• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1384-1392
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• 2015

Sagantang (SGT), a Korean multiherb formula comprising six medicinal herbs, Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC, Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, Poria cocos Wolf, Cimicifuga heracleifolia Komarov, and Artractylodes japonica Koidzumi, was recorded in “Dongeuibogam.” The present study investigated the anticancer potential of SGT in AGS human gastric carcinoma cells. The results indicated that SGT treatment significantly inhibited the growth and viability of AGS cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies, in addition to chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation, and the accumulation of annexin-V positive cells. The induction of apoptotic cell death by the SGT treatment was associated with up-regulation of Fas protein expression, truncation of Bid, and down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. The SGT treatment also effectively induced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, which was associated with the activation of caspases (caspase-3, -8, and -9) and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. However, a pan-caspase inhibitor significantly blocked the SGT-induced apoptosis and growth suppression in AGS cells. This study suggests that SGT induces caspase-dependent apoptosis through an extrinsic pathway by upregulating Fas, as well as through an intrinsic pathway by modulating Bcl-2 family members in AGS cells. The results suggest that SGT may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human gastric cancer cells. However, further studies will be needed to confirm the potential of SGT in cancer prevention and therapy in an in vivo model and to identify biological active compounds of SGT.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.1 s.17
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• pp.33-38
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• 1975

The clinical efficacy of Ethaverine, a peripheral vasodilator, was studied according to a double-blind, non-cross over method in 29 diabetic patients with peripheral arterial diseases. The clinical improvement was assessed from the history of patients including the incidence and frequency of intermitten claudication. Ethaverine, after 4 weeks of therapy, was not effective in improving clinical symptoms compared to placebo. Ethaverine, however, was an efective vasodilator than placebo. The quality of vasodilation induced by Ethaverine, was similar to that of alcohol. A new clinical method of studying peripheral vasodilator was presented. The clinical symptoms of peripheral vascular arterial disease in the lower extrimities include reduced intensity of palpable pulses, coldness, and discoloration of the skin. Intermittent claudication may be present. Pathologic changes in vessel architecture precede the symptoms, and recognition of impending vascular insufficiency is a determining factor in selecting vasodilating therapy or surgical management. Also, post-operative patients who have chronic peripheral vascular arterial disease may be candidates for subsequent vasodilating therapy. Peripheral vasodilators, according to the series of reports, may be indicated in vasospastic peripheral vascular condition rather than an occlusive vascular disease and the vessel responds best when a relatively large vascular beds are involved rather than a small, capillary beds. Recently, the clinical efficacy of peripheral vasodilators have been challanged by many clinical investigators and clinicians. In this study, we have re-evaluated the efficacy of Ethaverine HCl as peripheral vasodilator in patients with vasospastic peripheral arterial disease. Ethaverine is claimed to be two to four times as potent a spasmolytic agent as papaverine in a variety of laboratory and clinical work.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2009

Skin aging appears to be principally attributed to a decrease in both levels of Type I collagen and regeneration ability of dermal fibroblasts. It is important to introduce an efficient and safe agent for effective management of skin aging. To this end, we performed screening for anti-ageing agents and then found that vegetable peptones (pea and wheat) promoted cell proliferation of adult stem cells. Vegetable peptones may be considered as useful medium additives because it can supply nutrients, peptides, amino acids or growth factor analogues. This study was designed to investigate effects of vegetable peptones on cell proliferation/collagen production and their possible mechanisms in human dermal fibroblasts. In cell proliferation assay, vegetable peptones significantly promoted cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, human COL1A2 promoter luciferase and type I procollagen synthesis assays showed that vegetable peptones induce type I procollagen production through the activation of COLlA2 promoter. In both TGF-${\beta}1$ luciferase reporter and ELISA assays, vegetable peptones was found to induce TGF-${\beta}1$ production, suggesting that vegetable peptones induce type I procollagen production through the activation of TGF-${\beta}1$. When applied topically in a human skin twice a day for an 4-week period of time, vegetable peptones did not induce any adverse reactions. Theretore, based on these results, we suggest the possibility that vegetable peptones may be considered as an attractive, wrinkle-reducing candidate for topical application.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.281-286
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• 1999

