• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.485-490
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• 1999

The mechanism of action of fish oil (FO), currently used in different chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is not completely understood, although it is thought that it could alter the metabolism of endogenous autacoids. In addition, we hypothesized that the known capability of fatty acids (FA) of stabilizing serum albumin and perhaps other proteins, may be of pharmacological relevance considering that it is shared by other anti-rheumatic agents (e.g. nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs). Thus, we studied the effect of oral administration of FO and corn oil (CO), a vegetable oil with a different composition, on the stability of rat serum proteins, evaluated buy a classical in vitro method based on heat-induced protein denaturation. FO, and, to a lower extent, CO inhibited heat-induced denaturation of rat serum (RS): based on the inhibitory activity (EC50) of the major fatty acids against heat-induced denaturation of RS in vitro, it was possible to speculate the in vivo effects of palmitic acid (C16:0) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5, n-3) may be more relevant than that of linolenic acid (C18:2). To better investigate this phenomenon, we extracted albumin from the serum of animals treated or not with FO with a one-step affinity chromatography technique, obtaining high purity rat serum albumin preparations (RSA-CTRL and RSA-FO), as judged by SDS-PAGE with Coomassie blue staining. When these RSA preparations were heated at $70^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, it was noted that RSA-FO was much more stable than RSA-CTRL, presumably due to higher number of long chain fatty acids (FA) such as palmitic acid or EPA. In conclusion, we provided evidences that oral administration of FO in the rat stabilizes serum albumin, due to an increase in the number of protein bound long chain fatty acids (e.g. palitic acid and EPA). We speculate that the stabilization of serum albumin and perhaps other proteins could prevent changes of antigenicity due to protein denaturation and glycosylation, which may trigger pathological autoimmune responses, suggesting that this action may be involved in the mode of action of FO in RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.935-946
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• 2016

In this paper, we analyzed wage determinants of the vocational high school graduates utilizing both individual-level and work region-level variables. We formulate the models in the way wage determination has multi-level structure in the sense that individual wage is influenced by individual-level variables (level-1) and work region-level (level-2) variables. To incorporate dependency between individual wages into the model, we utilize hierarchical linear model (HLM). The major results are as follows. First, it is shown that the HLM model is better than the OLS regression models which do not take level-1 and level-2 variables simultaneously into account. Second, random effects on sex, maester dummy and engineering dummy variables are statistically significant. Third, the fixed effects on business hours and mean wage of regular job for level-2 variables are statistically significant effect individual-level wages. Finally, parental education level, parental income, number of licenses and high school grade are statistically significant for higher individual-level wages.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.194-201
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate of Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) coating on shear bond strength with denture base resin in Co-Cr and Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Materials and Methods: Co-Cr and Ti-6Al-4V alloy disks (10 mm in diameter, 2.5 mm in thickness; each other: n = 14) were prepared and divided with 2 groups each other by ZrN coating. After primer was applied to disks surface, denture base resin with diameter 6 mm, height 5 mm was bonded on metal disk surface. After surface roughness was measured by Profiler, shear bond strength was determined with Universal testing machine and analyzed with two-way ANOVA. The specimen surfaces and failure mode were examined using a scanning electron microscope. Results: ZrN coated groups showed significantly higher rough surface than non-coated groups (P < 0.05). Irrespective of alloy materials, shear bond strength of ZrN coated groups were lower than non-coated groups (P < 0.001). The scanning electron microscope (SEM) of ZrN coated groups showed mixed and adhesive fractures. Conclusion: ZrN coating weakened bonding strength between denture base resin and Co-Cr, Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.43
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• pp.277.1-277.10
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• 2018

Background: To examine survival rates and renal function after partial nephrectomy (PN) and radical nephrectomy (RN) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: We studied 4,332 patients who underwent PN or RN for pathological T1a-T2N0M0 renal cell carcinoma from 1988 to 2014. Patients were divided into two subgroups of CKD stage I-II and stage III. Kidney function, and survival outcomes were compared between groups. Results: We included 1,756 patients with CKD I-II and 276 patients with CKD III in the final pair-matched analysis. Kidney function was significantly better preserved in the PN than in the RN group among all patients. However, the beneficial effect of PN on kidney function gradually disappeared over time in CKD III patients. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates after PN and RN differed in patients with CKD I-II disease (99.4% vs. 96.5%, respectively, P = 0.015). The 5-year OS rates after surgery were not affected by mode of nephrectomy in CKD III patients (97.8% vs. 93.5%, P = 0.103). The 5-year cancer-specific survival rates did not differ between treatment groups in all CKD stage. Cox hazard analysis showed that the operative method was a significant factor for OS in CKD I-II patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.320; confidence interval [CI], 0.122-0.840; P = 0.021). However, PN was not beneficial in terms of OS in CKD III patients (HR, 0.395; CI, 0.086-1.172; P = 0.117). Conclusion: PN is associated with a higher OS rate and better kidney function in patients with preoperative CKD stage I and II, but not in those with CKD stage III.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.212-220
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• 2018

