• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1316-1320
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• 2018

The effects of a green tea extract (GTE) were examined using the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. Cell viability assays using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays revealed that GTE had a significant cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 cells, depending on the concentration of GTE. Western blotting of p53 and its related proteins, p21/cip1 and CDK2, after GTE treatment revealed that a significant and concentration dependent increase in p53 protein in response to GTE. The levels of p21/cip1 proteins were also increased at low GTE concentrations were significantly increased even at the highest GTE concentrations. However, the level of CDK2 was significantly decreased by treatment with high concentrations of GTE. These results indicate that treatment with GTE increased the p53 level in MCF-7 cells, and this activation of p53 markedly elevated the levels of p21/cip1proteins, which, in turn, inhibited CDK2 expression in the MCF-7 cells. The inhibition of CDK2 expression might then affect cell cycle progression. Subsequent FACS analysis indicated that GTE treatment the gradually increased progression of the MCF-7 to the G1 phase. These results clearly demonstrate that the anti-tumor effect of GTE in MCF-7 cells is regulated by p53 arrest of the MCF-7 cells at the G1 stage of cell cycle.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to explore learning progressions for global warming at middle school level. For this purpose, we conducted a construct modeling approach that specifies constructs, item designs, outcome spaces, and measurement model steps from April to October, 2021. In order to develop student assessment items, we analyzed the 2015 revised curriculum and textbooks of middle school and categorized a concept hierarchy for each construct to create a construct map. The assessment items were developed into multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions according to the selected constructs to strengthen the linkage between the constructs and the items. Based on the three-step grading criteria for each item, an online assessment of 21 minor items developed for middle school students show that many students met 'high' level, but none met 'low' level. In this manner, the initial set lower anchor was reset to level 0, the original set upper anchor was lowered from level 4 to level 3, and the hypothetical learning progression for global warming was presented in the following order: phenomenal, conceptual, and mechanical understandings. The results of the research have raised implications for reorganizing the next science curriculum and improving the assessment system.

• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.10-14
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• 2019

Purpose: To find progression and prognosis of pancreatitis developed in massive burn patients through retrospective analysis. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 32 patients with abnormal increase of serum lipase level among 2523 acute burn patients admitted to our burn center from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. Pancreatitis in this study was defined as a serum lipase concentration level that is higher than 180 IU/L which is three times more than the normal level (less than 60 IU/L). In this study, a retrospective analysis was performed on patients with serum lipase level higher than 300 IU/L to better understand causality of burns and pancreatitis. Results: 32 patients (1.27%) had serum lipase level higher than 180 IU/L among 2523 acute burn subjects. And 13 patients (0.52%) of these 32 patients had serum lipase level elevated more than 300 IU/L. The study indicated serum lipase level was increased around 7 days after the injury. It returned to normal level early as after 1 to 2 weeks and late as after 4 to 6 weeks of injury. The serum amylase level was increased as similar modality as to the serum lipase level increase. The serum bilirubin, AST, ALT, LD, and GGT were also observed to be elevated when serum lipase was more than 1000 IU/L. Conclusion: The pancreatitis developed in burn patients are mostly as mild symptom. It could due to the ischemic injury and can easily be treated by a temporary fasting, TPN, and Gabexate intravenous injection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8075-8081
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• 2014

Background: The classical inflammatory biomarker, C-reactive protein (CRP), has been identified to be related to progression of esophageal cancer. Some research showed that elevated pretreatment serum CRP indicated a poor prognosis, but results have been inconsistent. Materials and Methods: We searched the Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Central Search Library for suitable studies and a meta-analysis of eleven (1,886 patients) was conducted to examine the relationship between elevated serum CRP level and overall survival (OS) in esophageal cancer cases. Moreover, correlation analyses were conducted to assess links between pretreatment serum CRP level and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage as well as T, N, M grade, respectively. Results: The pooled analysis showed that elevated pretreatment serum CRP level was significantly associated with poorer overall survival (HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.52-2.87, p<0.01). Subgroup analyses were conducted by "country", "cut-off value", "treatment" and "number of patients", and no single factor could alter the result. Elevated pretreatment serum CRP was significantly correlated with more advanced TNM stage and T, N, M grade respectively. Conclusions: Elevated pretreatment serum CRP levels are associated with poorer prognosis in esophageal cancer patients, and could serve as a useful biomarker for outcome prediction.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.5-11
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• 2001

Objectives and Importance : The present study investigated the levels of basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF) in the CSF of patients with moyamoya disease and its clinical significance. Methods : The levels of bFGF in CSF, taken from 26 hemispheres of 14 moyamoya patients and 20 patients without vascular anomaly(control group), were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We analyzed the correlation between the level of bFGF and the clinical factors such as age, onset pattern, development of neovascularization, and cerebral circulation. Results : The CSF of moyamoya patients contained a high concentration of bFGF to a significant extent. The bFGF level was apparently elevated in the patients in whom neovascularization from indirect revascularization, such as modified encephalo-duro-arterio-synangiosis(EDAS) was well developed. A linear correlation between the values of bFGF and clinical progression was noted. Conclusions : The elevation of bFGF in moyamoya disease seems to be specific. Clinically, the bFGF level may be considered a useful indicator to predict the efficacy of indirect revascularization.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1975-1979
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• 2013