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze the types of complications, the incidences of complications, and preoperative and postoperative risk factors affecting the incidence of the complication. Material and Method: Between August 1990 and August 1997 in Asan Medical Center, 42 patients(24 men and 18 women) underwent surgical resection for pulmonary aspergilloma. The mean age was 46.6${\pm}$11.5 years(range 29 to 69 years). Hemoptysis(90%) was the most common presentation. Pulmonary tuberculosis was the most common predisposing cause(81%). The associated diseases were bronchiectasis(n=11), active puolmonary tuberculosis(n=9), diabetes mellitus(n=8), lung carcinoid(n=1), and acute myeloblastic leukemia(n=1). Lobectomy was done in 32 cases(76%), segmentectomy or wedge resection in 4, pneumonectomy in 2, and lobectomy combined with segmentectomy in 4. Result: Operative mortality was 2%. The most common postoperative complication was persistent air leakage(n=6). The variables such as age, sex, pulmonary function test, amount and duration of hemoptysis, associated diseases(diabetes mellitus, active pulmonary tuberculosis), mode of preoperative management(steroid, antifungal agent, bronchial arterial embolization), and modes of operative procedures were statistically insignificant. The radiologic extent of infiltration to normal lung parenchyme was statistically significant(p=0.04). Conclusion: We conclude that the extent of the infiltration to normal lung parenchyme in preoperative radiologic studies should be carefully evaluated to reduce the postoperative complications in surgery for pulmonary aspergilloma.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.210-217
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• 1997

Purpose: To prevent residual physical disability and chronic infection, prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment are important in the skeletal infections in children. Although radioisotope scanning is knwon as the method of choice for early diagnosis of bone infection, we conducted a study on twenty nine children who had skeletal infections to reevaluate the most appropriate way in diagnosis and management. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on twenty nine children, who were admitted to the departments of Pediatrics and Orthopedic Surgery and who had acute osteomyelitis or septic arthritis, through review of medical records, radiologic & radioisotope study results. Their diagnoses were confirmed by bacteriologic cultures on the aspirated specimens from suspected bony lesions. Results: 1) Among twenty nine patients, there were 6 infants including 5 newborn infants, and 23 children were aged between 1 and 15 years. Male to female ratio was 1.4 to 1. 2) Point tenderness was noted in all cases, and the common physical signs were swelling, limitation of motion, fever and local heat in the order of frequency. 3) Fifty two percents of the patients were diagnosed within a week after onset of symptoms and all cases were within 15 days. 4) Leukocytosis was noted in only 58.6% of cases but erythrocyte sedimentation rate was increased in all cases except only one case. Staphylococcus aureus was revealed as the most common etiologic agent. 5) Radioisotope scans showed hot uptake in five of six cases(83.3%) who had no abnormal finding on plain skeletal radiolograms. Conclusions: Although radioisotope scan and MRI are helpful in early diagnosis before radiologic finding was detected on plain X-ray film, the antimicrobial therapy can be started after bacteriologic study of the aspirated specimens from the suspected skeletal lesions if skeletal infection is highly suspected clinically.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.40
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• pp.77-114
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyze the ideological background, legal composition, and separation of powers contained within the institutional devices of The Dao Constitution based on the basic principles of the legal system, which would be embodied in The Constitution of the Republic of Korea. The ideological background of The Dao Constitution is that of the religion, Daesoon Jinrihoe. In Daesoon Jinrihoe, it is held that the Supreme God, Sangje, determined that Mutual Contention, the ruling pattern of the Former World, ran contrary to His divine will and this endangered the world as nature and humans had also fallen into Mutual Contention. As an act of divine intervention, Sangje established Mutual Beneficence so that nature and humanity could follow Mutual Beneficence as a paradigm shift culminating in a Great Opening of the universe. Sangje, the agent behind the paradigm shift, revealed His divine will that humans transform into mutually beneficent humans. Therefore, The Dao Constitution was written to be a set of fundamental norms based on the 'rights and obligations of the members of Daesoon Jinrihoe' to accept and implement the will of Sangje as it applies to each member's mission. The legal composition of The Dao Constitution consists of the body and supplementary provisions. The text consists of general rules, moral rights and obligations, origins, and institutional devices. Institutional devices include the Central Council, the Institute of Propagation and Edition, the Institute of Religious Services, Works, Financial Management, and the Institute of Audit and Inspection. The legal composition of The Dao Constitution is similar to that of the Constitution. The difference is that while the Constitution applies a 'principle of maximum rights and minimum obligations,' The Dao Constitution stipulates more obligations than rights in order to complete the mission of the members. The principle of separation of powers is applied to the institutional devices in The Dao Constitution. In The Dao Constitution, the organizational form of the central headquarters has been divided into a 'before and after' scheme surrounding the death of Dojeon. The organizational form of the central headquarters prior to Dojeon's death was similar to a Constitutional Monarchy. After the death of Dojeon, the central headquarters' organizational form became similar to a parliamentary cabinet system. The separation of powers at central headquarters is divided among a legislative power (the Central Council), an executive power (the Institute of Religious Services), and a judicial power (the Institute of Audit and Inspection). The separation of powers within the functions of the central government first occurs between the Central Council and its employees, then between the Central Council and the Institute of Auditing and Inspection, and also between the Legislative Government and the Institute of Religious Services. Furthermore, the principle of a vertical separation of powers exists between the central headquarters and the local organization.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2022

