Yin(導引), Haeng-Chi(行氣) were presented, we considered that theoretical basis of the development of Life-cultivation and Chi-Kung study was furnished in that period. 3. A famous doctor, Hwa-Ta(華引) lived in Han dynasty, researched the theory and practice of Tao-Yin transmitted from the former generations, as that result, he formed a kind of medical, gymnastics what is called O-Keum-Hi(五禽?). It is considered that 'O-Keum-Hi' is a Tao-Yin method developed more practically and systemetically than the Tao-Yin appeared in the 'Jang-Ja'(莊子) or 'Hoy-Nam-Ja'(淮南子). 4. In Wui-Jin-Nambook-Jo(魏曺南北朝) periods, the contents of Chi-Kung were more abundant under the influence of Buddhism(佛敎) and Taoism(道敎). Galhong(葛洪), the author of 'Po-Bak-Ja'(抱朴子) arranged the ancient Chi-Kung method systematically first of all, Tao-Goeng-Gyung, the author of 'Yang-Seong-Yeun-Myung-Rok'(養性延命錄) recorded the 'Yook-Ja-Geul'(六字訣) first time. 5. There is a new development of Chi-Kung therapy in Soo-Tang-Odae(隋唐五代) periods, especially So-Won-Bang(巢元方), the author of 'Jey-Bang-Won-Hwu-Ron' collected almost all of the Chi-Kung method, for curing the disease formed before Soo(隋) period. From that fact, we supposed that Chi-Kung was utilized more widely in curing the disease. 6. 'So-Ju-Cheon-Hwa-Hu-Peob'(小周天火候法) was adopted as the best orthodox approach under the influence of Nae-Tan-Taoist(道敎內丹學波) in Song-Keum-Won(宋金元) periods, especially in the song dynasty, 'Pal-Dan-Geum'(八段錦) was appearde and assignment of six-Chi(六氣) for bowel and viscera in the 'Yook-Ja-Geul'(六字訣) was decided firmly, that is to say Lung-Si(肺-?), Heart-Kha(心-呵), Spleen-Hoa(脾-呼), liver-Hoe(肝-噓), Kidney-chui(賢-吹), Three-Burner-shi(三焦-?). 7. In Myung-Cheong(明淸) periods, The general practitioner applied the principle of 'Byun-Jeng-Ron-Chi(辨證論治) to the Chi-Kung field, and after Myung dynasty the style of doing 'Yook-Ja-Gyel'(六字訣) was developed to the moving style. 8. Today, in china, the study on the Chi-Kyung is being progressed constantly under the positive assistance of government, Chi-Kung-Hak(氣功學) has taking its place as a branch of study step by step. It is considered that the establishment of Chi-Kung-Hak Classroom(氣功學敎室) and Medical Chi-Kung Center(氣功療法室) for special and systematic research are needed, at the same time the settlement of institutional system for training the Chi-Kung technician(氣功師) is also needed.

Seismic Response Evaluation of NPP Structures Considering Different Numerical Models and Frequency Contents of Earthquakes (다양한 수치해석 모델과 지진 주파수 성분을 고려한 원전구조물의 지진 응답 평가)

  • Thusa, Bidhek;Nguyen, Duy-Duan;Park, Hyosang;Lee, Tae-Hyung
    • Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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    • v.33 no.1
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    • pp.63-72
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    • 2020
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the application of various numerical models and frequency contents of earthquakes on the performances of the reactor containment building (RCB) in a nuclear power plant (NPP) equipped with an advanced power reactor 1400. Two kinds of numerical models are developed to perform time-history analyses: a lumped-mass stick model (LMSM) and a full three-dimensional finite element model (3D FEM). The LMSM is constructed in SAP2000 using conventional beam elements with concentrated masses, whereas the 3D FEM is built in ANSYS using solid elements. Two groups of ground motions considering low- and high-frequency contents are applied in time-history analyses. The low-frequency motions are created by matching their response spectra with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1.60 design spectrum, whereas the high-frequency motions are artificially generated with a high-frequency range from 10Hz to 100Hz. Seismic responses are measured in terms of floor response spectra (FRS) at the various elevations of the RCB. The numerical results show that the FRS of the structure under low-frequency motions for two numerical models are highly matched. However, under high-frequency motions, the FRS obtained by the LMSM at a high natural frequency range are significantly different from those of the 3D FEM, and the largest difference is found at the lower elevation of the RCB. By assuming that the 3D FEM approximates responses of the structure accurately, it can be concluded that the LMSM produces a moderate discrepancy at the high-frequency range of the FRS of the RCB.

