• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.109-109
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• 2002

Detection of protozoan parasites Perkinsus sp. and P. atlanticus was developed in this study using a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to diagnose the presence of those organisms that causes extensive mortalities of marine shellfishes. The PCR was conducted together with fluid thioglycollate medium (FTM) method and 2 M NaOH lysis method. For the test, Manila clams, Ruditapes philippinarum, were collected from four coastal locations in Korea including Wando Island, Gimnyeong, Sungsan and Sogwipo in Jeju. In addition, trophozites of Perkinsus sp. cultivated in vitro and the granular ark clam, Tegillarca granosa, taken from Gangjin on the south coast of Korea, were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. Expected DNA bands were detected in the samples from Wando Island, Sungsan and the in vitro cultured Perkinsus sp. when the probes specific for the genus Perkinsus and P. atlanticus were used. The samples were also positively diagnosed by the FTM and 2 M NaOH methods. In contrast, the Manila clams from Gimnyeong and Sogwipo, and the granular arks clams from Gangjin showed no detectable signs of infection with the PCR, the FTM method and the 2 M NaOH lysis method. On the other hand, being amplified by p. atlanticus specific primer, it is suggested that the protozoan parasite Perkinsus sp. found in the Korean Manila clam is P. atlanticus. Finally the PCR- based assay developed in the present study can be used in detection of Perkinsus infection and discrimination of Peykinsus species in quarantine stations or laboratories due to the high sensitivity and specificity as well as its rapid detection.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2001

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of ultrasonogram as a preoperative diagnostic tool in thyroid nodular diseases, this study was carried out. Materials and Methods: From January 1998 to December 1999, 51 patients who underwent thyroidectomy were analyzed retrospectively. We compared the finally histopathological results to ultrasonographical findings such as internal consistency, multiplicity of nodules, nodular ehogenicity, nodular capsule or margin, calcification of nodules. Results: There were 47 females and 4 males with 25 benign tumor, 23 malignant tumor and 3 occult carcinoma in histopathological diagnosis. The solid tumors in ultrasonography carried a probability of malignancy as 66.7%(16/24 cases) whereas cystic or mixed tumors as 16.7%(1/6cases) or 23.8%(5/21cases) (p=0.006). The single nodular diseases carried a high probability of malignancy as 50%(13/26cases) whereas multiple diseases as 28.6%(6/21cases). The hypoechogenicity of thyroid nodular disease showed a probability of malignancy as 60%(9/15cases) whereas mixed-echogenicity as 36.4%(4/11cases). The nodules with poorly-defined margin in ultrasonographic findings showed higher probability of malignancy as 63.6% (7/11cases) than the nodules with well -defined margin as 26.5%(9/34 cases) (p=0.025). The nodules with calcification in ultrasonographic findings were represented to high probability of malignancy as 70.6%(12/17cases) compared to those without calcification as 29.4%(10/34cases) (p=0.005). The differency between ultrasonic and histopathological diagnosis was high in solid nodules(33%), 3-4cm sized nodules (28.6%) and mixed echogenecity(27.3%) whereas low in complex nodules with cystic and solid nature(4.8%), 2-3 cm sized nodules(8.3%) and pooly defined margin(9.1%). The accuracies of sonography in differentiating malignacy from benign thyroid nodules were 7.1% of false positivity, 39.1% of false negativity, 60.9% of sensitivity, 92.9% of specificity and 78.4% of accuracy. Conclusion: Sonographic examination was relatively excellent test as a preoperative diagnostic tool in thyroid nodular diseases when detailed checklists were applied such as internal consistency, multiplicity of nodules, nodular ehogenicity, nodular capsule or margin and calcification of nodules.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.576-582
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• 2018

At present, universities in Korea are trying to raise the competency of university students by preparing them with abilities and attitudes required in society, and many universities are carrying out "core competency based education." Therefore, there is a need to evaluate the core competencies of students and verify educational performance. M University, which trains students in specialized marine topics, also conducts core competency based education, reflecting the specificity of the university. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a tool to measure the core competencies of M University students. First, preliminary questions were developed based on a literature review. Second, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted. As a result, six factors were identified. Finally, a total of 50 items were extracted from the final test, and validity was confirmed. The scale developed on the basis of this study can not only diagnose the core competency of students overall but also connect programs by diagnosing individual core competencies. It will be possible to use these results as basic data for honing the differentiated talents of universities specialized in maritime and ocean-related topics.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2011

