• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.488-499
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• 2010

Objective : This study was designed to investigate the correlation between Qi movement stagnation condition, stress level and xerostomia in halitosis patients. Methods : Ninety-nine halitosis patients visiting the Halitosis Clinic in the hospital of Oriental medicine, Kyung Hee University from January, 2010 to May, 2010 were recruited. The subjects were assessed on their stress levels(based on the Stress Response Inventory), xerostomia symptoms(based on the 8-item Visual Analogue Scale xerostomia questionnaire), and Qi movement stagnation(氣鬱) condition(one of the subcategories in the Qi, blood and water pattern identification(氣血水辨證)). Salivary functions were evaluated using the unstimulated whole salivary flow rate measurements. Results : Compared to the non-Qi movement stagnation group(Qi movement stagnation pattern identification score < 30), the confirmed Qi movement stagnation group(Qi movement stagnation pattern identification score $\geqq$ 30) showed higher levels of xerostomia and stress. In the regression analysis, the Qi movement stagnation condition and stress levels showed a significant correlation. Furthermore, the Qi movement stagnation condition and stress levels each displayed significant correlations with xerostomia. Conclusions : The results of this study suggest that stress and Qi movement stagnation condition contribute to xerostomia symptoms in halitosis patients. Considering the correlation found between the Qi movement stagnation and stress, this study suggests a novel methodology in treating xerostomia, halitosis, and other stress-related disorders through the Qi movement stagnation-related approach.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.692-700
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• 2014

In this work, satellite FE (finite element) model updating for the prediction of the effect of micro-vibration is described. In the case of satellites launched in low earth orbit, high agility and more mission accomplishments are required by the customer in order to procure many images from satellites. To achieve the goal, many mechanisms, including high capacity wheels and antennas with multi-axis gimbals have been widely adopted, but they become a source of micro-vibration which could significantly deteriorate the quality of images. To investigate the effect due to the micro-vibration in orbit on the ground, a prediction is conducted through an integrated model coupling the measured jitter sources with FE (finite element) model. Before prediction, the FE model is updated to match simulation results with the modal survey test. Subsequently, the quality of FE model is evaluated in terms of frequency deviation error, the resemblance of mode shapes and FRFs (frequency response functions) between test and analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2011

The underlying principle of environmental conservation and restoration is to receive continuous services from nature. In this context, the basic objective of oil spill response and recovery activities is to allow affected residents to retain sustainability of their daily livelihood and productive environment. Hence, monitoring the status of socio-economic impact and the extent of restoration is an important parameter in the restoration effort to repair the damaged functions of environmental services with oil spill accident. However, assessment of socio-economic impact poses investigators with much difficulties in selecting the most appropriate approaches because the process often involves various stakeholders, directly and indirectly. Moreover, the analyses and interpretation of the results also pose a great challenge. The present study monitored fisheries and tourism numbers which were considered as major local socio-economic indicators of living and production environment affected by M/T Hebei Spirit oil-spill accident. This monitoring was conducted by examining the published papers and statistical reports. This was supplemented by surveying how the local residents actually felt about the damage and recovery for the first time in Korea. The results showed that the rate of the recovery was about 40~50 %, and the rate of the recovery seemed to be slowed or decreased. However, what the local residents actually felt was 2~10 points less than the literature surveys and statistical reports. These results suggested limits to using only the literature and statistical surveys for the traditional socio-economic impact assessment. The study also showed the need to include in the impact assessment process what and how the local residents actual feel about the oil spill damage and recovery process.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.339-344
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• 2004

Recent data have shown the importance of oxidative stresses in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. $H_2O_2$, reactive oxygen species (ROS) donor, has been reported to act as a signaling molecule involved in a variety of cellular functions such as apo/ptosis and proliferation. In the present study, we investigated viability of cultured ileal smooth muscle cells (ISMC) after stimulation with $H_2O_2$. Trypan blue method revealed that the cell viability of ISMC treated with 1 mM $H_2O_2$ was not different from that of controls at up to 2 h time point, while treatment of ISMC with 1 mM $H_2O_2$ for 48 h finally induced significant decrease in the cell viability. Therefore, we evaluated whether $H_2O_2$ was capable of ERKs activation in ISMC for the short-term exposure and examined whether tyrosine kinase was involved in the process of ERK activation by $H_2O_2$ in ISMC. We also investigated the effects of $H_2O_2$ on activation of SAPK/JNK and p38 MAP kinase in ISMC. Thus, ISMC were cultured and exposed to $H_2O_2$, and western blot analysis was performed with phosphospecific MAP kinase antibodies. Robust activation of ERK occurred within 30 min of 1 mM $H_2O_2$ treatment. $H_2O_2-induced$ ERK activation was attenuated by a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, indicating that tyrosine kinase was probably involved in the ERK activation by $H_2O_2$. $H_2O_2$ was a moderate activator of SAPK/JNK, while p38 MAP kinase was not activated by $H_2O_2$. We suggest that ERK activation induced by short-term $H_2O_2$ treatment plays a critical role in cellular protection in the early stage of response to oxidative stress. The present study suggests the necessity of identification of MAPK signaling pathways affected by ROS, since it could ultimately elucidate cellular consequences involved in initiation and perpetuation of intestinal tissue damage in the diseases such as crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, resulted from excessive ROS.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2005

