• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.237-243
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• 2001

Taxol, a natural product extracted from the Taxus brevifolia, is known to have significant anti-tumor activities against many common cancers, including ovarian and breast cancers. Despite the pronounced anti-tumor activity of this compound, its poor solubility in aqueous solutions hampers its clinical applications. We studied the anticancer mechanisms of the water-soluble taxol diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (DTPA) used for radiolabeling, and compared it to that of taxol. In vitro cytotoxicities of taxol and taxol-DTPA conjugate were tested in HT29 human colorectal cancer cells by the MTT method. As the result, the $IC_{50}$ value of the taxol-DTPA conjugate was about three fold higher than that of taxol. When analyzed by an agarose gel electrophoresis, the DNA ladders became evident after the incubation of cells with the taxol-DTPA conjugate for 24 h. We also found morphological changes of the cells undergoing apoptosis with electron microscopy Next, we examined the signal pathway of taxol-DTPA conjugate-induced apoptosis in HT29 cells. The activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK1/2) occurred at 10, 30, 60 and 120 min after 200 nM taxol-DTPA conjugate treatment. The pretreatment of the MEK inhibitor (PD98059) completely blocked the taxol-DTPA conjugate-induced ERK1/2 activation. The activated ERK1/2 translocated into the nucleus at the same time and phosphorylated its transcriptional factor, c-Jun. These results suggest that the taxol-DTPA conjugate has an apoptotic activity in HT29 cells, and that its proapoptic activity might be related with the signal transduction via ERK1/2 and c-Jun similar to that of taxol.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3369-3375
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• 2014

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), considered as a prototypical inflammatory cytokine, has been proposed to be involved in tumor progression through inflammation. Recent studies have indicated CRP as a progostic predictor for urological cancers, but the results remain controversial. Materials and Methods: A systematic search of Medline, Scopus and the Cochrane Library was performed to identify eligible studies published between Jan 1, 2001 and Sep 1, 2013. Outcomes of interest were collected from studies comparing overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) in patients with elevated CRP levels and those having lower levels. Studies were pooled, and combined hazard ratio (HR) of CRP with its 95% confidence interval (CI) for survival were used for the effect size estimate. Results: A total of 43 studies (7,490 patients) were included in this meta-analysis (25 for RCC, 10 for UC, and 8 for PC). Our pooled results showed that elevated serum CRP level was associated with poor OS (HR: 1.26, 95%CI: 1.22-1.30) and RFS (HR: 1.38 95%CI: 1.29-1.47), respectively. For CSS the pooled HR (HR: 1.33, 95%CI: 1.28-1.39) for higher CRP expression could strongly predict poorer survival in urological cancers. Simultaneously, elevated serum CRP was also significantly associated with poor prognosis in the subgroup analysis. Conclusions: Our pooled results demonstrate that a high serum level of CRP as an inflammation biomarker denotes a poor prognosis of patients with urological cancers. Further large prospective studies should be performed to confirm whether CRP, as a biomarker of inflammation, has a prognostic role in urological cancer progression.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.171-179
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• 2019

Pituitary tumors are usually benign but can occasionally exhibit hormonal and proliferative behaviors. Dysregulation of the G1/S restriction point largely contributes to the over-proliferation of pituitary tumor cells. F-box protein S-phase kinase-interacting protein-2 (SKP2) reportedly targets and inhibits the expression of $p27^{Kip1}$, a well-known negative regulator of G1 cell cycle progression. In this study, SKP2 expression was found to be upregulated while $p27^{Kip1}$ expression was determined to be downregulated in rat and human pituitary tumor cells. Furthermore, SKP2 knockdown induced upregulation of $p27^{Kip1}$ and cell growth inhibition in rat and human pituitary tumor cells, while SKP2overexpression elicited opposite effects on $p27^{Kip1}$ expression and cell growth. The expression of microRNA-186 (miR-186) was reported to be reduced in pituitary tumors. Online tools predicted SKP2 to be a direct downstream target of miR-186, which was further confirmed by luciferase reporter gene assays. Moreover, miR-186 could modulate the cell proliferation and $p27^{Kip1}$-mediated cell cycle alternation of rat and human pituitary tumor cells through SKP2. As further confirmation of these findings, miR-186 and $p27^{Kip1}$ expression were downregulated, while SKP2 expression was upregulated in human pituitary tumor tissue samples; thus, SKP2 expression negatively correlated with miR-186 and $p27^{Kip1}$ expression. In contrast, miR-186 expression positively associated with $p27^{Kip1}$ expression. Taken together, we discovered a novel mechanism by which miR-186/SKP2 axis modulates pituitary tumor cell proliferation through $p27^{Kip1}$-mediated cell cycle alternation.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.54-64
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• 2023

A systematic review and meta-analysis were designed to summarize studies conducted on the effects of raspberry and blackcurrant consumption on blood pressure (BP). Eligible studies were detected by searching numerous five online databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, until December 17, 2022. We pooled the mean difference and its 95% confidence interval (CI) by applying a random-effects model. Overall, the impact of raspberry and blackcurrant on BP was reported in ten randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (420 subjects). Pooled analysis of six clinical trials revealed that raspberry consumption has no significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) (weighted mean differences [WMDs], -1.42; 95% CI, -3.27 to 0.87; p = 0.224) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (WMD, -0.53; 95% CI, -1.77 to 0.71; p = 0.401), in comparison with placebo. Moreover, pooled analysis of four clinical trials indicated that blackcurrant consumption did not reduce SBP (WMD, -1.46; 95% CI, -6.62 to 3.7; p = 0.579), and DBP (WMD, -2.09; 95% CI, -4.38 to 0.20; p = 0.07). Raspberry and blackcurrant consumption elicited no significant reductions in BP. More accurate RCTs are required to clarify the impact of raspberry and blackcurrant intake on BP.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.121-142
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• 2009

