• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.248-253
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• 2006

The present study describes the preliminary evaluation of the cytotoxicity from Gleditsiae Semen extracts. G. Semen was extracted with methanol, ethanol, and acetone, and then cytotoxic effect of these extracts was measured by the MTT reduction assay and phase-contrast microscopy on the HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells. Among these extracts, methanol extract showed the highest cytotoxic activity on the HT-29 cells. The methanol extract was further fractionated with n-hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and water layer according to the degree of polarity. The water layer showed the highest inhibitory activity on the growth of HT-29 cells, but the other fractions indicated the low cytotoxic activity. In addition, water layer also showed the cytotoxic activity against SW620 human colon carcinoma cells. Based on these results, we suggest that extracts of G. Semen may contain bioactive materials and are potential candidates as chemotherapeutic agents against human colon carcinoma cells.

• Journal of KIISE:Computing Practices and Letters
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1031-1040
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• 2010

Hash join is one of the core algorithms in databases management systems. If a hash join cannot complete in one-pass because the available memory is insufficient (i.e., hash table overflow), however, it may incur a few sequential writes and excessive random reads. With harddisk as the tempoary storage for hash joins, the I/O time would be dominated by slow random reads in its probing phase. Meanwhile, flash memory based SSDs (flash SSDs) are becoming popular, and we will witness in the foreseeable future that flash SSDs replace harddisks in enterprise databases. In contrast to harddisk, flash SSD without any mechanical component has fast latency in random reads, and thus it can boost hash join performance. In this paper, we investigate several important and practical issues when flash SSD is used as tempoary storage for hash join. First, we reveal the va patterns of hash join in detail and explain why flash SSD can outperform harddisk by more than an order of magnitude. Second, we present and analyze the impact of cluster size (i.e., va unit in hash join) on performance. Finally, we emperically demonstrate that, while a commerical query optimizer is error-prone in predicting the execution time with harddisk as temporary storage, it can precisely estimate the execution time with flash SSD. In summary, we show that, when used as temporary storage for hash join, flash SSD will provide more reliable cost estimation as well as fast performance.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2014

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and related trichothecene mycotoxins are extensively distributed in the cereal-based food and feed stuffs worldwide. Recent climate changes and global grain trade increased chance of exposure to more DON and related toxic metabolites in poorly managed production systems. Monitoring the biological and environmental exposures to the toxins are crucial in protecting human and animals from toxicities of the hazardous contaminants in food or feeds. Exposure biomarkers including urine DON itself are prone to shift to less harmful metabolites by intestinal microbiota and liver metabolic enzymes. De-epoxyfication of DON by gut microbes such as Eubacterium strain BBSH 797 and Eubacterium sp. DSM 11798 leads to more fecal secretion of DOM-1. By contrast, most of plant-derived DON-glucoside is also easily catabolized to free DON by gut microbes, which produces more burden to body. Phase 2 hepatic metabolism also contributes to the glucuronidation of DON, which can be useful urine biomarkers. However, chemical modification could be very typical depending on the anthropologic or genetic background, luminal bacteria, and hepatic metabolic enzyme susceptibility to the toxins in the diet. After toxin exposure, effect biomarkers are also important in estimating the linkage and mechanisms of foodborne diseases in human and animal population. Most prominent adverse effects are demonstrated in the DON-induced immunological and behavioral disorders. For instance, acutely elevated interleukin-8 from insulted gut exposed to dietaty DON is a dominant clinical biomarker in human and animals. Moreover, subchronic exposure to the toxins is associated with high levels of serum IgA, a biological mediator of IgA nephritis. In particular, anorexia monitoring using mouse models are recently developed to monitor the biological activities of DON-induced feed refusal. It is also mechanistically linked to alteration of serotoin and peptide YY, which are promising biomarkers of neurological disorders by the toxins. As animal-alternative biomonitoring, huamn enterocyte-based assay has been developed and more realistic gut mimetic models would be useful in monitoring the effect biomarkers in resposne to toxic contaminants in the future investigations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.1099-1105
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• 2007

The present study describes the preliminary evaluation of the anticancer activity of Styela plicata. Freeze-dried S. plicata was extracted with methanol, ethanol, acetone, and water, and then anticancer effect of the extracts was measured by the MTT reduction assay and phase-contrast microscopy on the HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells. Among the extracts, acetone extract showed the highest anticancer activity. The cell proliferation rates markedly decreased by 94.0% at the concentration of 500 ${\mu}g/mL$ of acetone extract compared with control cells. The acetone extract was further fractionated with hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and water layer according to the degree of polarity. The HT-29 cells with hexane layer extract (250 ${\mu}g/mL$) decreased the cell viability to 5.1% of untreated control. The growth of SW620, HeLa, and MCF-7 cells was decreased to about 10%, by the treatment of hexane layer extract 250 ${\mu}g/mL$. Theses results suggest extracts from S. plicata as possible natural cancer therapeutic material.