Study on the Effect of Contact Angles of Elastic Rubber Impression Materials on the Surface of Working Cast (탄성 고무인상재의 접촉각이 작업모형 표면에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Joo-Won
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.177-183
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    • 2010
  • This study was begun to search effect of contact angles of elastic rubber impression materials on the surface of working cast. Of elastic rubber impression materials with a Type III consistency, such as polysulfide, polyether and addition silicone, we selected one and then measured the contact angle after dripping a distilled water 3.3ml. Then, after pouring a dental anhydrite in three types of impression materials, we prepared a working cast and then examined its surface. Contact angle was measured using a full automatic contact angle measuring system (DM-700, KYOWA, Japan), and the surface of working cast was observed using a field emission scanning electron microscope (JSM-6700F, JEOL Ltd., JAPAN). The following results were obtained: 1) $Mean{\pm}SD$ (SD: standard deviation) of the initial contact angles were $91.3{\pm}20.5^{\circ}$ in the addition silicone materials, $90.0{\pm}2.2^{\circ}$ in the polyethers and $101.5{\pm}2.3^{\circ}$ in the polysulfides. These results indicate that mean values were similar but standard deviations of the three materials showed a great discrepancy. 2) As the time elapsed, addition silicone materials were found to have a contact angle decreased abruptly as compared with the remaining two types. That is, the initial contact angle was $91.3^{\circ}$ and it was abruptly decreased to $29.4^{\circ}$ after 25 seconds. 3) In the polyethers, the initial contact angle was $101.5^{\circ}$ and it was decreased to $90.7^{\circ}$ after 25 seconds. In the polysulfides, however, the initial contact angle was $90.0^{\circ}$ and it was $84.2^{\circ}$ after 25 seconds. This showed almost no changes in the initial contact angles. Moreover, its magnitude was greater than that seen in additional silicones. 4) There were significant differences in the contact angles between the three types of elastic rubber impression materials as the time elapsed (p<0.001). On an observation on the surface of working cast, addition silicone materials were found to have the most dense surface. This was followed by polysulfides and polyethers in a descending order.

Construction of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus Clones for Resistance Assessment in Tomato Plants (토마토 작물의 TYLCV 저항성 평가에 이용할 수 있는 감염성 클론 개발)

  • Choi, Seung Kook;Choi, Hak Soon;Yang, Eun Young;Cho, In Sook;Cho, Jeom Deog;Chung, Bong Nam
    • Horticultural Science & Technology
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.246-254
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    • 2013
  • Five isolates of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) collected from various regions of Korea were amplified using PCR and determined the sequences of full-length genome, respectively. The PCR-amplified DNA of each TYLCV isolate was introduced into a binary vector to construct infectious clone containing 1.9 copies of the corresponding viral genome. Various cultivars and breeding lines of tomato were inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring infectious clone of each TYLCV isolate to assess resistance against TYLCV. Susceptible cultivar 'Super-sunread' revealed typical yellowing and narrowing of the upper leaves. In contrast, breeding linesTY12, GC9, GC171, and GC173, which contained the TY-1 and/or TY-3 genes that confer resistance against TYLCV in nature, were completely symptomless, suggesting that the lines were resistant to challenging TYLCV isolates. Symptoms of TYLCV in susceptible tomato cultivars are significantly different from those of TYLCV in the resistant tomato cultivars at 30 days after agroinfiltration. Although genomic DNAs of TYLCV were detected from the breeding lines TY12, GC9, GC171, and GC173 using real-time PCR analysis with specific primers, levels of TYLCV DNA accumulation in the resistant breeding lines were much lower than those of TYLCV DNA accumulation in susceptible tomato cultivars. Similar symptom severity and levels of TYLCV DNA accumulation were observed from TYLCV infections mediated by Bemisia tabaci in the resistant and susceptible tomato cultivars. Concentration of agrobacterium did not affect the response of tomato cultivars against TYLCV inoculation. Taken together, these results suggest that TYLCV inoculation via agroinfiltration is as effective as inoculation through Bemisia tabaci and is useful for breeding programs of TYLCV-resistant tomato.

