• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 2019

Cis-3-O-p-hydroxycinnamoyl ursolic acid (HCUA), a triterpenoid compound, was purified from Elaeagnus oldhamii Maxim. This traditional medicinal plant has been used for treating rheumatoid arthritis and lung disorders as well as for its anti-inflammation and anticancer activities. This study aimed to investigate the anti-proliferative and apoptotic-inducing activities of HCUA in oral cancer cells. HCUA exhibited anti-proliferative activity in oral cancer cell lines (Ca9-22 and SAS cells), but not in normal oral fibroblasts. The inhibitory concentration of HCUA that resulted in 50% viability was $24.0{\mu}M$ and $17.8{\mu}M$ for Ca9-22 and SAS cells, respectively. Moreover, HCUA increased the number of cells in the sub-G1 arrest phase and apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner in both oral cancer cell lines, but not in normal oral fibroblasts. Importantly, HCUA induced p53-mediated transcriptional regulation of pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax, Bak, Bim, Noxa, and PUMA), which are associated with mitochondrial apoptosis in oral cancer cells via the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. HCUA triggered the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) that was ascertained to be involved in HCUA-induced apoptosis by the ROS inhibitors YCG063 and N-acetyl-L-cysteine. As a result, HCUA had potential antitumor activity to oral cancer cells through eliciting ROS-dependent and p53-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis. Overall, HCUA could be applicable for the development of anticancer agents against human oral cancer.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.155-177
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• 2019

Operation and Maintenance (O&M) phase is the main contributor to the total lifecycle cost of a building. Previous studies have described that Building Information Models (BIM), if available with detailed asset information and their properties, can enable rapid troubleshooting and execution of O&M tasks by providing the required information of the facility. Despite the potential benefits, there is still rarely BIM with Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) assets and properties that are available for O&M. BIM is usually not in possession for existing buildings and generating BIM manually is a time-consuming process. Hence, there is a need for an automated approach that can reconstruct the MEP systems in BIM. Previous studies investigated automatic reconstruction of BIM using architectural drawings, structural drawings, or the combination with photos. But most of the previous studies are limited to reconstruct the architectural and structural components. Note that mechanical components in the building typically require more frequent maintenance than architectural or structural components. However, the building mechanical drawings are relatively more complex due to various type of symbols that are used to represent the mechanical systems. In order to address this challenge, this paper proposed a symbol recognition framework that can automatically recognize the different type of symbols in the building mechanical drawings. This study applied vector-based computer vision techniques to recognize the symbols and their properties (e.g., location, type, etc.) in two vector-based input documents: 2D drawings and the symbol description document. The framework not only enables recognizing and locating the mechanical component of interest for BIM reconstruction purpose but opens the possibility of merging the updated information into the current BIM in the future reducing the time of repeated manual creation of BIM after every renovation project.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2019

Ethylhexyl dimethyl para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) is an oily yellow liquid derivative of water-soluble PABA commonly used in sunscreen. Ethylhexyl dimethyl PABA is widely used as an ingredient in many cosmetics at an average concentration of 1.25% (0.5-2.0%) in Korea. Previous studies, including those involving animals, have demonstrated that ethylhexyl dimethyl PABA is toxic to the following four organs: testis, epididymis, spleen, and liver. In addition, experiments using human keratinocytes found that ethylhexyl dimethyl PABA inhibits cell growth and DNA synthesis at low concentrations, and halted the cell cycle of MM96L cells (human melanoma cell line) at the G1 phase. Despite limited clinical data in humans, many studies have confirmed increased mutagenicity of ethylhexyl dimethyl PABA following exposure to sunlight, which suggests that this molecule is likely to contribute to onset of sun-induced cancer despite protecting the skin through absorption of UVB. For risk assessment, the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) chosen was 100 mg/kg bw/day in a 4 weeks oral toxicity study. Systemic exposure dosage (SED) was 0.588 mg/kg bw/day for maximum use of ethylhexyl dimethyl PABA in cosmetics. Based on the risk assessment and exposure scenarios conducted in this study, the margin of safety (MOS) was calculated to be 180.18 for a sunscreen containing 8% ethylhexyl dimethyl PABA, which is the maximum level allowed by the relevant domestic authorities.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.433-442
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• 2020

