• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.159-170
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• 2020

Despite evidence that early childhood teachers play a critical role in guiding children through their child assessment, most beginning teachers in the survival stage face the greatest difficulties in this area. Using the intentional and purposeful tools of action research, this collaborative action study supports a beginning teacher in reflecting upon her perceptions of the 'child assessment' of young children and devising and evaluating good guidance practices. During the course of the study, the participating teacher became engaged in more reflective teaching which prompted her to perceive the "child assessment" of the children from different perspectives. As her understanding of the importance of making her curriculum and classroom climate more engaging and meaningful deepened and she reconceptualized her notion of child assessment, the teacher witnessed positive changes in her students' behaviors which, in turn, increased her sense of efficacy. These very positive, empowering results are strong recommendation for using collaborative action research especially in the novice years of teaching for it provides the teacher with a life-long transformative tool for professional development.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.547-552
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• 2022

Sorafenib, originally identified as an inhibitor of multiple oncogenic kinases, induces ferroptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Several pathways that mitigate sorafenib-induced ferroptosis confer drug resistance; thus strategies that enhance ferroptosis increase sorafenib efficacy. Orphan nuclear receptor estrogen-related receptor γ (ERRγ) is upregulated in human HCC tissues and plays a role in cancer cell proliferation. The aim of this study was to determine whether inhibition of ERRγ with DN200434, an orally available inverse agonist, can overcome resistance to sorafenib through induction of ferroptosis. Sorafenib-resistant HCC cells were less sensitive to sorafenibinduced ferroptosis and showed significantly higher ERRγ levels than sorafenib-sensitive HCC cells. DN200434 induced lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis in sorafenib-resistant HCC cells. Mechanistically, DN200434 increased mitochondrial ROS generation by reducing glutathione/glutathione disulfide levels, which subsequently reduced mTOR activity and GPX4 levels. DN200434 induced amplification of the antitumor effects of sorafenib was confirmed in a tumor xenograft model. The present results indicate that DN200434 may be a novel therapeutic strategy to re-sensitize HCC cells to sorafenib.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.51-58
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• 2014

Objectives : In order to investigate the efficacy of BJBB on atopic dermatitis, various anti-inflammatory factors were studied. Methods : In-vitro, inflammatory mediators, such as MTT and nitric oxide were detected after the addition of LPS with or without BJBB in Raw 264.7 cells. In-vivo, in order to verify the effectiveness of BJBB in atopic dermatitis animal model, its role in inflammation factors and histological changes were observed in NC/Nga mice. Results : BJBB showed cell viability of 100% or higher in all concentration in Raw 264.7 cells. BJBB inhibited LPS-induced productions of inflammatory mediators nitric oxide in RAW 264.7cells. BJBB treated group showed significant decrease in the expression of IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-a by 40%, 80% and 44% respectively. Also the group showed decrease in the transcription of IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-a mRNA in spleen by 41%, 93% and 39% respectively. BJBB treated group showed significant decrease in WBC, neutrophil, lympocyte and monocytes immune cell ratio in blood by 54%, 63%, 57% and 86% respectively. BJBB treated group showed decrease in the expression of IgG by 39% respectively. Also, infiltration of adipocytes into skin was suppressed and the thickness of epidermis and dermis were relatively decreased in the BJBB treated group. Conclusion : BJBB has an anti-inflammatory effects in NC/Nga mouse. Thus, these results suggested a beneficial effect of BJBB in treatment with Atopic dermatitis and inflammatory.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2014

Objectives : In this study, we investigated Hyangyak in "Single-medicine prescription treatment of domestic herbs" of "Kwangjebikeup" and then conducted further studies focusing on ginseng as it is written in "Single-medicine prescription treatment of domestic herbs". Methods : Through a study of classical literature on Hyangyak and ginseng, information regarding the two was gathered and analyzed, with respect to both time and region. Results : All of the herbs in "Single-medicine prescription treatment of domestic herbs", the 4th volume of "Kwangjebikeup", are domestic herbs. Ginseng was a part of the flora of the Korean Peninsula from long ago and ginseng was cultivated from most of the peninsula. We confirmed cultivation of ginseng in Sungcheon, Pyungan-do and most areas of Hamgyeong-do through geography books such as "Geography Monograph of King Sejong". Because the natural environmental condition of the Korean Peninsula was conducive to growing wild ginseng, it was possible to cultivate ginseng. In the late Chosun period, cultivated ginseng was so prevalent that people would have been able to collect and use ginseng without great difficulty. In "Kwangjebikeup", ginseng shows superior efficacy in terms of first-aid. "Kwangjebikeup" contains practical herbal medicines that were based on obtainable ingredients. Conclusions : The purpose of publication of this book was to make medical knowledge available to general public in an easy-to-understand form. And through added clinical experiences of the author, we know that "Kwangjebikeup" played a role in settlement and spreading of foreign knowledge to civilians.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.237-250
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• 2022

