• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.79-89
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• 2012

We examine whether Phellodendron amurense (PA) and its major alkaloid compound, berberine (BER), improved memory defects caused by administering scopolamine in rats. Effects of PA and BER on the acetylcholinergic system and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus were also investigated. Male rats were administered daily doses for 14 days of PA (100 and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) and BER (20 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 min before scopolamine injection (2 mg/kg, i.p.). Daily administration of PA and BER improved memory impairment as measured by the passive avoidance test and reduced the escape latency for finding the platform in the Morris water maze test. Administration of PA and BER significantly alleviated memory-associated decreases in cholinergic immunoreactivity and restored brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cAMP-response element-binding protein mRNA expression in the hippocampus. PA and BER also decreased significantly the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-$1{\beta}$, tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA in the hippocampus. These results demonstrated that PA and BER had significant neuroprotective effects against neuronal impairment and memory dysfunction caused by scopolamine in rats. These results suggest that PA and BER may be useful as therapeutic agents for improving cognitive functioning by stimulating cholinergic enzyme activity and alleviating inflammatory responses.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.100-107
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• 2013

This study examined the effect of fermented ginseng (FG) on memory impairment and ${\beta}$-amyloid ($A{\beta}$) reduction in models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vitro and in vivo. FG extract was prepared by steaming and fermenting ginseng. In vitro assessment measured soluble $A{\beta}42$ levels in HeLa cells, which stably express the Swedish mutant form of amyloid precursor protein. After 8 h incubation with the FG extract, the level of soluble $A{\beta}42$ was reduced. For behavioral assessments, the passive avoidance test was used for the scopolamine-injected ICR mouse model, and the Morris water maze was used for a transgenic (TG) mouse model, which exhibits impaired memory function and increased $A{\beta}42$ level in the brain. FG extract was treated for 2 wk or 4 mo on ICR and TG mice, respectively. FG extract treatment resulted in a significant recovery of memory function in both animal models. Brain soluble $A{\beta}42$ levels measured from the cerebral cortex of TG mice were significantly reduced by the FG extract treatment. These findings suggest that FG extract can protect the brain from increased levels of $A{\beta}42$ protein, which results in enhanced behavioral memory function, thus, suggesting that FG extract may be an effective preventive or treatment for AD.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.54-86
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• 2015

The study examines the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, with a focus on the recent Reauthorization, and compares, in the political context, the U.S. and East Asian countries-Japan, Korea and Taiwan-that adopted the U.S. SBIR program. For the systematic analysis and cross-country comparison, the study employs Kingdon (2003)'s framework-his political theory and Garbage Can Model-to identify political participants and processes underlying the SBIR Reauthorization and to analyze the differences in problem, policy, and politics streams between the U.S. and East Asian countries. For the cross-country comparison, specifically, the study uses various data sources such as OECD, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, and World Value Survey. Based on the analysis outcomes, implications of U.S. practices on East Asian countries are extracted as follows. East Asian countries tend to: Have higher entrepreneurial aspiration while lower entrepreneurial activity and attitude than the U.S.; bear higher long term orientation and uncertainty avoidance while lower individualism than the U.S.; and have greater expectations of technology development and higher confidence in political parties while participating less in political action than the U.S. Drawing on the differences, the following policy recommendations are suggested. East Asian countries should: Improve entrepreneurs' access to resources (in particular, financial resource) in order to link their high entrepreneurial aspiration to actual entrepreneurial activities; cultivate failure-tolerating culture and risk-taking entrepreneurs, for instance, by providing a second chance to SBIR-participating businesses that failed to materialize their innovative ideas; and leverage their high expectations of new technology in order to take bold actions regarding their SBIR programs, and update the programs by drawing out constructive dialogues between SBIR stakeholders.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2007

We placed and monitored 2,137 nest boxes to determine how the size of the entrance hole and the box placement influenced nest box selection by secondary cavity-nesting birds and to derive recommendations for the use of nest boxes for management of cavity-nesting birds in forested environments. A total of 566 pairs of seven bird species used the nest boxes from 1997 to 2006, 562 of which were secondary cavity-nesters. Sympatric tits such as varied tits (Parus varius), great tits (P. major), and marsh tits (P. palustris) were common breeding birds in nest boxes, and showed clear preferences for 4.0 cm, 3.5 cm and 3.0 cm nest holes, respectively. Tree sparrows (Passer montanus) and Eurasian nuthatches (Sitta europaea) preferred 4 cm and 3.5 cm holes, respectively. We did not detect selection for the directional orientation for the entrance hole, but the birds appeared to avoid nest boxes that faced steep or gentle upward slopes and those less than 1.8 m from the ground. These results are probably related to avoidance of disturbance and predation. We suggest that diverse species can be supported by the placement of nest boxes with entrance holes of various sizes and that specific species can be targeted by selecting the hole sizes preferred by those species. To attract secondary cavity-nesters, managers should avoid placing nest boxes close to the ground and facing hills. This study also suggests that careful selection and placement of nest boxes is needed to avoid biases in research using nest boxes.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2015

