• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.361-370
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• 2017

Previous reports have suggested that physical and psychological stresses may trigger fibromyalgia (FM). Stress is an important risk factor in the development of depression and memory impairments. Antidepressants have been used to prevent stress-induced abnormal pain sensation. Among various antidepressants, tianeptine has been reported to be able to prevent neurodegeneration due to chronic stress and reverse decreases in hippocampal volume. To assess the possible effect of tianeptine on FM symptoms, we constructed a FM animal model induced by restraint stress with intermittent cold stress. All mice underwent nociceptive assays using electronic von Frey anesthesiometer and Hargreaves equipment. To assess the relationship between tianeptine and expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (p-CREB), western blotting and immunohistochemistry analyses were performed. In behavioral analysis, nociception tests showed that pain threshold was significantly decreased in the FM group compared to that in the control group. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus showed downregulation of BDNF and p-CREB proteins in the FM group compared to the control group. However, tianeptine recovered these changes in behavioral tests and protein level. Therefore, this FM animal model might be useful for investigating mechanisms linking BDNF-CREB pathway and pain. Our results suggest that tianeptine might potentially have therapeutic efficacy for FM.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.98-105
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• 2016

Group play for sociality is a therapeutic method involving a mixture of various factors, such as targeted activities, perceptions, and physical mobility required in daily life, through group activities to encourage self-expression for the purpose of facilitating sociality. This study was conducted in order to verify its effects by applying it to autistic adolescents who lack communicative ability with others and ultimately to improve their interpersonal relationships and sociality. This study applied a single pre- and post-test experiment design to 8 autistic adolescents with lack of sociality who use a daycare center in Daejeon. The group play for sociality program consisted of two sessions a week for 7 weeks from October to December 2013 for a total of 14 sessions. The sociality of the adolescents before and after the intervention was analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. As a result of the study, the total grades of the E-CLAC and social maturity test showed significant changes from $39.88{\pm}6.78$ to $47.00{\pm}4.28$ and $49.96{\pm}28.00$ to $61.36{\pm}21.75$, respectively. In detail, there were significant changes in the sub-items, such as adjustment in group, following guidance, and increasing behavioral frequency. In conclusion, it was shown that the combined effect of the group activities, including group play for sociality and play activities taking into consideration the developmental stage of the participants, led to a significant improvement in the sociality of the autistic adolescents.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.369-378
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• 2018

Purpose: Obesity is associated with a dysregulation of metabolic balance and is regarded as a low grade chronic inflammation. Western-style diet and physical inactivity are leading causes of obesity. This study examined the profiles of forty plasma cytokines and chemokines at the same time in the early stages of high-fat diet-induced obesity using a mouse model. Methods: A total of 30 male CD1 mice, 12 ~ 14 weeks of age, were enrolled. The mice were fed a high-fat diet for 6 weeks to induce obesity. The plasma glucose and triglyceride concentrations were measured using a hexokinase colorimetric assay kit and a serum triglyceride determination kit, respectively. The relative levels of multiple cytokines and chemokines in the plasma were determined using a mouse cytokine array kit. Results: The mice exhibited significant weight gain after 6 weeks of a high-fat diet. The genital fat depot was enlarged along with an increase in the number and the mean size of white adipocytes as early as 4 weeks after a high-fat diet. In addition, the plasma glucose and triglyceride levels increased significantly after 4 weeks of a high-fat diet. Cytokine array analysis revealed a remarkable increase in the expression of both CXCL12 and CXCL13, whereas the proinflammatory cytokines remained low after 4 weeks of a high-fat diet. Conclusion: A significant increase in plasma levels of CXCL12 and CXCL13 was observed after 4 weeks of a high-fat diet, which might induce the migration of B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and monocytes from the blood to expanding adipose tissue or fat associated lymphoid clusters, playing a key role in adipose tissue remodeling and local immunity during the early stages of high-fat diet-induced obesity.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.82-92
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• 1997