It is commonly acknowledged that bone morphogenic protein (BMP-2) functions as a potential osteogenic inducer in bone formation. Recently, several papers reported that bone marrow-derived stem cell (BMSC) from human is not responsive to BMP-2 in comparison to high capacity of BMP-2 in the osteoinduction of stromal cell derived from bone marrow of rodent animals such as rat or mouse. In this study, we characterized BMSC derived from 11 years old donor for the responsiveness to rhBMP-2, dexamethasone (Dex) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D), in order to analyze their function in the early osteogenesis. The effect of over mentioned agents was evaluated by means of assessing alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity/staining, RT-PCR analysis and von Kossa staining. In addition, we analyzed the meaning of expressed several osteoblastic markers such as alkaline phosphatase, collagen typeI, osteopontin, bone sialoprotein and osteocalcin with relation to either differentiation or mineralization. Only in the presence of Dex, human BMSC could commit osteoblastic differentiation and matrix mineralization, and either BMP-2 or vitamin D treatment was not able to induce. But BMP-2 or Vitamin D showed potential synergy effect with Dex. ALP and bone sialoprotein were clearly expressed in response of Dex treatment compared to weak expression of osteopontin in early osteogenesis. Therefore, we expect that this study will contribute partly to elucidiating early osteogenesis mechanism in human, but variations among bone marrow donors must be considered through further study.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.291-297
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• 2018

Vertical farming systems offer many advantages in urban spaces. They have also been proposed as an engineering solution to increase the productivity per unit area of cultivated land by extending crop production in the vertical dimension. However, soil water retention is a major constraint affecting the plant environment. This study analyzed the effects of growth environment of Tropaeolum majus and Fragaria spp., on the vertical farming system, by using four different types of cover material types including sphagnum moss (Control), a shading net (S.N.), multi-layered fabric (M.L.F.), and non-woven fabric (N.W.F.). The volumetric soil moisture contents and plant characteristics were investigated from May to September 2014. Plant materials were individually cultivated in hanging baskets measuring $30{\times}17{\times}17cm$, filled with a mixture of soil and perlite, and placed at 1.5m height. Each treatment was performed in quadruplicate and consisted of five plants, amounting to a total of 20 plants. The analysis indicated that different covers were associated with multiple functions and soil water retention improvements may have a positive impact on the vertical farming system. The difference in soil water retention increased in the following order: M.L.F. > Control > N.W.F. > S.N.. Furthermore, the differences in plant height and survival rate increased in the following order: M.L.F. > Control > N.W.F. > S.N. Therefore, M.L.F yielded satisfactory good response for the vertical farming system of cover materials. Our results clearly demonstrate that vertical spaces represent an attractive alternative to urban farming and suggest that further increases in yield may be achieved via different cover materials in vertical farming using hanging baskets.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.465-471
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• 2013

A steam generator in nuclear power plant is a heatexchager which is used to convert water into steam from heat produced in a nuclear reactor core, and the steam produced in steam generator is delivered to the turbine to generate electricity. Because of damage to steam generator tubing may impair its ability to adequately perform required safety functions in terms of both structural integrity and leakage integrity, eddy current testing is periodically performed to evaluate the integrity of tubes in steam generator. This assessment is normally performed during a reactor refueling outage. Currently, the eddy current testing for steam generator of nuclear power plant in Korea is performed in accordance with KEPIC & ASME Code requirements, the eddy current testing system is consists of remote data acquisition unit and data analysis program to evaluate the acquired data. The KEPIC & ASME Code require that the electrical properties of remote data acquisition unit, such as total harmonic distortion, input & output impedance, amplifier linearity & stability, phase linearity, bandwidth & demodulation filter response, analog-to-digital conversion, and channel crosstalk shall be measured in accordance with the KEPIC & ASME Code requirements. In this paper, the measurement requirements of electrical properties for eddy current testing instrument described in KEPIC & ASME Code are presented, and the measurement results of newly developed eddy current testing instrument by KHNP(Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., LTD) are presented.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.120-122
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• 2007