As increase the number of vehicles, the issue of greenhouse gas that was emitted by them became important. As a result, greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations are being strengthened and efforts are being actively made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the automotive industry. In the other hand, regulations for harmful emission of vehicles have been reinforced by step. Especially, the lastly applied step, so called Euro 6, not only decreased NOx limit down to half of Euro 5 but also introduced real driving emission limit for NOx and PN. It is a challenge for manufacturers to meet the recent GHG regulation as well as the latest emission regulation. To overcome these regulations a De-NOx after-treatment system is being applied to diesel vehicles that are known emitting the lowest GHG among conventional internal combustion engines. At the time of the introduction of Euro 6 emission standard in Korea, in the domestic fuel economy certification test, some diesel vehicles emitted more $CH_4$ than Euro 5 vehicles. As a result, it was confirmed that LNT-equipped vehicles emitted a high level $CH_4$ and the level exceeded the US emission standard. In order to determine the reason, various prior literature was investigated. However, it was difficult to find a detailed study on the methane increase with LNT. In this paper, to determine whether the characteristics of vehicles equipped with LNT the affects the above issue and other greenhouse gases, 6 passenger cars were tested on several emission test modes and ambient temperatures with a environment chamber chassis dynamometer. 2 cars of these were equipped with LNT only, other 2 cars had SCR only, and LNT + SCR were applied to remaining 2 cars. The test result shown that the vehicles equipped with LNT emitted more $CH_4$ than the vehicles with SCR only. Also, $CH_4$ tended to increase as the higher acceleration of the test mode. However, as the test temperature decreases, $CH_4$ tended to decreased. $CO_2$ was not affected by kinds of De-NOx device but characteristic of the test modes.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.659-662
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• 2018

We report the properties of infrared photodetectors based on two kinds of quantum dots(QDs): i) 2.0 ML InAs QDs by the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode(SK QDs) and ii) sub-monolayer QDs by $4{\times}[0.3ML/1nm\;In_{0.15}Ga_{0.85}As]$ deposition(SML QDs). The QD infrared photodetector(QDIP) structure of $n^+-n^-(QDs)-n^+$ is epitaxially grown on GaAs (100) wafers using molecular-beam epitaxy. Both the bottom and top contact GaAs layers are Si doped at $2{\times}10^{18}/cm^3$. The QD layers are grown with Si doping of $2{\times}10^{17}/cm^3$ and capped by an $In_{0.15}Ga_{0.85}As$ layer at $495^{\circ}C$. The photoluminescence peak(1.24 eV) of the SML QDIP is blue-shifted with respect to that (1.04 eV) of SK QDIPs, suggesting that the electron ground state of SML QDIP is higher than that of the SK QDIP. As a result, the photoresponse regime(${\sim}9-14{\mu}m$) of the SML QDIP is longer than that (${\sim}6-12{\mu}m$) of the SK QDIP. The dark current of the SML QDIP is two orders of magnitude smaller value than that of the SK QDIP because of the inserted $Al_{0.08}Ga_{0.92}As$ layer.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2018

Mercury (Hg) poses a threat to marine ecosystem due to continuous inflow from various industries and bioaccumulation to higher trophic level via food web. Mercury can adversely affect growth, development, reproduction and metabolism to aquatic organisms. In the present study, acute toxicity and oxidative stress markers (total glutathione content, and activities of GST, GR and GPx) were investigated in brackish water flea Disphanosoma celebensis exposed to HgCl₂ for 24 h. As results, Hg showed negative effect in survival of D. celebensis. 24 h-LC₅₀ value was determined as 0.589 mg/l (95% C.I. 0.521~0.655 mg/l). After exposure to Hg (0.08 and 0.4 mg/l) for 24 h, total glutathione content was significantly decreased, whereas GST, GPx and GR activities were enhanced. These findings indicate that Hg induced oxidative stress in D. celebensis, and oxidative stress markers may be involved in cellular defense against Hg - mediated toxicity. This study provides a better understanding of molecular mode of action of Hg toxicity in this specie and potent of molecular markers for heavy metal monitoring in marine ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.749-758
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• 2019

Objective: To investigate whether a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system based on a deep learning framework (deep learning-based CAD) improves the diagnostic performance of radiologists in differentiating between malignant and benign masses on breast ultrasound (US). Materials and Methods: B-mode US images were prospectively obtained for 253 breast masses (173 benign, 80 malignant) in 226 consecutive patients. Breast mass US findings were retrospectively analyzed by deep learning-based CAD and four radiologists. In predicting malignancy, the CAD results were dichotomized (possibly benign vs. possibly malignant). The radiologists independently assessed Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System final assessments for two datasets (US images alone or with CAD). For each dataset, the radiologists' final assessments were classified as positive (category 4a or higher) and negative (category 3 or lower). The diagnostic performances of the radiologists for the two datasets (US alone vs. US with CAD) were compared Results: When the CAD results were added to the US images, the radiologists showed significant improvement in specificity (range of all radiologists for US alone vs. US with CAD: 72.8-92.5% vs. 82.1-93.1%; p < 0.001), accuracy (77.9-88.9% vs. 86.2-90.9%; p = 0.038), and positive predictive value (PPV) (60.2-83.3% vs. 70.4-85.2%; p = 0.001). However, there were no significant changes in sensitivity (81.3-88.8% vs. 86.3-95.0%; p = 0.120) and negative predictive value (91.4-93.5% vs. 92.9-97.3%; p = 0.259). Conclusion: Deep learning-based CAD could improve radiologists' diagnostic performance by increasing their specificity, accuracy, and PPV in differentiating between malignant and benign masses on breast US.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.157-167
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• 2024