• Investigative and Clinical Urology
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.357-362
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• 2018

Purpose: Classic angiomyolipoma (AML) is common benign kidney tumor. However, some studies have claimed that epithelioid angiomyolipoma (EAML) has malignant potential. We compared the patient characteristics and prognosis of EAML and classic AML to demonstrate predicting factors and poorer prognosis of EAML. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 231 patients who were diagnosed with EAML (n=27, 11.7%) or classic AML (n=204, 88.3%), were reviewed. All patients underwent computed tomography (CT) scans before operation or needle biopsy. We assessed the age, sex, tumor size, body mass index, comorbidities, and Hounsfield unit (HU) according to each CT phase. We defined the unfavorable group as patients with recurrence, metastasis and death due to tumor progression. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict EAML. Results: EAML patients were younger (41.2 years vs. 49.1 years, p=0.001), predominantly male (55.6% vs. 28.4%, p=0.005), and had a larger tumor (7.5 cm vs. 4.2 cm, p<0.001). The median pre-contrast HU was not significantly different between EAML and classic AML ($29.9{\pm}23.7$ vs. $14.7{\pm}41.0$, p=0.071). In multivariable analysis, younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; p=0.032), male sex (OR, 3.33; p=0.013), and tumor larger than 4 cm (OR, 3.8; p=0.009) were significant predictive factors. Five patients (18.5%) had unfavorable outcomes, two patients had lymph node metastasis, and three patients had lung metastasis. Conclusions: Patient and tumor characteristics can be helpful in determining the type of AML preoperatively. Younger age, male sex, and larger tumor mass may increase the possibility of diagnosing EAML. EAML has malignant potential and requires careful follow-up.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.221-228
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• 2022

Major egg white proteins and their hydrolysates serve as functional food ingredients that have certain metal-chelating properties. Employing egg white proteins and their hydrolysates to scavenge dietary oxalates is anticipated to have beneficial effect in the prevention of kidney stones. The objective of this study was to determine the biogenic oxalate-chelating activity of ovalbumin, ovomucin, and ovotransferrin and their hydrolysates. To prepare oxalate extracts, 30 mL of 0.25 N HCl was added to separately to 0.5 g of dried spinach and starfruit powders followed by boiling for 15 min, and after cooling, the addition of a further 20 mL of 0.25 N HCl. Having prepared these extracts, ovalbumin, ovomucin, and ovotransferrin and their hydrolysates were separately mixed with oxalate extracts and incubated at 3℃ for 24 h. Following centrifugation, supernatants were analyzed by HPLC using a reverse-phase C18 column coupled with a diode array detector. We found that all assessed proteins and their hydrolysates showed biogenic oxalate-chelating activity against the oxalates of spinach. In contrast, however, only ovalbumin, ovalbumin-hydrolysate, and ovomucin showed chelating activity (57.10%±8.84%, 85.44%±5.30%, 73.20%±4.13%, respectively) against the oxalates of starfruit (P<0.05). Overall, hydrolyzed ovalbumin was identified as the most effective chelator of the oxalates both spinach and starfruit. In this study, we thus established that the assessed egg white proteins and their hydrolysates have oxalate-chelating activity in vitro, thereby indicating that these compounds have potential utility as nutraceuticals for the chelation of dietary oxalate. However, further research will be necessary to verify their oxalate-chelating activities against different fruits and vegetables and under specific in vivo conditions and against purified oxalate.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.92-102
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• 2022

Various numerical analysis models can be used to evaluate the behavior characteristics of tunnel facilities which are representative underground structures. In general, the Mohr-Coulomb model, which is most often used for numerical analysis, is an elastic-perfect plastic behavior model. And the deformation characteristics are the same during the load increase-load reduction phase. So there is a problem that the displacement may appear different from the field situation in the case of excavation analysis. In contrast, the HS-small strain stability model has a wide range of applications for each ground. And it is known that soil deformation characteristics can be analyzed according to field conditions by enabling input of initial elastic modulus and nonlinear curve parameter and so on. However, civil engineers are having difficulty using nonlinear models that can apply material nonlinear properties due to difficulties in estimating ground property coefficients. In this study, the necessity of rational model selection was reviewed by comparing the results of seismic performance evaluation using the Mohr-Coulomb model, which civil engineers generally apply for numerical analysis of tunnels, and the HS Small strain Stiffness model, which can consider ground nonlinearity.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.131-137
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• 2022