Cerebrovascular diseases in Korea is an important health problem since mortality and mobidity have been increased rapidly. It marked the 2nd cause of specific death rates in 1993. The subjects of the study were seventeen citizens who are using to the Oriental Medicine. The data were collected from Apr. to Oct. 1996. The researcher as a caregiver and volunteer made confidence of them and asked for their agreement on the purpose of the study. The subjects expressed their experience as openheartedly as possible. The researcher described closely the experiences of using to the Oriental Medicine with there words themselves and under the observation of the reseacher. A tape-recorder was used under the permission of the subjects to prevent the leakage of the spoken information and communication. The analysis of the data was made through the phenomenological analytic method suggested by Van Kaam, which is as follows; as an unit of description which include the subject' expressions and the researcher's observation. The conclusions of this study was as follows : one hundred eighteen descriptive expression found and they were grouped eighteen common factors. These are ${\ulcorner$to effect needle${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$to effect Chinese medicine${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$treatment method${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$attitude of herb doctor${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$recommendation of family and other person${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$what one sold to${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$traditional custom${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$experience of the past use${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$to be desolate${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$negative recognition${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$Ineffective drug${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$Unfaithful of doctor${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$positive recognition${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$Oriental medical hospital surroundings${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$to build up one's health${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$to be clear blood${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$economic burden${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$deficit of profession${\lrcorner}$ Finally. eighteen common factors were grouped under six highter categories. These are ${\ulcorner$Belief to oriental medicine${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$motivation of use${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$distrust to western medicine${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$stability of emotion${\lrcorner}$ ${\ulcorner$Alteration of positive physical function${\lrcorner}$.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.127-134
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• 2011

Interior design has diverse functions and roles according to recent changes in life and cultural style. As the meaning of space varies, the furniture as another element of the space should also be planned and included in the beginning of the project to accomplish its functional role on the finished space and not only be placed. The relationship between Interior space and furniture should be studied and understood at the same realm because they have a complementary relationship. The final destination of design, which is very challenging to accommodate people, the designer needs to approach to the interior space and furniture in a cognitive view. The study of Semiotics views in a knowledgeable and epistemological way every element as a sign and by the relationship of their characters it makes to understand the structure of the signs. Charles Sanders Peirce, a leader of Semiotics in USA, classified the structure of Sign into Representamen, Object and Interpretant to complete the theory which could systematically describe physical characteristic and function of the Sign and its significance in practical use. Peirce stated that all nine types of Sign would be generated if each structure of Sign in combined with three categories of Sign such as Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness. In this study, based on Peirce's nine types of Sign, the interrelationship between space and furniture in interior design was investigated with examples in Living Space, Office Space, and Commercial Space, respectively. In the category of Representamen, which can be classified into Qualisign, Sinsign, and Legisign, it is a feature of Living Space to be expressed in harmonized and stabilized ways. In Office Space vertical/horizontal elements and open expression are differently showed depending on fields. And splendid and interesting expressions are showed in Commercial Space. In the category of Object, which can be classified into Icon, Index, and Symbol, each function of Sign has distinctly been showed as Symbol in Living Space, Index in Office Space, and Icon in Commercial Space, respectively. In the category of Interpretant, which can be classified into Rheme, Dicisign, and Argument, it was found that space image of Living Space is transferred to human being, Office Space regulates human bing, and Commercial Space binds human being with the space. In conclusion the function of the interior space and the furniture could be explained in another way with re-interpretation of interrelationship among interior space elements in the concept of Semiotics. It is expected that interpretation with Semiotics in interior design will grow to new theory of design.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2020

Drought is one of the most influential disasters in sustainable agriculture and food security of nations. In order to preemptively respond to agricultural droughts, vulnerability assessments were conducted to predict the possibility of drought in the region, the degree of direct or indirect damage, and the ability to cope with the damage. Information on agricultural drought vulnerability status of different regions is extremely useful for implementation of long term drought management measures. The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a quantitative approach for measuring agricultural drought vulnerability at sub-district level based on agricultural water and reservoirs. To assess the vulnerability in a quantitative manner and also to deal with different physical and socioeconomic data on the occurrence of agricultural drought, we selected the appropriate factors for the assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability through preceding studies, and analyzed the meteorological and agricultural reservoir data from 2015 to 2018. Each item was weighted using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis and evaluated through the agricultural drought vulnerability estimation. The entire national vulnerability assessments showed that Ganghwa, Naju, and Damyang were the most vulnerable to agricultural droughts. As a result of analyzing spatial expression, Gyeongsang-do is relatively more vulnerable to drought than Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do. The results revealed that the methodology and evaluation items achieved good performance in drought response. In addition, vulnerability assessments based on agricultural reservoir are expected to contribute supporting effective drought decisions in the field of agricultural water management.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.162-175
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to deal with practical investigation, which blends symbolism on spatio-temporal level-especially typography in three-dimensional environment-and the symbolism of written language in the context of visual communication. Up until now, typography research and education have mainly been centered on two-dimensional environment and printing technology, such as the paper. However, this study is the result of this researcher's direct design and implementation of projects on typography aside from paper. Accordingly, this study is to provide an opportunity to raise the level of reason and expression used in visual communication to a new level and to expand its scope. To ensure the efficient progress of the project, this study was to identify the structure, system, and process of communication first. Furthermore, this study was to investigate two-dimensional and three-dimensional typography as the backbone of visual communication. In addition, several representative 3D typography works are analyzed in context and used as the conceptual framework of the project conducted for this study. Based on these results, this research verifies and suggests the possibility practically and objectively by creating the project series entitled Rhetorical Space in 3D typography. In addition, this research gives an opportunity to visualize ideas aimed at the development of character-based visual language and visual communication design in the realm of the more spatial, physical, and three-dimensional public environment.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.685-692
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• 2017