Structural health monitoring (SHM) plays an important role in ensuring the safety and functionality of critical civil infrastructure. In recent years, numerous researchers have conducted studies to develop computer vision and machine learning techniques for SHM purposes, offering the potential to reduce the laborious nature and improve the effectiveness of field inspections. However, high-quality vision data from various types of damaged structures is relatively difficult to obtain, because of the rare occurrence of damaged structures. The lack of data is particularly acute for fatigue crack in steel bridge girder. As a result, the lack of data for training purposes is one of the main issues that hinders wider application of these powerful techniques for SHM. To address this problem, the use of synthetic data is proposed in this article to augment real-world datasets used for training neural networks that can identify fatigue cracks in steel structures. First, random textures representing the surface of steel structures with fatigue cracks are created and mapped onto a 3D graphics model. Subsequently, this model is used to generate synthetic images for various lighting conditions and camera angles. A fully convolutional network is then trained for two cases: (1) using only real-word data, and (2) using both synthetic and real-word data. By employing synthetic data augmentation in the training process, the crack identification performance of the neural network for the test dataset is seen to improve from 35% to 40% and 49% to 62% for intersection over union (IoU) and precision, respectively, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed approach.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2023

Carboplatin, an advanced anticancer drug with excellent efficacy against ovarian cancer, was developed to alleviate the side effects that often occur with cisplatin and other platinum-based compounds. Our study reports the in vitro characteristics, viability, and activity of cells expressing the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene after carboplatin was conjugated with polysuccinimide (PSI) and administered in combination with other widely used anticancer drugs. PSI, which has promising properties as a drug delivery material, could provide a platform for prolonging carboplatin release, regulating its dosage, and improving its side effects. The iNOS gene has been shown to play an important role in both cancer cell survival and inhibition. Herein, we synthesized a PSI-carboplatin conjugate to create a modified anticancer agent and confirmed its successful conjugation. To ensure its solubility in water, we further modified the structure of the PSI-carboplatin conjugate with 2-aminoethanol groups. To validate its biological characteristics, the ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 and normal ovarian Chinese hamster ovary cells were treated with the PSI-carboplatin conjugate alone and in combination with paclitaxel and topotecan, both of which are used in conventional chemotherapy. Notably, PSI-carboplatin conjugation can be used to predict changes in the genes involved in cancer growth and inhibition. In conclusion, combination treatment with the newly synthesized polymer-carboplatin conjugate and paclitaxel displayed anticancer activity against ovarian cancer cells but was not toxic to normal ovarian cancer cells, resulting in the development of an effective candidate anticancer drug without severe side effects.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.288-302
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• 2022

Objective: Community pharmacists are frontline health care providers, but have been considered as underutilized professionals on a daily basis. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community pharmacy services and to evaluate new services that could be applicable. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies published up to January 10, 2020. Search terms consisted of keywords relevant to this review, including "COVID-19", "community pharmacy", and "community pharmacist". This review targeted studies of pharmacist services provided by community pharmacies in OECD member countries during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Results: Twenty-seven studies were included in this review. Changes in community pharmacist services due to the COVID-19 pandemic were broadly classified into four categories. First, as the face-to-face services became challenging, various non-face-to-face services were being tried. Second, community pharmacists directly participated in the services to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Third, community pharmacists made efforts to support continuity of care for patients who experienced difficulties due to the reduced professional care as health and medical resources are concentrated in response to COVID-19. Fourth, community pharmacist services were emerging, targeting patients suffering from greater health inequality during the pandemic. Patients expressed high demand and satisfaction for the service of the community pharmacist, and pharmacists reported self-efficacy and professional pride. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, various community pharmacist services have been tried and received positive evaluations from patients in several OECD countries.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.401-407
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• 2022