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) and abdominal expansion maneuver (AEM) on trunk stabilization, as well as trunk muscle activities and differences in quadruple visual analogue scale, Korean Oswestry Disability Index, and Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire scores, in patients with chronic low back pain and lumbar spine instability. To increase intra-abdominal pressure during the trunk stabilization exercise, the technique of pushing the abdomen out using diaphragmatic abdominal breathing suggested by Pavel Koral was used, which we termed the AEM. Fifty patients who tested positive on more than three of the five lumbar spine instability tests were separated from 138 patients with chronic low back pain of these patients, 16 were placed in the control group (trunk stabilization exercise), 17 were placed in the ADIM group (trunk stabilization exercise with ADIM), and 17 were placed in the AEM group (trunk stabilization exercise with AEM). Each group participated in the study for 30 minutes three times weekly for 4 weeks. Surface electromyography was used to measure the trunk muscle activities during the kneeling forward and supine bridging positions, and one-way repeated analysis of variance was used to determine the statistical significance of the trunk muscle activities in the rectus abdominis, internal oblique (IO), erector spinae, and multifidus (MF) muscles. The ADIM and AEM groups showed relatively larger improvements in psychosocial and functional disability level than control group. There were significant changes among the three groups, those from the measured values of the AEM group was significantly higher than the other two groups in changes in IO and MF trunk muscle activities (p<.05). This finding demonstrates that trunk stabilization exercises with AEM is more effective than ADIM for increasing trunk deep muscle activity of chronic low back pain patients with lumbar spine instability.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.62-70
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• 2017

Following the September $12^{th}$, 2016 earthquake in Gyeongju-city, the observation can be made that South Korea is not a non-earthquake country. Because of its particular characteristics, urban green spaces are good sites for protection during an earthquake but studies regarding the suitability of park green spaces as a form of earthquake shelter are few, making it difficult to highlight the function of park green spaces as emergency shelters. The purpose of this study is to identify indicators for suitability impact factors of comprehensive parks as emergency earthquake shelter zones. Using the Delphi method, three rounds of survey were implemented. According to the analysis results of Average value, CVR, Consultation and Convergence, ten candidate indicators were removed in the candidate group. Twenty-seven suitability impact factors of comprehensive parks were retained, including 8 indicators in the field of safety, 6 indicators in the field of accessibility, and 13 indicators in the field of service effectiveness.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6115-6119
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• 2012

Introduction: Increasing prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and its association with cervical cancer as a leading cause of death make it necessary to evaluate and improve the public knowledge, especially of university students, about this cause of disease. Methods: A cross-sectional study of knowledge and attitude of a total 669 students from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences was therefore performed with a modified validated questionnaire, arranged into 5 parts and containing 55 questions, in July 2011. Questions were directed to study socio-demographic characteristics of the participant, knowledge about HPV disease, transmission route, relationship with cervical cancer, predisposing factors, and participants attitude toward people with HPV infection. Results: All of the participants were Moslem with a mean age $25.6{\pm}5.33$ years of age. All of the participants had heard of HPV, and acquired their knowledge through university courses (90.6%); the majority of them knew that HPV is a sexually transmitted disease and a potential cause for genital warts but general knowledge about details was not high. Mean knowledge score of residents and post graduate midwifery and nursing students was high as compared to other groups (P<0.001). Statements that indicated the presence of fear to communicate with people suffering HPV and people's avoidance to rely on babysitting of these patients were observed. Educational level (${\beta}$=0.21, P<0.001), age (${\beta}$=0.18, P=0.002,) and smoking (${\beta}$=-0.11, P=0.006) were predicted to effect knowledge. Conclusions: Moderate level of knowledge about HPV among medical university students makes it necessary to set effective national public health efforts on HPV education and prevention considering he excess of young population in Iran vulnerable to cervical cancer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.231-231
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• 2017