As the age increases, the oral cavity, that is, the teeth and periodontium, also begin to age, and accordingly, a preparation process is required. The preparation process is an important period for oral health management to start continuously with oral health education consisting of knowledge, attitude, and behavior from the 20s. Therefore, to design a clinical dental hygiene course for patients who visited a dental clinic in Gyeonggi-do and received continuous care in an oral health care room after treatment, we tried to analyze the data of the dental hygiene assessment. As a dental hygiene assessment tool, based on personal information and general medical history, dental visit experience, bleeding on probing(BOP), bad breath measurement, phase contrast microscopy, and O'Leary index were performed. The number of subjects who had dental visits was 75.4% and those without experience were 24.6%, and as a result of the periodontal examination, generally bleeding was found in 76.3%. In preventive oral care, the stage of dental hygiene assessment in the 20s is an important first step. From this point on, it is an important time to be systematically habituated so that you can take responsibility for your own oral condition. Therefore, in this study, the results of dental hygiene assessment through oral examinations of subjects in their 20s are derived and presented as basic data for the development of dental hygiene performance competency of dental hygienists during the clinical dental hygiene process in oral health education and oral health management.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.92-92
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• 2002

Considerable attention has been focused on the cryopreservation of semen and estrus induction in dog, as consequence of poor productivity caused by long anestrus period, in order to enhance the productivity of youngs and to preserve the breeds. The objectives of this study were to evaluate semen quality after cryopreservation and to evaluate the Pregnancy rate after insemination (AI). Fifty infertilie dogs (age 2∼3 years) were selected for the study and divided into three different estrus induction treatment groups. Group 1: dogs (n=15) were given clomifene (0.1 mg/kg) orally for five days at 12 hr intervals. Group 2: dogs (n=15) were given bromocriptine (50 $\mu\textrm{g}$/kg) orally for five days at 12 hr intervals, followed by single injection intravenously of 500 IU GnRH (Group 3, n=20) when pro-estrus occurred. The rates of pregnancy in estrus inducted dogs mated naturally compared to those inseminated artificially with ejaculated fresh semen and frozen-thawed semen. Estrus detection was performed using the method of vaginal smear and confirmed by the plasma progesterone assay. The ejaculated semen to freeze was exposed to a mixture of Tris extender with cryoprotectant (Trisma, 81 mM: TES, 209 mM: citric acid, 6 mM; glucose, 5 mM; glycerol, 8%) and cryopreserved gradually by slow-cooling at 17 cm above the surface of liquid nitrogen (LN$_2$) for 23 min. The motility of frozen-thawed spermatozoa was assessed by phase-contrast microscopy. To assess their viability and acrosome content, spermatozoa were stained with a vital stain and Fluorescence conjugated lectin Pisum Savitum Agglutinin (FITC/PAS), respectively. Pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasonograpy on day 25, 35 and 55 post insemination. The use of fresh semen, the pregnancy rates were observed 66.6, 66.6, 75.0 and 83.3% in natural estrus, clomifene induced, bromocriptine induced and a combination of GnRH and bromocriptine, respectively. The use of frozen-thawed semen, the pregnancy rates were observed 66.6, 33.3, 50.0 and 60.0% in natural estrus, clomifene induced, bromocriptine induced and a combination of GnRH and bromocriptine, respectively. No difference was observed in the number of offspring produced among natural estrus and treated groups inseminated with fresh or frozen-thawed semen. In conclusion, the pregnancy rate of dogs treated with a combination of GnRH and bromocriptine was more effective than use of clomifene or bromocriptine only. In addition, frozen-thawed semen can be used successfully far artificial insemination in dog.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.1-36
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• 2018

When it comes to explaining the relationship between inventory investment and business fluctuations, the production smoothing theory and the stock-out avoidance theory take contradictory stances. Decision-making related to inventory investments of corporations is thought to be influenced by both motives, but the relative sizes or directions of their respective influences can differ depending upon the phase of the business cycle. Against this backdrop, this paper differs from existing studies in that it theoretically tests the relative significances of the production smoothing and stock-out avoidance motives in the inventory investment dynamics, while placing its analytical focus on determining the existence and patterns of the asymmetric dynamics of inventory investment over the business cycle phases. To this end this paper sets up a non-linear model that is expanded from the existing linear inventory investment model, and checks whether its predictive power is better than that of the existing model. The results of analysis confirm the nature of the asymmetric dynamics of inventory investment over the business cycle phases. A stock-out avoidance motive appears but there is no significant production smoothing motive in boom times. In downturns, in contrast, the stock-out avoidance motive is insignificant, but a quality of asymmetric dynamics in which changes in inventory cause the deepening of recessions, due to the non-convexity of production costs proposed by Ramey (1991), is detected. This paper confirms that a model considering the asymmetric dynamics of inventory investment can have better predictive power than one that does not consider it, through within-sample and out-of-sample predictions and various predictive power tests. These research results are expected to be useful for economic forecasting, through their enhancement of the understandings of the inventory investment dynamics and of the nature of its business cycle destabilization.