A Study on Job Stress of Dental Technician (치과기공사의 업무스트레스에 대한 연구)

  • Lee, Deok-Su;Kwak, Dong-Ju;Nam, Sang-Yong
    • Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.51-63
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    • 2002
  • The purpose of this study was to be of use for getting rid of job stress from dental technicians, by examining how much they were stressed out at work place as one of the professional medical personnels. The subjects in this study were 255 selected dental technicians who were working in the region of Taegu. The one-on-one interview was conducted from March 1 to 30, 2001, with structured questionnaire. The questionnaire sued in this study included 19 question items about the general characteristics and 29 items regarding job stress. The job stress was categorized into seven subareas based on earlier studies and considering the job situations of dental technicians: heavy workload, job conflicts, improper treatment, role and job knowledge, human relations, physical environment and personal matters. The job stress extent was measured on five-point Likert scale that is widely used in social science: one point for no stress, two for little stress, three for so-so, four for a little stress, and five for severe stress. Therefore, a higher point means a severer job stress. The reliability of the questionnaire turned out very good with Cronbach a = 0.9272. The findings of this study were as follows: 1. The general characteristics of the dental technicians investigated could be described as below: (1) By gender, 80.4% of the dental technicians were male, and 50.2%, the largest percentage, were in their 20s, followed by those in their 30s, those in their 40s, and those in their 50s in the order named. (2) The most common work place was dental technician shop(92.5%), followed by dental technology room in dental hospital or clinic and in general hospital in the order named. The primary duties were coating materials work(30.6%), followed by sculpture, grinding, partial and full denture and orthodontics in the order named. 2. The most larges (1) The most largest motivation to be a dental technician was its being a professional(33.7%), followed by the advice from others, their own aptitude, and good economic treatment in the order named. 3. Their job stress could be explained as below: (1) Their collective job stress average was 3.96$^{\circ}{\ae}$0.50 on the basis of 5 point, which showed that they were exposed to a fairly severe job stress. (2) By area, they were most stressed out from heavy workload (4.12), and they also were severely stressed from role and job knowledge(4.02) and personal matters(4.00). (3) By situation, they were most stressed when the disagreement of prosthesis that results from a specific error is unconditionally attributed to them(4.43). And they were also stressed a lot when their workload increases due to the rework(4.38), when a dentist asks something difficult for them to resolve(4.20), when heavy workload makes their working hours irregular and it's impossible to lead a personal life or have leisure time(4.16), and when they are o work for an excessively short time(4.16). This fact indicated that most of the dental technicians were exposed to a lot of stress in conjunction with job performance. 4. The main duties they took charge of didn't make any significant difference to their job stress, but yielded a significant difference to the extent of job stress in individual areas and the order of the most stressful one. Those who were engaged in grinding were most stressed from their own matters, whereas heavy workload was most stressful for those who were engaged in the other types of works. 5. As a result of seeing if their personal characteristics yielded any differences to job stress, the personal characteristics that made their job stress vary significantly were working hours, motivation of being a dental technician, job satisfaction and willingness to continue doing dental technology works. There was a tendency that longer working hours led to severer job stress, and those who chose to be a dental technician according to their own aptitude were less stressed than the others who became a dental technician because of economic reason or advices from others. And the people who were satisfied with their job were exposed to less job stress than the others who weren't, and those who had an intention to keep that job as much as possible were less stressed, compared to the others who hadn't.