To prospectively determine the diagnostic performance a combination of standard bolus-chase magnetic resonance (MR) angiography and MR angiography with time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics (TRICKS) for depicting severity of the head and neck vascular diseases. Over a period of two months, A total of 100 patients(average ages : $50{\pm}8$, male : 60, female : 40) with head and neck vascular diseases were performed on the GE excite 3.0 T units with 8-channel head coil and 4-channel NV coil. Imaging parameters for a typical study were as follow: SBC(TR/ TE/ FA/ SliceThicken./ Slab/ Freq./ FOV/ BW/Scan Time) = 5.4/ min/ 30/ 2/ zip2/ 70/ $224{\times}448$/ 30/ 62.50/ 28, TRICKS(TR/ TE/ FA/ Slice Thicken/Slab/ Freq./ FOV/ BW/ Temp Res./ Scan Time = 3.6/ min/ 25/ 4/ 30/ $160{\pm}384$, zip512/ 30/ 100/ 1 to 1.5/ 23). The analysis of all MR images, which have respect-ively classified two techniques into some diseases. The results of the former were divided into two groups(SBC, TRICKS)with 4 grading of two reader, respectively. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to determine if a significant difference between imaging techniques existed(p < 0.05). In 33 of 100 patients, arterio-venous malformation was 11% at TRICKS, subclavian vein stenosis : 8%, fistular sinus : 4%, jugular vein stenosis:6%, Middle Cerebral Artery bypass surgery : 4%, p < 0.05). The rest of 67 patients were considered as the results of SBC(14% in the basilar artery stenosis, carotid stenosis : 16%, vertebral stenosis : 17%, central neuro-cytoma : 5%, meningioma : 5%, Not appliable : 10%, p < 0.05). Sensitivity and specificity of TRICKS MR angiography in SVS, FS, JVS, MCABS were improved compared with those at standard MR angiography. In SBS MR angiography which were improved in BAS, CS, VS, CN, Meningioma. In conclusion, TRICKS MR angiography of the SVS, FS, JVS, MCABS is superior to standard MR angiography regarding the number of diagnostic grading. The SBS MR angiography were improved in BAS, CS, VS, CN, Meningioma. and assessment of the degree of luminal narrowing on both TRICKS and SBS.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 1996

Antitumouric effect of loquat was investigated treating the extract from leaves, stems, fruits or seeds to normal and cancer cell lines to check by MTT method wheather the cancer cells are spec­ifially attacked. The results are summarized as follows. Water of MeOH extract from each organ were applied to human normal and cancer cell lines, SNU-1 and SNU-C4. The water extract from fruit flesh gave no dffect to normal cell lines by killed all the cancer cell lines. The water extract from fruit flesh was purified by Sephadex LH-20 and separated into 9 fractions which were than applied to 8 cancer cell lines. The eighth fraction out of the 9 fractions gave no effect to normal cells but exerted specific cytotoxicity to breast cancer, stomach and liver cancer cells. The eighth fraction was orally administed and injected to 10 mice each suffering from the abdominal cancer induced by myeloma cells, SP2/0-Ag14. In the groups received the treatment, only one mouse each died in 2 months but the rest survived until the end of the experimental period, which those in the control plot died in 10 to 13 days. The present results confirmed that loquat contained some substance that had specific cytotoxicity to human cancer cells.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.126-134
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• 2015

A sleep disorder is being recognized as one of the major health issues related to high levels of stress. At the same time, interests about quality of sleep are rapidly increasing. However, diagnosing sleep disorder is not a simple task because patients should undergo polysomnography test, which requires a long time and high cost. To solve this problem, an accelerometer embedded wrist-worn device is being considered as a simple and low cost solution. However, conventional methods determine a state of user to "sleep" or "wake" according to whether values of individual section's accelerometer data exceed a certain threshold or not. As a result, a high miss-classification rate is observed due to user's intermittent movements while sleeping and tiny movements while awake. In this paper, we propose a novel method that resolves the above problems by employing a dynamic classifier which evaluates a similarity between the neighboring data scores obtained from SVM classifier. A performance of the proposed method is evaluated using 50 data sets and its superiority is verified by achieving 88.9% accuracy, 88.9% sensitivity, and 88.5% specificity.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.225-230
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• 1999

In mouse, the heat shock protein 70-2 (hsp70-2) is found to have special function in spermatogenesis. Based on the observation, the hypothesis that human hspA2 (human gene; 98.2% amino acid homology with hsp70-2) might have important function in spermatogenesis in human testes was proposed. To test the hypothesis, we examined the expression of hspA2 in human tissues. Expression vector pDMC4 for expression of the human hspA2 protein using pTricHisB (invitrogen, USA) was constructed and the expressed hspA2 protein was cross-reacted with antiserum 2A raised against mouse hsp70-2 protein. Based on the cross-reactivity, we determined the expression level of hspA2 protein in human tissues by western blot analysis using the antiserum 2A. We demonstrated that antiserum 2A antibodies detected human hspA2 protein with specificity which was produced in the E.coli expression system. On Western blot analyses, significant hspA2 expression was observed in testes with normal spermatogenesis, whereas a low level of hspA2 was expressed in testis with Sertoli-cell only syndrome. Also, a small amount of hspA2 was detected in breast, stomach, prostate, colon, liver, ovary, and epididymis. These results demonstrate that the hspA2 protein is highly expressed in male specific germ cells, which in turn suggests that hspA2 protein might playa specific role during meiosis in human testes as suggested in the murine model. However, further studies should be attempted to determine the function of hspA2 protein in human spermatogenesis.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.141-148
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• 2006

