• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.163-172
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• 2004

Mast cells (MCs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of tissue fibrosis. However, the role of MC in the development of liver fibrosis has not been fully elucidated. Stem cell factor (SCF) is known to recruit MCs to the liver following injury as it induces mast cell proliferation, survival and differentiation from resident tissue precursors. This study examines the interaction between activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and MCs in rat fibrotic liver, and SCF production by HSCs during culture in vitro. Rats were studied 4, 7, 14 and 21 days after bile duct ligation (BDL). Fibrogenesis was assessed by a measurement of collagen stained with sirius red F3B. Activated HSCs and MCs were identified by ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin (${\alpha}-SMA$) immunohistochemical and alcian blue staining and measured by a computerized image analysis system. SCF production was determined in rat HSC cultures using Western blotting. Mild fibrotic changes were noted in BDL rat livers as early as 4 days after induction of cholestasis. Significant expansion and organization of fibrous tissue has occurred in day 14 BDL rats which progressed to bridging fibrosis by day 21. In BDL rats, both a large number of activated HSCs and MCs were detected in portal tracts and fibrous septa. Both area of activated HSCs infiltration and density of MCs were significantly higher in all BDL group compared with Shams. In BDL rats, both areas of activated HSCs infiltration and density of MCs were no significant difference between day 4 and 7 and were significantly higher in day 14. However, the areas of activated HSCs infiltration were significantly lesser in day 21 and the densities of MCs were significantly higher in day 21 compared with day14 BDL. In BDL rats, both areas of activated HSCs infiltration and density of MCs were highly correlated with areas of fibrosis. Western blotting showed that SCF protein was consistently produced in activated HSCs by culture on plastic and freshly isolated HSCs expressed relatively little 30kD SCF compared to late primary culture activated HSCs (day 14) and passaged HSCs. These results suggest that HSCs activated in vitro produce SCF, and may play an important role in recruiting mast cells to the liver during injury and fibrosis.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.7-16
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• 2020

Purpose: This study explores how demographic transitions with workforce implications taking place in South Korea are affecting the job market, and proposes a novel conceptual model to analyze the increased role that migrant workers will play as the changes progress in the medium term. Research design, data and methodology: A qualitative approach based on the available published data is used in order to create a conceptual model that could be used to determine the order in which job sector strata will be gradually taken over by migrant workers, as the demographic transitions will create an increasing need for workforce reforms. Results: The study determines that migrant workers will replace domestic Korean workers in a stratified manner, initially in rural areas, followed by regional cities and then in the industrial areas on the edges of big cities, and the strata can be analyzed based on a proposed four-category model to determine where the opportunities will open. Conclusion: It is possible to use a conceptual model for this phenomenon. Extensive Government planning is needed to avoid possible social exclusion problems and to determine how to keep the economies of rural and regional Korean cities economically viable while they are becoming increasingly depopulated.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.101-112
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• 1999

Structural walls have been mostly used for the design of reinforced concrete buildings in seismic areas because they play a role as an efficient bracing system and offer great potential for lateral load resistance and drift control. The lateral resistance system for the earthquake load should be designed to have enough ductility and stable hysteretic response in the critical regions where plastic deformation occurred beyond yielding. The behavior of the reinforced concrete element to experience large deformation in the critical areas by a major earthquake is affected by the performance of the confined core concrete. Thus, the confinement of concrete by suitable arrangements of transverse reinforcement results in a significant increase in both the strength and ductility of compressed concrete. This paper reports the experimental results of reinforced concrete structural walls for wall-type apartment structure under axial loads and cyclic reversal of lateral loads with different confinement of the boundary elements. The results show that confinement of the boundary element by open 'U'-bar and cross tie is effective. The shear strength capacity is not increased by the confinement but deformation capacity is improve.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.249-261
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• 1998

During the past decade or so in Korea, 119 relief squad members were supposed to respord first urgent or emergency cases. The primary purpose of this study was to assess what levels of knowledge and techniques in prehospital care the 119 relief squad members showed. Data regarding the knowledge and technique levels were collected from both the 119 relief squad members (n=63) and the emergency room nurses(n=46). The Results indicated that the 119 relief squad when compared to emergency nurses, showed higher scores for knowledge and techniques in some areas of prehospital care but not in other areas, However, no differences in knowledge and technique were found when the ANOVAs were calculated with two covariates : duration of their career in emergency medical services and frequency of their exposure to lectures on emergency medical technology. In addition, many respondents in the 119 relief squad group rated themselves poorly in knowledge and techniques of prehospital care, The findings imply that qualitatively better curricula should be given to the 119 relief squad members before they are allowed to play an important role in the emergency medical service system. These findings are also discussed in the context of improving the emergency medical service system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.229-248
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• 2010

Research has taken priority of many activities in universities and it has eventually brought the heat on research support services of libraries to meet high expectation of university researchers. To identify the major content areas and service methods of research guides serviced through digital libraries of universities, this study investigated research guides of 60 university libraries in North America and Korea. As a result, 13 categories for research guide contents were identified and 5 crucial areas for the contents development were suggested. It also analyzed providing methods of online research guides and communicating methods between librarians and users. Librarians were identified as the prime human resource to develope and manage research guides, which will play an important role in expanding diversity of librarians' roles in the future.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.134-137
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• 2018