In this study, in order to build a molecular dynamics simulation model of ionomer for water electrolysis, an ionomer model that reflects the characteristics of a water electrolysis system in which excess water molecules exist was compared to an ionomer built according to the conventional simulation method of the fuel cells membrane. The final ionomer MD models have a strong phase separation and water channel that is one of the important characteristics of the perfluorinated ionomer, and are stable and water-insoluble under excessive water and high temperature conditions. In the ionomer MD models built in this study, the excess water molecules decrease an ion conductivity due to the dilution of ions, but increase a hydrogen diffusivity. Therefore, it is necessary to design the molecular structure of ionomers for water electrolysis in experimental studies as well as molecular dynamics studies according to the characteristics of the water electrolysis system reported in this study.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2021

Purpose: This study examined emergency medical service (EMS) transportation patterns for adult trauma patients before and after establishing a level 1 regional trauma center (RTC) and to evaluate the transportation approach after prehospital severity screening. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of trauma patients aged ≥18 years admitted via EMS to the emergency department or a level 1 RTC, 1 year before to 3 years after RTC establishment. Patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) in the patient registration system were selected. Analyses were performed to determine transportation pattern changes by comparing patients pre- and post-RTC establishment and by yearly comparisons over the 4-year study period using the Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test. Results: Overall, 3,587 patients were included. The mean ISS was higher in the post-RTC group (n=2,693; 10.63±8.90, median 9.00) than in the pre-RTC group (n=894; 9.44±8.20, median 8.00; p<0.001). The mean transportation distance (9.84±13.71, median 5.80 vs. 13.12±16.15 km, median 6.00; p<0.001) was longer in the post-RTC group than in the pre-RTC group. Furthermore, proportionally fewer patients were transported from an area in the same city as the RTC after establishment (86.1% vs. 78.3%; p<0.001). Yearly comparisons revealed a gradually increasing trend in the hospital death rate (ptrend=0.031). Conclusions: After establishing a level 1 RTC, the EMS transportation of severe trauma patients increased gradually along with the long-distance transportation of minor trauma patients. Therefore, improved prehospital EMS trauma severity assessments and level 1 RTC involvement in patient classification in the prehospital phase are necessary.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.166-177
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• 2022

Background: Recently clinical trials have expanded extensively in Korea; thus, ensuring the rights of subjects participating in clinical trials is imperative. Accordingly, national regulations on subject recruitment advertisement were enforced from October 25, 2018. In this study, the effect of this regulation was evaluated by analyzing the difference in the provision of information before and after enforcement of the regulation. Methods: Recruitment advertisements for clinical trial subjects 3 years before and after enforcement of the regulation were collated by the significance sampling approach. Print-based (newspapers, buses, and subways) and web-based (clinical trial center websites and online platforms) materials for recruitment in clinical trials of phase 1 to 4 for investigational drugs, medical devices, and oriental medicine were considered. Chi-square tests were conducted for inter-group comparisons. SPSS version 26 was employed for statistical analyses. Results: A total of 137 advertisements were collected comprising 60 pre- and 77 post-regulation enforcement. The overall rate of delivery of critical information in advertisements increased significantly from 47.5% before regulation to 93.2% after regulation enforcement. Particularly, details on expected adverse events augmented significantly (p<0.001). Benefits from participation in clinical trial reduced significantly from 88.3% to 70.1% (p<0.05). As the information provision amplified, the inclusion of professional terms increased. Conclusions: Enforcement of regulations has led to a surge in the amount of information and challenging terms contained in advertisements for recruiting subjects. Therefore, additional efforts are required by subjects to completely understand the information provided in the advertisements.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.135-144
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• 2022