The effects of adenosine triphosphate(ATP) on salivary glands have been recognized since 1982. The presence of purinergic recepetors(P2Rs) that mediate the effects of ATP in various tissues, including parotid and submandibular salivary gland, has been supported by the cloning of receptor cDNAs and the expression of the receptor proteins. P2Rs have many subtypes, and the activation of these receptor subtypes increase intracellular $Ca^{2+}$, a key ion in the regulation of the secretion in the salivary gland. The apical pores of taste buds in circumvallate and foliate papillae are surrounded by the saliva from von Ebner salivary gland(vEG). Thus, it is important how the secretion of vEG is controlled. This study was designed to elucidate the roles of P2Rs on salivary secretion of vEG. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (about 200 g) were used for this experiment. vEG-rich tissues were obtained from dissecting $500-1,000\;{\mu}m$ thick posterior tongue slices under stereomicroscope view. P2Rs mRNA in vEG acinar cells were identified with RT-PCR. To observe the change in intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ activity, we employed $Ca^{2+}-ion$ specific fluorescence analysis with fura-2. Single acinar cells and cell clusters were isolated by a sequential trypsin/collagenase treatment and were loaded with $10\;{\mu}M$ fura -2 AM for 60 minutes at room temperature. Several agonists and antagonists were used to test a receptor specificity. RT-PCR revealed that the mRNAs of $P2X_4$, $P2Y_1$, $P2Y_2$ and $P2Y_3$ are expressed in vEG acinar cells. The intracellular calcium activity was increased in response to $10\;{\mu}M$ ATP, a P2Rs agonist, and 2-MeSATP, a $P2Y_1$ and $P2Y_2R$ agonist. However, $300\;{\mu}M\;{\alpha}{\beta}-MeATP$, a $P2X_1$ and $P2X_3R$ agonist, did not elicit the response. The responses elicited by $10\;{\mu}M$ ATP and UTP, a $P2Y_2R$ agonists, were maintained when extracellular calcium was removed. $10\;{\mu}M$ suramin, a P2XR antagonist, and reactive blue 2, a P2YR antagonist, partially blocked ATP-induced response. However, when extracellular calciums were removed, suramin did not abolish the responses elicited by ATP. These results suggest that P2Rs play an important role in salivary secretion of vEG acinar cells and the effects of ATP on vEG salivary secretion may be mediated by $P2X_4$, $P2Y_1$, $P2Y_2$, and/or $P2Y_3$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.565-569
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• 2011

Validation of quercetin as a marker compound in the standardization of Changnyeong onion extract developed for functional health food was attempted by analytical method. The specificity was satisfied with retention time and photo diode array (PDA) spectrum by analysis of quercetin using HPLC and comparison with standard compound. It showed a high linearity in the calibration curve as coefficient of correlation ($R^2$) of 0.9986, and the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.2 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L, respectively. Recovery rate test with quercetin concentration of 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1 mg/mL was revealed in the high range of 82.36~95.26%, 82.70~98.24% and 87.91~95.11%, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision in quercetin for Changnyeong onion extracts was 0.10~3.28% and 0.96~5.79%, respectively. Therefore, application of quercetin was validated in analytical method as a marker compound in Changnyeong onion extracts.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.17 no.1 s.34
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• pp.23-28
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• 1978

The study has been carried to confirm the pathotypes of Kresek inducing isolates of X. oryzae, and its reaction to the test plants when they were inoculated by the use of various methods. Induction of Kresek symptom by 23 isolates which randomly samplified from 123 Kresek areas through the country also were examined. The specificity of Pathotypes I, II, V in causing Kresek and the potenciality of infected rice straw is a first inoculum for Kresek epidemics in nature were tested. Fifteen out of 23 isolates from kresek area belonged to pathotype group I, while the rest of 8 isolates 5 howed group II reaction, and the most of isolates were originated from infected rice plant of Milyang #23. All of five pathotype groups were abled to produce 'Kresek' symptom although they showed some differences in each group of pathotype. The varieties Milyang #21, 22 and 23 were attacked by all isolates of group I, II and V while the Gogyoku group varieties including Yushin produced kresek symptom only by pathotype group II. Infected and dried straw maintained the pathogens during the winter period, and these straw acted as a first inoculum of Kresek disease when the straw were cutted and used as a manure just before transplanting of rice seedling.