Drought limits rice production under upland condition. This study quantified the effect of rhizobacteria inoculation on rice root system developmental response to drought and its role in maintaining high soil water use, and dry matter production under drought using NSIC Rc192 (rainfed lowland rice variety). The source of inoculant was Streptomyces mutabilis, a recently isolated rhizobacteria containing plant growth promoting compounds such as ACC deaminase, indole-3-acetic acid and phosphatase (Cruz et al., 2014, 2015). In the first experiment, pre-germination inoculation of seeds with S. mutabilis significantly increased the shoot and root (radicle) length as well as root hair lengths, relative to the non-inoculated control. In the second experiment, rice plants inoculated with S. mutabilis and grown in rootbox with soil generally had greater total root length under drought regardless of the timing of inoculations, relative to the non-inoculated control. Consequently, improved root system development contributed to the increase in soil water uptake under drought and thus, dry matter production. Among inoculation treatments, one-time inoculation of S. mutabilis either at pre-germination or pre-drought stress at 14 days after sowing (DAS), had significantly greater shoot dry matter production than three-time inoculation at pre-germination, at thinning (3 DAS) and at pre-drought (14 DAS). This study demonstrated the effectiveness of rhizobacteria (S. mutabilis) containing growth promoting compounds for enhancing drought dehydration avoidance root traits and improving the growth of rice plants under drought condition.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.140-148
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of pelvic displacement when self-hamstring muscle stretches were applied to persons with low back pain. Design: Three-group pretest-posttest design. Methods: Forty persons with low back pain participated in this study. Pelvic tilt angle, hamstring flexibility, Quadruple Visual Analogue Scale (QVAS), Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), Korea version of the Oswestry Disability Index (KODI) and pelvic mobility were measured at pre-post. All participants were divided into either the pevic anterior tilt group (PAT group, n=12), pelvic midrange group (PMR group, n=18), or the pelvic posterior tilt group (PPT group, n=10). Self-stretching was performed using the pilates ring three times a week for a total of four weeks and the post-test was conducted and compared with the pre-test. Results: Hamstring flexibility, QVAS, KODI scores were significantly different compared to before the intervention (p<0.05). The changes in hamstring flexibility of the three groups were significantly different (p<0.05). Changes in KODI and FABQ results of the three groups were not significant. The pelvic posterior tilt range were significantly different in the PMR and PPT groups (p<0.05). The pelvic anterior tilt ranges showed significant differences after stretching in the PPT group (p<0.05). Conclusions: A large amount of change of hamstring flexibility, pelvic mobility of anterior and posterior tilt test in the PPT group was observed. Furthermore, therapists should consider pelvic displacement of the participant when applying intervention, which may, accordingly, have different effectiveness.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2010

Herniorrhaphy of Indirect inguinal hernia (IIH) is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in children. The overall incidence of inguinal hernias in childhood ranges from 0.8 to 4.4 %. The incidence is up to 10 times higher in boys than girls, especially much higher in premature infants. IIHs in children are basically an arrest of embryologic development rather than an acquired weakness, which explains the increased incidence in premature infants. In normal development, the processus vaginalis closes, obliterating the peritoneal opening of the internal ring between 36th and 40th week of gestation. This process is often incomplete, leaving a small patent processus in many newborns. However, closure continues postnatally, and the rate of patency is inversely proportional to age of the child. The presence of a patent processus vaginalis is a necessary but not sufficient variable in developing a congenital IIH. In other words, all congenital IIHs are preceded by a patent processus vaginalis, but not all patent processus vaginalis go on to become IIHs. The overall incidence of IIH in population is approximately 1 to 2 % and the incidence of a processus vaginalis is approximately 12 to 14%, clinically appreciable IIH should develop in approximately 8 to 12 % of patients with a patent processus vaginalis. Although the classic open inguinal hernia repair remains the gold standard for most pediatric surgeons, laparoscopic repair is being performed in many centers. Like open technique, laparoscopic technique is fundamentally a high ligation of the indirect hernia sac with or without internal ring ligation. The advantages of laparoscopic approach include the ease of examining the contralateral internal ring, the avoidance of access damage to vas and vessels during mobilization of cord, decreased operative time, and an ability to identify unsuspected direct or femoral hernias. Almost all groin hernias in children are IIHs and occur as a result of incomplete closure of processus vaginalis. The treatment is repair by high ligation of hernia sac, which can be done by an open or laparoscopic technique. The contralateral side can be explored by laparoscopy or left alone, open exploration is no longer indicated due to potential risk of infertility.