Mitochondrial biogenesis-a process that leads to an increment in the number and density of mitochondria, improves physical performance and body health by enhancing exercise capacity. In the present study, we investigated the stimulatory effect of Ashitaba and red ginseng complex (ARC) on exercise capacity in L6 skeletal muscle cells and mice. In L6 skeletal muscle cells, ARC increased the mitochondrial contents and ATP production by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-$1{\alpha}$) and up-regulating the mRNA expression of nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF-1) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM). In the animal experiments, mice treated with ARC showed an increment in exercise capacity as compared with mice treated with Ashitaba extract or red ginseng extract alone. These studies indicate that ARC might serve as a potential natural candidate for enhancing exercise capacity by stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1386-1392
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• 2008

A gene (sll0158) putatively encoding a glycogen branching enzyme (GBE, E.C. 2.4.1.18) was cloned from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, and the recombinant protein expressed and characterized. The PCR-amplified putative GBE gene was ligated into a pET-21a plasmid vector harboring a T7 promoter, and the recombinant DNA transformed into a host cell, E. coli BL21(DE3). The IPTG-induced enzymes were then extracted and purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The putative GBE gene was found to be composed of 2,310 nucleotides and encoded 770 amino acids, corresponding to approx. 90.7 kDa, as confirmed by SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF-MS analyses. The optimal conditions for GBE activity were investigated by measuring the absorbance change in iodine affinity, and shown to be pH 8.0 and $30^{\circ}C$ in a 50 mM glycine-NaOH buffer. The action pattern of the GBE on amylose, an $\alpha$-(1,4)-linked linear glucan, was analyzed using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) after isoamylolysis. As a result, the GBE displayed $\alpha$-glucosyl transferring activity by cleaving the $\alpha$-(1,4)-linkages and transferring the cleaved maltoglycosyl moiety to form new $\alpha$-(1,6)-branch linkages. A time-course study of the GBE reaction was carried out with biosynthetic amylose (BSAM; $M_p{\cong}$8,000), and the changes in the branch-chain length distribution were evaluated. When increasing the reaction time up to 48 h, the weight- and number-average DP ($DP_w$ and $DP_n$) decreased from 19.6 to 8.7 and from 17.6 to 7.8, respectively. The molecular size ($M_p$, peak $M_w{\cong}2.45-2.75{\times}10^5$) of the GBE-reacted product from BSAM reached the size of amylose (AM) in botanical starch, yet the product was highly soluble and stable in water, unlike AM molecules. Thus, GBE-generated products can provide new food and non-food applications, owing to their unique physical properties.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 1994

The authors investigated the relationship between the response to the external stimulation and ability of verbal behavior in the patients with somatoform disorder who have pain. The subjects consisted of 34 patients(male 10, female 24) and 37 normal controls(male 19, female 18). Pressure pain thesholds were measured by algometer and alexithymia was assessed by Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS). Somatization Scale of SCL-90R and Parental Bonding Instrument were also used. It was shown that 82.4% of the patients had chronic somatic complaints. The mean values of TAS, degree of somatic symptoms and pressure pain thresholds were significantly higher in the patient group than in the normal controls. 44.1% of the patients was considered alexithymia group and there was no correlation between scores of alexithymia and value of pressure pain thresholds. In conclusion, the patients with somatoform disorder who had pain were dull in pain perception to external physical stimulation. This result suggested that their low perception of pain could be closely related with chronicity of illness. And the Poverty of verbal expression of inner emotion was suggested to be one of the factors affecting somatization and difficulty in psychotherapy.