• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.6 s.275
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• pp.407-413
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• 2007

Background: The brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level has been reported in some studies to be associated with the occurrence of atrial fbrillation (AF). The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential usefulness of the BNP level as a predictor of the occurrence of postoperative (postop) AF and to assess the relationship of the BNP level with the onset of AF and the restoration of sinus rhythm. Material and Method: From January 1, 2005 to February 28, 2006, 82 patients without a history of atrial arrhythmia that had undergone cardiac surgery were enrolled in the study. Blood samples for plasma BNP were drawn daily for all these patients from the preoperative (preop) day to the 7th postop day. The patient records were reviewed and postop EKGs were checked daily for AF until the time of discharge. Result: Patients were divided into two groups based on development of postop AF. Postoperative AF developed in 26 patients (31.7%). There was no significant statistical difference in age, sex distribution, preop left ventricle ejection fraction, hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, or the use of beta blockers between the non-postop AF and postop AF group. More patients in the AF group had undergone valve surgery (39.3% versus 76.9%, p=0.002). The preop left atrium size was significantly larger in the AF patients ($43.8{\pm}10.3 mm$ versus $49.8{\pm}11.5 mm$, p=0.029). The preop plasma BNP levels were higher in the postop AF patients ($144.1{\pm}20.8 pg/mL$ versus $267.5{\pm}68 pg/mL$, p=0.034). In the postop AF group, the plasma BNP level was the highest on the 3rd postop day. Postop AF developed in most patients by the 3rd postop day; restored sinus rhythm developed by the 7th postop day. Conclusion: Elevated plasma BNP levels may lead to the occurrence of postop AF in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients who have a high risk of postop AF should be considered for aggressive prophylactic antiarrhythmic therapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.78-84
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• 2005

Purpose: The studied the effect of such variables as the symptom improvement rate, survival and prognostic factors on the treatment results of radiation therapy for Superior Vena Cava Syndrome (SVCS). Materials and Methods: From 1988 to 2003, seventy two patients with SVCS were treated with radiation therapy at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center. The patients' ages ranged from 10 to 83 years old with the median age being 61, and sixty four patients were male. For the causes of the SVCS, 64 patients had lung cancer, four had metastatic lung cancer, two had malignant lymphoma and two had thymoma. The radiotherapy was delivered with 6-MV X-rays and all patients received above 900 cGy up to 6,600 cGy, with the median dose being 4,000 cGy The follow-up periods were from 1 to 180 months with a median of 5.6 months. Results: The main clinical manifestations were dyspnea ($84.7\%$), facial edema ($81.9\%$), arm edema ($22.2\%$), neck vein distension ($25\%$), hoarseness ($12.5\%$) and facial plethora ($5.6\%$). Eighty percent of patients achieved excellent to good symptom improvement and $19.4\%$ experienced minimal improvement. The median survival period was 5.1 months, and overall survival rates were $17.7\%$ at 2 years (2YOS) and $14.8\%$ at five years (5YOS) for all the patients. The median survival period, the two and five year disease free survival rates were 4.3 months, $16.7\%$ and $13.4\%$ for the lung cancer patients, respectively. The total tumor dose was a statistically significant survival factor on the univariate analysis for the patients with lung cancer (2YSR; > 30 Gy, $25.6\%$, $\leq$ 30 Gy $6.7\%$, p<0.01). On the multivariated analysis, a higher total tumor dose (p<0.01) and younger age (p<0.05) were statistically significant factors of survival for the lung cancer patients. Patients with NSCLC showed better survival than did the patients with SCLC, but this was not statistically significant (p > 0.05), Conclusion: Radiation therapy for the patients with SVCS due to malignancy could be an effective treatment. We considered that radiation therapy above 30 Gy of the total tumor dose may improve survival for SVCS due to lung cancer.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.499-503
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to investigate arterial and venous blood gas, electrolytes, biochemical, and hematological values in healthy Korean native calves (KNC). The healthy 62 KNC within 3 weeks-old were examined. The arterial blood was collected from caudal auricular artery and the venous blood from jugular vein. The blood samples were analyzed immediately using a portable blood gas analyzer. The pH, $pO_2$, $pCO_2$, $cHCO_3{^-}$, BE, $cSO_2$, $Na^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Cl^-$, anion gap potassium (AgapK), Hct, cHgb, glucose, lactate and creatinine were determined. The normal values for blood gas, electrolytes, biochemical, and hematological variables determined in this study agree with other published values for normal calves. The mean concentration of glucose and lactate within 3 weeks old of KNC is higher than those of adult cattle. The blood values according to weeks of age within 3 weeks-old of arterial and venous blood variables were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Glucose (r = 0.927) had the strongest correlations between arterial and venous values. The correlation between the values of the arterial and the venous blood was strong in creatinine (r = 0.925), lactate (r = 0.815), $Ca^{2+}$ (r = 0.806), Hct (r = 0.799), $Na^+$ (r = 0.790), cHgb (r = 0.786), base excess (r = 0.749), pH (r = 0.710), $HCO_3{^-}$ (r = 0.710), and $cTCO_2$ (0.663). Analysis of blood samples in a field condition, using hand-held analyzer is rapid and useful in bovine practice.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2010