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A Study on Ancestral Service Preparation and Sacrificial Consciousness of Housekeepers Living in Pusan and Yeosu Area (부산지역과 전남 여수지역 주부들의 제례준비 및 제례의식 조사 연구)

  • 정복미;정해옥;김은실
    • Culinary science and hospitality research
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.135-154
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    • 2004
  • This study surveyed ancestral service preparation and sacrificial consciousness of housewives living in Pusan and Yeosu area. Statistical analysis of chi-square test was carried out by using SAS program. The results are summarized as follows. l. In major general characteristics of subjects, the forties(35.56%), Buddhism (57.79%), high school education(52.54%), a couple with children(63.45%) were the most abundant. 2. The time of sacrificial rites in both areas was usually hold from 23:00 to 01:00 (47.16%). The housewives having a job hold earlier the service than the full-time housewives(p<0.05). 3. The range of ancestor-memorial rites was usually up to 3rd generation(34.47%). The leader of sacrificial ceremony was mainly the eldest grandson by the eldest son (78.28%) in the old subjects and a person of wealth in the young subjects(p<0.05). 4. There were more positive answers for the necessity of a sacrificial ceremony (57.32%). Older than 50 years of subjects thought the sacrificial rites should be held(70.77%), while as the age of subjects was younger, they realized less necessity for that(p<0.05). Sacrificial consciousness was higher in Buddhists than the other religionists(p<0.0001). The sacrificial rites was thought to be needed for their harmonious family(50.43%). Younger subjects thought that it is necessary to succeed that as the tradition, while older housewives thought that it would contribute toward peace in their family(p<0.05). Buddhists and Christians answered that it was good for harmonious family, and Catholics and the others for tradition(p<0.01). Their consideration of sacrificial rites in the future was higher in keeping the traditional practice (37.04%) and Buddhists took higher these consideration(43.17%). Considering the sacrificial consciousness, there were statistical differences among the religionists (p<0.0001). The eldest daughter-in-raw had a different opinion about the following up the method of sacrificial ceremony from second eldest daughter-in-raw and the next one(p<0.05). The housewives in Pusan were showing more the affirmative attitudes to keep the traditional practice than those in Yeosu.

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Role of p-38 MAP Kinase in apoptosis of hypoxia-induced osteoblasts (저산소 상태로 인한 조골세포 고사사기전에서 p-38 MAP kinase의 역할에 관한 연구)

  • Yoon, Jeong-Hyeon;Jeong, Ae-Jin;Kang, Kyung-Hwa;Kim, Sang-Cheol
    • The korean journal of orthodontics
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    • v.33 no.3 s.98
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    • pp.169-183
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    • 2003
  • Tooth movement by orthodontic force effects great tissue changes within the periodontium, especially by shifting the blood flow in the pressure side and resulting in a hypoxic state of low oxygen tension. The aim of this study is to elucidate the possible mechanism of apoptosis in response to hypoxia in MC3T3El osteoblasts, the main cells in bone remodeling during orthodontic tooth movement. MC3T3El osteoblasts under hypoxic conditions ($2\%$ orygen) resulted in apoptosis in a time-dependent manner as estimated by DNA fragmentation assay and nuclear morphology stained with fluorescent dye, Hoechst 33258. Pretreatment with Z-VAD-FMK, a pancaspase inhibitor, or Z-DEVD-CHO, a specific caspase-3 inhibitor, completely suppressed the DNA ladder in response to hypoxia. An increase in caspase-3-like protease (DEVDase) activity was observed during apoptosis, but no caspase-1 activity (YVADase) was detected. To confirm what caspases are involved in apoptosis, Western blot analysis was performed using anti-caspase-3 or -6 antibodies. The 10-kDa protein, corresponding to the active products of caspase-3, and the 10-kDa protein of the active protein of caspase-6 were generated in hypoxia-challenged cells in which the processing of the full length form of caspase-3 and -6 was evident. While a time course similar to this caspase-3 and -6 activation was evident, hypoxic stress caused the cleavage of lamin A, which was typical of caspase-6 activity. In addition, the stress elicited the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol during apoptosis. Furthermore, we observed that pre-treatment with SB203580, a selective p38 mitogen activated protein kinase inhibitor, attenuated the hypoxia-induced apoptosis. The addition of SB203S80 suppressed caspase-3 and -6-like protease activity by hypoxia up to $50\%$. In contrast, PD98059 had no effect on the hypoxia-induced apoptosis. To confirm the involvement of MAP kinase, JNK/SAPK, ERK, or p38 kinase assay was performed. Although p38 MAPK was activated in response to hypoxic treatment, the other MAPK -JNK/SAPK or ERK- was either only modestly activated or not at all. These results suggest that p38 MAPK is involved in hypoxia-induced apoptosis in MC3T3El osteoblasts.