Background: The Korea Interstitial Lung Disease Study Group has made a new nationwide idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) registry because the routine clinical practice has changed due to new guidelines and newly developed antifibrotic agents in the recent decade. The aim of this study was to describe recent clinical characteristics of Korean IPF patients. Methods: Both newly diagnosed and following IPF patients diagnosed after the previous registry in 2008 were enrolled. Survival analysis was only conducted for patients diagnosed with IPF after 2016 because antifibrotic agents started to be covered by medical insurance of Korea in October 2015. Results: A total of 2,139 patients were analyzed. Their mean age at diagnosis was 67.4±9.3 years. Of these patients, 76.1% were males, 71.0% were ever-smokers, 14.4% were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, and 56.9% were at gender-age-physiology stage I. Occupational toxic material exposure was reported in 534 patients. The mean forced vital capacity was 74.6% and the diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide was 63.6%. Treatment with pirfenidone was increased over time: 62.4% of IPF patients were treated with pirfenidone initially. And 79.2% of patients were treated with antifiboritics for more than three months during the course of the disease since 2016. Old age, acute exacerbation, treatment without antifibrotics, and exposure to wood and stone dust were associated with higher mortality. Conclusion: In the recent Korean IPF registry, the percentage of IPF patients treated with antifibrotics was increased compared to that in the previous IPF registry. Old age, acute exacerbation, treatment without antifibrotics, and exposure to wood and stone dust were associated with higher mortality.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.29-41
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• 2012

This paper undertakes a conceptual review of transaction cost to broaden the understanding of the transaction cost analysis (TCA) approach. More than 40 years have passed since Coase's fundamental insight that transaction, coordination, and contracting costs must be considered explicitly in explaining the extent of vertical integration. Coase (1937) forced economists to identify previously neglected constraints on the trading process to foster efficient intrafirm, rather than interfirm, transactions. The transaction cost approach to economic organization study regards transactions as the basic units of analysis and holds that understanding transaction cost economy is central to organizational study. The approach applies to determining efficient boundaries, as between firms and markets, and to internal transaction organization, including employment relations design. TCA, developed principally by Oliver Williamson (1975,1979,1981a) blends institutional economics, organizational theory, and contract law. Further progress in transaction costs research awaits the identification of critical dimensions in which transaction costs differ and an examination of the economizing properties of alternative institutional modes for organizing transactions. The crucial investment distinction is: To what degree are transaction-specific (non-marketable) expenses incurred? Unspecialized items pose few hazards, since buyers can turn toalternative sources, and suppliers can sell output intended for one order to other buyers. Non-marketability problems arise when specific parties' identities have important cost-bearing consequences. Transactions of this kind are labeled idiosyncratic. The summarized results of the review are as follows. First, firms' distribution decisions often prompt examination of the make-or-buy question: Should a marketing activity be performed within the organization by company employees or contracted to an external agent? Second, manufacturers introducing an industrial product to a foreign market face a difficult decision. Should the product be marketed primarily by captive agents (the company sales force and distribution division) or independent intermediaries (outside sales agents and distribution)? Third, the authors develop a theoretical extension to the basic transaction cost model by combining insights from various theories with the TCA approach. Fourth, other such extensions are likely required for the general model to be applied to different channel situations. It is naive to assume the basic model appliesacross markedly different channel contexts without modifications and extensions. Although this study contributes to scholastic research, it is limited by several factors. First, the theoretical perspective of TCA has attracted considerable recent interest in the area of marketing channels. The analysis aims to match the properties of efficient governance structures with the attributes of the transaction. Second, empirical evidence about TCA's basic propositions is sketchy. Apart from Anderson's (1985) study of the vertical integration of the selling function and John's (1984) study of opportunism by franchised dealers, virtually no marketing studies involving the constructs implicated in the analysis have been reported. We hope, therefore, that further research will clarify distinctions between the different aspects of specific assets. Another important line of future research is the integration of efficiency-oriented TCA with organizational approaches that emphasize specific assets' conceptual definition and industry structure. Finally, research of transaction costs, uncertainty, opportunism, and switching costs is critical to future study.