In this study, the marketing activity of medical service providers via Internet was considered as a new technology for approaching this problem and the consumers' acceptance of the new marketing activity was analyzed through the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) path analysis. The path analysis was conducted for the non-insured medical departments and the insured medical departments. The path analysis revealed that the consumers felt usefulness of the marketing activity of non-insured medical service providers, which means that they have intention to accept and are satisfied with the Internet marketing activity provided by non-insured medical service departments. On the other hand, in the case of insured medical service, it was clarified that the 'easy of use' preferentially affects the users' intention of accepting the marketing activity rather than 'usefulness'.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.2683-2688
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• 2015

Internet of Things(IoT) using a variety of technologies in combination provides a convenient, elevated range of services to users. IoT has been noted in combining the fields of medical service in particular. However, with the advent and growing of IoT, the more medical services are evolving, security problems caused by leakage of personal health information will become more serious. U-Health and medical devices, which deal mainly the personal health information, is required to a high level of privacy and security of health information. Therefore, the introduction of the IoT in the healthcare industry requires the medical information security as a prerequisite. This study analyzes security status and trend of IoT, personal medical information leakage cases, the health information protection measures in accordance with the life cycle of medical information, and the standardized protection technologies.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.131-142
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• 2024

Purpose : This study explores the effects of dental hygiene students' ethical propensity and self-esteem on their awareness of protecting patient medical information and how these factors interact to influence their professional ethical consciousness. The aim of this study is to highlight the role of university education in shaping the ethical values of dental hygienists. Methods : Between June 1 and November 30, 2023, 210 dental hygiene students in Busan Metropolitan City participated in this study. After providing consent, the participants completed a self-administered questionnaire comprising 69 questions. The questions covered general characteristics (8 questions), ethical propensity (20 questions), self-esteem (10 questions), and awareness of patient medical information protection (31 questions), all measured on a five-point Likert scale. Results : Correlation analysis indicated that idealism had a significant positive correlation with relativism (r=0.35, p<.001), self-esteem (r=0.28, p<.001), and awareness of patient medical information protection (r=0.46, p<.001). Relativism had a significant positive correlation with self-esteem (r=0.17, p<0.05) and awareness of patient medical information protection (r=0.23, p<.01). Self-esteem had a significant positive correlation with awareness of patient medical information protection (r=0.34, p<.001). Multilinear regression analysis revealed that idealism (ß=0.38) and self-esteem (ß=0.22) significantly increased the level of awareness of patient medical information protection. However, relativism did not have a significant impact on the level of awareness of patient medical information protection. The model explained 26.0 % of the variance (24.9 % when corrected). Conclusion : Higher levels of idealism and self-esteem correlate with greater awareness of patient medical information protection. In addition to appropriate program development and strategies, university curricula for dental hygiene students should include systematic and continuous training to enhance the values of ethical awareness, idealism, and self-esteem.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.147-149
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• 2003

Using computational fluid dynamics with the fluid-structure interaction, structural effects of intra-luminal thrombus were determined in thrombosed axisymmetric abdominal aorta aneurysm (AAA) models under pulsatile flow. Four different models, varying dilatations of the aneurysm and Young's moduli of intra-luminal thrombus, were defmed. Compared with unthrombosed AAA models, both von Mises stress and radial displacements in the aneurysm wall significantly decreased. Stiffer intra-luminal thrombus reduced von Mises stress in the aneUtysm wall. The present study supported that intra-luminal thrombus might reduce wall stress in the aneurysm.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.515-527
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• 2019

This paper discusses the design, implementation, and potential use of an ontology-based mobile pediatric consultation and monitoring system, which is a smart healthcare expert system for pediatric patients. The proposed system provides remote consultation and monitoring of pediatric patients during their illness at places distant from medical service areas. The system not only shares instant medical data with a pediatrician but also examines the data as a smart medical assistant to detect any emergency situation. In addition, it uses an inference engine to infer instant suggestions for performing certain initial medical treatment steps when necessary. The applied methodologies and main technical contributions have three aspects: (a) pediatric consultation and monitoring ontology, (b) semantic Web rule knowledge base, and (c) inference engine. Two case studies with real pediatric patients are provided and discussed. The reported results of the applied case studies are promising, and they demonstrate the applicability, effectiveness, and efficiency of the proposed approach.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.21-31
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• 2021

Ransomware attacks, such as Conti, Ryuk, Petya, and Sodinokibi, that target medical institutions are increasing rapidly. In 2020, in the United States., ransomware attacks affected over 600 separate clinics, hospitals, and organizations, and more than 18 million patient records. The cost of these attacks is estimated to be almost $21 billion USD. The first death associated with a ransomware attack was reported in 2020 by the University Hospital of Düesseldorf in Germany. In the case of medical institutions, as introduced in the Medjack report issued by TrapX Labs, in many cases, attackers target medical devices that are relatively insecure and then penetrate deep into more critical network infrastructure, such as EMR servers. This paper introduces security vulnerabilities of hospital medical devices, considerations for ransomware response by medical institutions, and related technology trends.