Background: In a previous study undertaken to quantify capsular volume in rotator cuff interval or axillary pouch, significant differences were found between controls and patients with instability. However, the results obtained were derived from two-dimensional cross sectional areas. In our study, we sought correlation between three-dimensional (3D) capsular volumes, as measured by magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA), and multidirectional instability (MDI) of the shoulder. Methods: The MRAs of 21 patients with MDI of the shoulder and 16 control cases with no instability were retrospectively reviewed. Capsular areas determined by MRA were translated into 3D volumes using 3D software Mimics ver. 16 (Materilise, Leuven, Belgium), and glenoid surface area was measured in axial and coronal MRA views. Then, the ratio between capsular volume and glenoid surface area was calculated, and evaluated with control group. Results: The ratio between 3D capsular volume and glenoid surface area was significantly increased in the MDI group ($3.59{\pm}0.83cm^3/cm^2$) compared to the control group ($2.53{\pm}0.62cm^3/cm^2$) (p<0.01). Conclusions: From these results, we could support that capsular volume enlargement play an important role in MDI of the shoulder using volume measurement.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.9-10
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• 2005

We report on the fabrication and characterization of self- and artificially-controlled ZnO nanostructures have been investigated to establish nanostructure blocks for ZnO-based nanoscale device application. Systematic realization of self- and artificially-controlled ZnO nanostructures on $SiO_2/Si$ substrates was proposed and successfully demonstrated utilizing metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in addition with a focused ion beam (FIB) technique. Widely well-aligned two-dimensional ZnO nanodot arrays ($4{\sim}10^4$ nanodots of 130-nm diameter and 9-nm height over $150{\sim}150{\mu}m^2$ with a period of 750 nm) have been realized by MOCVD on $SiO_2/Si$ substrates patterned by FIB. A low-magnification FIB nanopatterning mode allowed the periodical nanopatterning of the substrates over a large area in a short processing time. Ga atoms incorporated into the surface areas of FIB-patterned nanoholes during FIB engraving were found to play an important role in the artificial control of ZnO, resulting in the production of ZnO nanodot arrays on the FIB-nanopatterned areas. The nanodots evolved into dot clusters and rods with increasing MOCVD growth time.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 1999

Plagiorchis muris has been found in both been found in both house and field rats as well as in humans. The infection status of th second intermediate hosts of P.muris is prerequisite in understanding their biological features in an ecosystem. Six species of dragonflies were caught in a wide range of areas in Korea;and they were Sympertrum darwinianum, S.eroticum, S. pedomontanum, S. infuscatum, Pantala flavoscens, Caloteryx atrata, and Othertrum albistylum speciosum. The occurrence of P. muris metacercariae in dragonflies was nationwide with various infection rates. The metacercarial burden of P. muris in the surveyed areas was the highest in S. eroticum followed by S. darwinianum, S. pedomontanum, and C. atrata. The highest infection rate by P. muris metacercariae was found in S. darwinianum followed by S. eroticum. The metacercarial buredn was particularly heavy in the dragonflies found in Hamyang-gun and Kosong-gun, Kyongsangnam-do. It is, therefore, likely that dragonflies play a significant role as the second intermediate hose in the life cycle of P. muris in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.47-58
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• 2004

Steel Pipelines were located in hillside and mountain areas where landslides occurred during the Northridge earthquake. This paper describes the investigations that were performed to identify and locate the different types of steel pipeline construction in the system using GIS (Geographical Information System). The paper explores the damage correlations of steel pipelines with PGV (peak ground velocity) and investigates the areas subjected to the landslide effects during the Northridge earthquake. One noticeable finding is that the repair rates for steel distribution pipelines after the Northridge earthquake are higher than those of CI (cast iron) pipelines. The relatively high susceptibility of steel piping to damage during the Northridge earthquake may be explained in part by utility practices, such as using steel pipe for the highest internal pressures, and increased susceptibility to corrosion also appears to play a role in steel pipeline performance.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2001

This study analyzes time variability of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the leaf area index (LAI) and surface temperature (Ts) estimated from AVHRR data collected from across the Korean peninsula from 1981 to 1994. In the present study, LAI defined as vegetation density, as a function of NDVI applied for the vegetation types and Ts defined by the split-window formulation of Becker and Li (1990) with emissivity of a function of NDVI, are used. Results of the inter-annual, intra-annual and intra-seasonal variabilities in Korea show: (1) Inter-annual variability of NDVI is generally larger in the southem and eastern parts of the peninsula than in the western part. This large variability results from the significant mean variation. (2) Inter-annual variability of Ts is larger in the areas of smaller NDVI. This result shows that the NDVI play a small role in emissivity. (3) Inter-annual variability of LAI is larger in the regions of higher elevation and urban areas. Changes in LAI are unlikely to be associated with NDVI changes. (4) Changes in NDVI and Ts are likely dominant in July and are relatively small in spring and fall. (5) Urban effect would be obvious on the time-varying properties of NDVI and Ts in Seoul and the northern part of Taejon, where NDVI decreases and Ts increases with a significant magnitude.