All living organisms use numerous signal-transduction pathways to sense and respond to their environments and thereby survive and proliferate in a range of biological niches. Molecular dissection of these signalling networks has increased our understanding of these communication processes and provides a platform for therapeutic intervention when these pathways malfunction in disease states, including infection. Owing to the expanding availability of sequenced genomes, a wealth of genetic and molecular tools and the conservation of signalling networks, members of the fungal kingdom serve as excellent model systems for more complex, multicellular organisms. Here, we employed Cryptococcus neoformans as a model system to understand how fungal-signalling circuits operate at the molecular level to sense and respond to a plethora of environmental stresses, including osmoticshock, UV, high temperature, oxidative stress and toxic drugs/metabolites. The stress-activated p38/Hog1 MAPK pathway is structurally conserved in many organisms as diverse as yeast and mammals, but its regulation is uniquely specialized in a majority of clinical Cryptococcus neoformans serotype A and D strains to control differentiation and virulence factor regulation. C. neoformans Hog1 MAPK is controlled by Pbs2 MAPK kinase (MAPKK). The Pbs2-Hog1 MAPK cascade is controlled by the fungal "two-component" system that is composed of a response regulator, Ssk1, and multiple sensor kinases, including two-component.like (Tco) 1 and Tco2. Tco1 and Tco2 play shared and distinct roles in stress responses and drug sensitivity through the Hog1 MAPK system. Furthermore, each sensor kinase mediates unique cellular functions for virulence and morphological differentiation. We also identified and characterized the Ssk2 MAPKKK upstream of the MAPKK Pbs2 and the MAPK Hog1 in C. neoformans. The SSK2 gene was identified as a potential component responsible for differential Hog1 regulation between the serotype D sibling f1 strains B3501 and B3502 through comparative analysis of their meiotic map with the meiotic segregation of Hog1-dependent sensitivity to the fungicide fludioxonil. Ssk2 is the only polymorphic component in the Hog1 MAPK module, including two coding sequence changes between the SSK2 alleles in B3501 and B3502 strains. To further support this finding, the SSK2 allele exchange completely swapped Hog1-related phenotypes between B3501 and B3502 strains. In the serotype A strain H99, disruption of the SSK2 gene dramatically enhanced capsule biosynthesis and mating efficiency, similar to pbs2 and hog1 mutations. Furthermore, ssk2, pbs2, and hog1 mutants are all hypersensitive to a variety of stresses and completely resistant to fludioxonil. Taken together, these findings indicate that Ssk2 is the critical interface protein connecting the two-component system and the Pbs2-Hog1 pathway in C. neoformans.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.213-221
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• 2007

In response to anthropogenic global warming due to a buildup greenhouse gas, the effect of the air temperature on water temperature has been noticed and some efforts have been made to build an air/water temperature relationship at the Masan Bay area by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries (MOMAF). As a result of analyzing the auto- and cross-correlation coefficient between air/water temperature, high correlation $(\sim0.9)$ is shown and the correlation coefficient of air temperature is higher than that of water temperature at the lag time less than approximately 10 days. Separate functions are fitted to the air/water relationship at the Masan Bay to take hysteresis into account. The slopes of the straight line for the rising limb are 0.829 and 0.774 for MA1 and MA2 station respectively, while 1.385 and 1.444 ($\sim1.75$ times larger) for the falling limb. Consequently, the seasonal hysteresis should be considered in order to determine an air/water relationship and accurately estimate the water temperature using the air temperature at Masan Bay.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2214-2223
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• 2016

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) can recognize conserved molecular patterns and initiate a wide range of innate and adaptive immune responses against invading infectious agents. The aim of this study was to assess the transcript profile of mink TLRs (mTLRs) in mink peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and a range of tissues, and to explore the potential role of mTLRs in the antiviral immune response process. The results indicated that the mTLR partial nucleotide sequences had a high degree of nucleotide identity with ferret sequences (95-98%). Phylogenetic analysis showed that mammalian TLRs grouped into five TLR families, with a closer relationship of the mTLRs with those of ferret than the other mammalian sequences. Moreover, all the mTLRs were ubiquitously expressed in lymphoid organs (spleen and lymph nodes) and PBMCs. Interestingly, the mTLR expression patterns in lung, uterus, and heart showed quite a lot of similarity. Another remarkable observation was the wide expression of mTLR1-3 mRNAs in all tissues. Among the analyzed tissues, skeletal muscle was revealed to being the lowest repertoire of mTLR expression. Additionally, mink PBMCs exposed to the canine distemper virus revealed significant upregulation of mTLR2, mTLR4, mTLR7, and mTLR8 mRNAs, indicating that mTLRs have a role in innate immunity in the mink. Collectively, our results are the first to establish the basic expression patterns of mTLRs and the relationship between mTLRs and a virus, which will contribute to better understanding of the evolution and the functions of mTLRs in the innate immune system in minks.