Antimalarial drugs play an important role in the control and treatment of malaria, a deadly disease caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium spp. The development of novel antimalarial agents effective against drug-resistant malarial parasites is urgently needed. The novel derivatives, SKM13-MeO and SKM13-F, were designed based on an SKM13 template by replacing the phenyl group with electron-donating (-OMe) or electron-withdrawing groups (-F), respectively, to reverse the electron density. A colorimetric assay was used to quantify cytotoxicity, and in vitro inhibition assays were performed on 3 different blood stages (ring, trophozoite, and schizonts) of P. falciparum 3D7 and the ring/mixed stage of D6 strain after synchronization. The in vitro cytotoxicity analysis showed that 2 new SKM13 derivatives reduced the cytotoxicity of the SKM13 template. SKM13 maintained the IC₅₀ at the ring and trophozoite stages but not at the schizont stage. The IC₅₀ values for both the trophozoite stage of P. falciparum 3D7 and ring/mixed stages of D6 demonstrated that 2 SKM13 derivatives had decreased antimalarial efficacy, particularly for the SKM13-F derivative. SKM13 may be comparably effective in ring and trophozoite, and electron-donating groups (-OMe) may be better maintain the antimalarial activity than electron-withdrawing groups (-F) in SKM13 modification.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.277-296
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• 2023

The South Korean ethnic diaspora US lobby shows efficacy as an interest group in generating influence in American foreign and domestic public policy making. The persuasive portrayal of South Korea as a critical Cold War US ally reinforced US amenability to pro-South Korea lobbying. Also, the South Korean US diaspora is a comparatively recent immigrant group, thus its lingering resistance to assimilation facilitates its political mobilization to lobby the US government. One source of this influence includes the foundational legacy of proselytizing Western and particularly American religious social movement representatives in Korean religiosity and society. US protestant Christianity acquired a strong public association with emerging Korean nationalism in response to Japanese imperialism and occupation. Hostility towards Japanese colonialism followed by the threat from Soviet-sponsored, North Korean Communism meant Christianity did not readily become a cultural symbol of excessive external, US interference in South Korean society by South Korean public opinion. The post-Cold War shift in US foreign policy towards targeting so-called rogue state vestiges of the Cold War including North Korea enhanced further South Korea's influence in Washington. Due to essential differences in the perceived historical role of American influence, extrapolation of the South Korean development model is problematic. US hegemony in South Korea indicates that perceived alliance with national self-determination constitutes the core of soft power appeal. Civilizational appeal per se in the form of religious beliefs are not critically significant in promoting American polity influence in target polities in South Korea or, comparatively, in the Middle East. The United States is a perceived opponent of pan-Arab nationalism which has trended towards populist Islamic religious symbolism with the failure of secular nationalism. The pronounced component of evangelical Christianity in American core community nationalism which the Trump campaign exploited is a reflection of this orientation in the US.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.425-440
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• 2023

Monitoring water surface has become one of the most prominent areas of research in addressing environmental challenges.Accurate and automated detection of watersurface in remote sensing imagesis crucial for disaster prevention, urban planning, and water resource management, particularly for a country where water plays a vital role in human life. However, achieving precise detection poses challenges. Previous studies have explored different approaches,such as analyzing water indexes, like normalized difference water index (NDWI) derived from satellite imagery's visible or infrared bands and using k-means clustering analysis to identify land cover patterns and segment regions based on similar attributes. Nonetheless, challenges persist, notably distinguishing between waterspectralsignatures and cloud shadow or terrain shadow. In thisstudy, our objective is to enhance the precision of water surface detection by constructing a comprehensive water database (DB) using existing digital and land cover maps. This database serves as an initial assumption for automated water index analysis. We utilized 1:5,000 and 1:25,000 digital maps of Korea to extract water surface, specifically rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Additionally, the 1:50,000 and 1:5,000 land cover maps of Korea aided in the extraction process. Our research demonstrates the effectiveness of utilizing a water DB product as our first approach for efficient water surface extraction from satellite images, complemented by our second and third approachesinvolving NDWI analysis and k-means analysis. The image segmentation and binary mask methods were employed for image analysis during the water extraction process. To evaluate the accuracy of our approach, we conducted two assessments using reference and ground truth data that we made during this research. Visual interpretation involved comparing our results with the global surface water (GSW) mask 60 m resolution, revealing significant improvements in quality and resolution. Additionally, accuracy assessment measures, including an overall accuracy of 90% and kappa values exceeding 0.8, further support the efficacy of our methodology. In conclusion, thisstudy'sresults demonstrate enhanced extraction quality and resolution. Through comprehensive assessment, our approach proves effective in achieving high accuracy in delineating watersurfaces from satellite images.