Aim: To investigate the level of expression of proto-oncogene Wip1 and its physiological significance in colorectal cancer. Methods: Immunohistochemistry, semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blotting were used to analyze Wip1 mRNA and protein expression in 120 cases of colorectal cancer and normal tissues to study relationships with clinical symptoms and disease prognosis. Results: The level of Wip1 protein expression was found to be significantly higher in colorectal cancer tissues (85% (102/120)) than in normal tissues (30% (36/120)) (P<0.05). The relative amount of Wip1 protein in colorectal cancer tissue was also found to be significantly higher (P<0.05) than in normal tissues ($1.060{\pm}0.02$ and $0.640{\pm}0.023$, respectively). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed average Wip1 mRNA expression levels to be $1.113{\pm}0.018$ and $0.658{\pm}0.036$ for colorectal cancer tissue and adjacent normal tissue (P<0.05). The level of Wip1 protein expression was not correlated with age, gender, or tumor site, but appeared linked with lymph node metastasis, Dukes stage, histological grade, and liver metastasis. Individuals with high and low levels of Wip1 expression showed statistically significant differences in the five-year overall survival and recurrence-free survival rates (P<0.05). Conclusion: Wip1 mRNA and protein are highly expressed in colorectal cancers and may be associated with colorectal cancer development and progression.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.375-384
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between drinking patterns and depressive mood, and to understand the factors associated with depressive mood among problem drinkers. Data of 19,878 adults over 19 years of age and older from the third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The risk of depressive mood was greater with higher level of problem drinking in both genders. For male problem drinkers, the factors associated with depressive mood include older age, lower education level, unemployment, high perceived stress, bad subjective health status, and non-married status. For female, higher risk was found in groups with the age of 40-49, lower education level, unemployment, high perceived stress, and bad subjective health status. By early screening of the identified risk factors, progression to mental health problem can be avoided. For preventative measures, differential approach depending on gender is suggested.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.76-85
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between psychosocial factors and symptom experience of patients with cardiovascular disease over a 6-month follow-up period. Method: Baseline data for each of the 138 patients were collected. Eighteen patients were dropped for a final total of 120 patients in the present study. To monitor patients' symptom experience after discharge, each patient was interviewed by telephone, and interviewed directly with a questionnaire at each clinic visit. Results: Mean scores for hostility, anger, anxiety, and depression were 51.63, 22.87, 48.95, and 41.21, respectively. Mean scores for the level of symptom experience at discharge, 3 months and 6 months after discharge were 32.83, 24.79, and 26.70, respectively. There were significant differences in the level of hostility by gender, BMI, job, and monthly income. Also the differences in the level of anxiety and depression were statistically significant according to gender and existence of spouse. In the regression analysis, depression was identified as the significant factor associated with symptom experience at discharge, 3 months, and 6 months after discharge. Conclusion: This study presented baseline data to elucidate whether psychosocial factors were associated with the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, it suggests that nurses need to take into consideration psychosocial factor as well as physiological factor in symptom management for patients with cardiovascular disease.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1333-1344
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• 2012

This study aimed to enhance creative problem solving skill by using the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) learning model which was developed based on creative problem solving approach and five essential features of inquiry. The key strategy of the CPS learning model is using real life problem situations to provide students opportunities to practice creative problem solving skill through 5 learning steps: engaging, problem exploring, solutions creating, plan executing, and concepts examining. The science content used for examining the CPS learning model was "matter and properties of matter" that consists of 3 learning units: Matter, Solution, and Acid-Base Solution. The process to assess the effectiveness of the learning model used the experimental design of the Pretest-Posttest Control-Group Design. Seventh grade-students in the experimental group learned by the CPS learning model. At the same time, students at the same grade level in the control group learned by conventional learning model. The learning models and students' prior knowledge levels were served as the independent variables. The creative problem solving skill was classified in to 4 aspects in: fluency, flexibility, originality, and reasoning. The results indicated that in all aspects, the students' mean scores of creative problem solving between students in experimental group and control group were significantly different at the .05 level. Also, the progression of students' creative problem solving skills was found highly progressed at the later instructional periods. When comparing the creative problem solving scores between groups of students with different levels of prior knowledge, the differences of their creative problem solving scores were founded at .05 level. The findings of this study confirmed that the CPS learning model is effective in enhancing the students' creative problem solving skill.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.991-996
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• 2015

Side population (SP) cells have stem cell-like properties with a capacity for self-renewal and are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Therefore the presence of SP cells in human breast cancer probably has prognostic value. Objective: To investigate the characteristics of SP cells and identify the relationship between the SP cells levels and clinico-pathological parameters of the breast tumor and disease-free survival (DFS) in breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 122 eligible breast cancer patients were consecutively recruited from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 at Yunnan Tumor Hospital. All eligible subjects received conventional treatment and were followed up for seven years. Predictors of recurrence and/or metastasis and DFS were analyzed using Cox regression analysis. Human breast cancer cells were also obtained from fresh human breast cancer tissue and cultured by the nucleic acid dye Hoechst33342 with Verapami. Flow cytometry (FCM) was employed to isolate the cells of SP and non-SP types. Results: In this study, SP cells were identified using flow cytometric analysis with Hoechst 33342 dye efflux. Adjusted for age, tumor size, lymph nodal status, histological grade, the Cox model showed a higher risk of recurrence and/or metastasis positively associated with the SP cell level (1.75, 1.02-2.98), as well as with axillary lymph node metastasis (2.99, 1.76-5.09), pathology invasiveness type (1.7, 1.14-2.55), and tumor volume doubling time (TVDT) (1.54, 1.01-2.36). Conclusions: The SP cell level is independently associated with tumor progression and clinical outcome after controlling for other pathological factors. The axillary lymph node status, TVDT and the status of non-invasive or invasive tumor independently predict the prognosis of breast cancer.