Background: Several previous studies have shown that commuting is a source of stress for undergraduate students. However, few studies have investigated the effect of commuting on academic stress among undergraduate students, and there has been little awareness of the environmental impact of commuting. Objectives: To evaluate the associations between commute type and/or time and academic stress among undergraduate students in South Korea, focusing on environmental sustainability. Methods: We conducted an online survey and obtained information on commute types, commute times, and academic stress from 510 undergraduate students aged ≥19 years. Academic stress was comprised of five sub-categories of stress, and total academic stress ranged from 5 to 25 points. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the associations between commute type and commute time and academic stress. Furthermore, the students were grouped into 21 categories based on their transportation mode for commuting. CO₂ emission factors per each commuting category were calculated using the transportation type's CO₂ emission data from previous studies. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to confirm the correlation between CO₂ emission factors and total academic stress. Results: Students using home-to-school transportation without transfers (vs. walking) showed a significantly higher total academic stress of 2.19 points (95% CI: 0.58, 3.80). In contrast, students using school-to-home transportation without transfers (vs. walking) showed a significantly lower total academic stress of 1.96 points (95% CI: -3.55, -0.38). Moreover, students using transportation with lower CO₂ emission factors had lower academic stress scores (home-to-school: correlation coefficient = 0.507, p<0.001; school-to-home: correlation coefficient = 0.491, p<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both commute type and time are significantly associated with academic stress among South Korean undergraduate students. When students select environmentally-friendly transportation, they may not only improve their mental health but also improve climate resilience.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.4645-4687
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• 1978

This study was attempted to investigate the mechanical properties of concrete and crack control effects of reinforced concrete with steel and glass fiber. The experimental program includes tests on the properties of fresh concrete containing fibers, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, Young's modulus, Shrinkage and deformation of steel or glass fiber reinforced concrete. Also this study was carried out to investigate the effect of steel or glass fiber to retard the development in reinforced concrete subject to uniaxial tension and thus facilitate the use of steels of higher strength. The major conclusions that can be drawn from the studies are as follows: 1. The effect of the fibers in various mixes on fresh concrete confirmed that fibers do have a significant effect on the properties of fresh concrete, bringing much more stable and exhibiting a signiflcant reduction in surface bleeding, and that the cohesion is greatly improved and the internal resistance increases with fiber concentration. But the addition of an excess contents and length of fibers brings about the reduction of workability. 2. With the addition of steel fibers(1.5% Vol.) to concrete, the compressive strength as compared with plain concrete showed a very slight increase, but excess addition, over 1.5% Vol. of steel and glass fiber reduced its strength. 3. Splitting tensile strength of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant increase tendency, as compared with plain concrete. In case of containing steel fiber (2.5%, 30mm), it showed that the maximum increase rate of 1.48 times as much rate, and in case of containing glass fiber (2.5%, 30mm), the increase rate of strength was 1.25 times as much rate. 4. Flexural strength of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant tendency, as compared with plain concrete. Containing steel fiber (2.5%, 30mm) showed the maximum increase rate of 1.64 times as much rate and containing glass fiber (2.5%, 30mm) showed the increase rate of strength of 1.32 times as much rate, and in general, the 30mm length brougth the best results. 5. The strength ratio ($\sigma$b/$\sigma$c and $\sigma$t/$\sigma$c) increased, when steel fiber's average spacing was up to 3.05mm, but decreased when beyond 3.05mm, and it was confirmed that tensile or flexural strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete are apparently governed by fiber's average spacing. 6. The compressive strain of fiber reinforced concrete showed a significant increasing tendency as the fiber was added, but Young's modulus. with the addition of steel and glass fibers, showed a slight decrease tendency. And according to the increase of flexural strength, a considerable increase was seen in toughness. 7. With the addition of fiber's the shrinkage of concrete was significantly decreased, in both case of adding steel fibers 12.5%, 30mm, and showed a significant decrease ratio, in average 30.4% and 36.7%, as compared with plain concrete. 8. With the increase of fiber volume fraction and length, the gained stress in reinforcing bar in concrete specimens increased in all crack widths, but at different rates, with the decrease of fiber diameter, the stress showed a considerable increasing tendency. And the duoform steel fibers showed the greatest improvement, as compared with the other types tested. 9. The influence of fiber dimensions in order of significanse on the machanical properties of concrete and the crack control of reinforced concrete was explained as follows: content, length, aspect ratio and dimeter.