This paper aimed to analyze the type of urban shrinkage over the past 20 years for four case cities designated as abandoned mining area promotion zones and present the direction of future urban spatial policies through the analysis of shrinking status. According to the analysis of urban shrinkage in the past 20 years, all of the case cities were analyzed as fixed-type shrinking cities, showing a population decrease of more than 30% over the past 40 years compared to the peak population. Despite the decrease in population, the designated area of urbanization and non-urban areas is increasing every year, and the development permit and construction permit in non-urban areas are also increasing, requiring efficient management and operation of urban space. It is necessary to study military-level cities in the high-risk phase of extinction in the future, and to develop various indicators for segmentation of urban shrinkage types and analysis of status by type.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.47-55
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• 2021

In order to ensure the fact that eight principle pattern differentiation is used clinically as a basic guideline for Korean medicine practice, the definition, role and method of yin-yang pattern differentiation with its case report were explored at first. Yinyang Pattern Differentiation is a method of discriminating human tendencies or morbidity based on the yin and yang characteristics expressed in living bodies. And yin and yang are the two contrasting characteristics and aspects of the interaction when certain physical conditions that have a lasting effect on the human physiological metabolic function are correlated with the morbidity. Specific methods of yinyang pattern differentiation can be divided into several types of yin and yang indicators. First, time and space factors like day and night, hot and cold seasons, above and below, topographical districts. Second, colors and pulse and their/or relative clearness and muddiness, hardness and softness, moving and resting. Third, diagnose yin and yang patterns through distinguishing the true and false of a fever and cold in an emergency phase such as increase of brain pressure and shock state. Fourth, general characteristics of the propensity and constitution of a subject such as body type, speech, behavior, and physiological metabolism. And for clinical use, these were summarized again as a symptom indicators of physical signs and color, pulse, tongue and questionnaire indicators of propensity, body type, and space-time characteristics. Conclusively, it was confirmed that yinyang pattern differentiation has its own diagnostic significance which is distinct from exterior-interior, cold-heat and deficiency-excess pattern differentiation.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.153-172
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• 2022

In this study, the authors intend to analyze factors contributing to research performance using Backpropagation Neural Network and Support Vector Machine. The analyzing factors contributing to lecturer research performance start from defining the features. The next stage is to collect datasets based on defining features. Then transform the raw dataset into data ready to be processed. After the data is transformed, the next stage is the selection of features. Before the selection of features, the target feature is determined, namely research performance. The selection of features consists of Chi-Square selection (U), and Pearson correlation coefficient (CM). The selection of features produces eight factors contributing to lecturer research performance are Scientific Papers (U: 154.38, CM: 0.79), Number of Citation (U: 95.86, CM: 0.70), Conference (U: 68.67, CM: 0.57), Grade (U: 10.13, CM: 0.29), Grant (U: 35.40, CM: 0.36), IPR (U: 19.81, CM: 0.27), Qualification (U: 2.57, CM: 0.26), and Grant Awardee (U: 2.66, CM: 0.26). To analyze the factors, two data mining classifiers were involved, Backpropagation Neural Networks (BPNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Evaluation of the data mining classifier with an accuracy score for BPNN of 95 percent, and SVM of 92 percent. The essence of this analysis is not to find the highest accuracy score, but rather whether the factors can pass the test phase with the expected results. The findings of this study reveal the factors that have a significant impact on research performance and vice versa.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.47-54
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• 2023

In this study, the tensile behavior of concrete specimens reinforced with GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer), BFRP (Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer), and CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) bars was experimentally analyzed. The tensile strength of the FRP bars is appeared to be similar to the design strength, but the elastic modulus was somewhat lower. Additionally, the specimens for tension stiffening effect were manufacured using OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) and SFRC (Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete), with dimensions of 150(W)×150(B)×1000(H) mm. The crack spacing of specimens was most significant for GFRP reinforcement bars, which have a lower elastic modulus and a smoother surface, while BFRP and CFRP bars, with somewhat rougher surfaces and higher elastic moduli, showed similar crack spacings. In the load-strain relationship, GFRP bars exhibited a relatively abrupt behavior after cracking, whereas BFRP and CFRP bars showed a more stable behavior after the cracking phase, maintaining a certain level of tension stiffening effect. The tension stiffening index was somewhat smaller as the diameter increased, and GFRP, compared to BFRP, showed a higher tension stiffening index.