The Yugeum deposit in Youngduk in Gyungsangbuk-do is emplaced in the Cretaceous granitoids located in the Northeastem Gyeongsang Basin. Gold-bearing quartz veins filling the fracture with a direction of $N19^{\circ}{\sim}38^{\circ}W$ are most abundantly distributed within the Younghae granodiorite body. The formation of quartz veins can be classified into three main stages: barren quartz stage, auriferous quartz vein stage, and finally the extensive sulfide mineralization stage. Various sulfide minerals such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite were precipitated during the hydrothermal gold mineralization process. Gold commonly occurs as fine-grained electrum in sulfides with high Au concentration (up to 93 wt%) compared to Ag. During the early gold mineralization stage, the temperature and pressure of the fluids are in the range of $220{\sim}250^{\circ}C$ and 730~1800 bar, and the oxygen fugacity is between $10^{-27}$ and $10^{-31.7}$ atm. On the other hand, the fluids of the late stage mineralization are characterized by temperature of $290{\sim}350^{\circ}C$ and pressure of 206~472 bar, and the oxygen fugacity is in the range of $10^{-26.3}{\sim}10^{-28.6}$ atm. The sulfur isotope compositions of sulfide minerals are in the range of $0.2{\sim}4.2^{\circ}/_{\circ\circ}$, while the ${\delta}^{34}SH_2S$ values range from 1.0 to $3.7^{\circ}/_{\circ\circ}$. The Ag/Au atomic ratios of electrum ranges from 0.15 to 1.10, and Au content is higher than Ag in most electrum. During the main gold mineralization stage at the relatively high temperature condition and with pH from 4.5 to 5.5, the stability of ${AuCl_2}^-$ increased while the stability of ${Au(HS)_2}^-$ decreased. Considering the pressure estimated in this deposit, the temperature of the ore fluid reached higher than $350^{\circ}C$ and ${AuCl_2}^-$ became an important species for the gold transportation. As mineralization proceeded with decreasing temperature and increasing pH and $f_{o2}$, the precipitation of sulfide minerals and accompanying electrum occurred.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.226-233
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• 2016

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis has been identified in various vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty, and has been known to precipitate atherosclerotic plaque instability and rupture. Oxysterols are known as inducers of apoptosis in VSMC, and 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) is the major nonenzymically formed oxysterol in atherosclerotic lesions. The precise mechanism underlying VSMC apoptosis is still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated whether 7KC causes apoptosis, and characterized its apoptotic mechanisms in primary cultured rat aortic VSMC. Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay and trypan blue assay. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, and Western blot analyses. 7KC markedly decreased the VSMC viability in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, and increased the production of 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), a major end-product of lipid peroxidation, which also decreased the VSMC viability. Pretreatment with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, a well-known reagent of lipid peroxidation-derived aldehydes, significantly restored the 7KC-decreased viability of VSMC. Furthermore, HNE, as well as 7KC, reduced the level of total Akt, a major mediator of cell survival. The 7KC-decreased level of total Akt was significantly restored by pretreatments with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and N-acetylcysteine. Lactacystin, a proteasome inhibitor, protected VSMC against apoptosis and Akt degradation, but did not inhibit HNE production. In the immunoprecipitation assay, 7KC increased HNE-modified Akt. From the results, it seems that, in atherosclerotic lesions, 7KC induces HNE production in VSMC, and this HNE binds to Akt, proceeding to proteasomal degradation of Akt, through which mechanism the atherosclerotic plaque instability may be facilitated.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.619-625
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• 2001

We determined whether the supplementation of Polygonatum Odoratum (Mill) Druce (POD) extract had a good effect on insulin resistance in peripheral tissues of 90% pancreatectomized (Px) and sham-operated (Sham) male Sprague Dawley rats. Px and Sham rats were divided into two groups; one group daily consumed 0.3 g of POD extracts per 1 ㎏ body weight for two months, and the other group had a placebo. All rats freely consumed a 40% fat diet. At the end of the experiment, a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic (EH) clamp was performed in a fasting, awake, and unstressed state to determine insulin resistance. At EH clamp, body weights were higher in Sham rats than Px rats, and serum glucose levels of baseline were affected by diabetic status and POD administration. Serum insulin concentrations were higher in Sham rats than Px rats, and POD administration decreased them in Sham rats compared to P. Glucose disposal rates in peripheral tissues increased with POD in both Px (n=10) and Sham (n=10) rats. But glycogen deposits in soleus muscle increased with POD administration in Px and Sham rats, and total glycogen synthase activity and fraction velocity were higher in POD groups. Triglyceride contents in quadriceps muscles decreased with POD in Px rats. In conclusions, POD improves insulin resistance by enhancing glucose utilization with increasing glycogen deposit and decreasing triglyceride contents in muscles.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.49-62
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• 1974

1. In the comparison of survival ratio among three different methods(bark graft, veneer graft, root graft), bark graft showed the highest survival ratio and root graft was the lowest. It was shown to be significant at the level of 5% in the analysis of variance for the results. It was able to be supposed that one of the main causes for the results was the different amounts of ferric tannic acid which was formated owing to the reaction of grafting knife with tannic acid oozing from cutting faces of the tree. In juvenile tissue graft, the survival ratio of inverted radicle graft was a little higher than that of juvenile stem graft, but there was no significant difference between two methods in analysis of variance. 2. The most hairs of chestnut tree leaves were recognized as stellates on the most part of leaves except for venation. The number of rays in the stellates was ranged from 4 to 8 generally. It was shown to be highly significant differences at the level of 1% among the each race growing at the similar environmental condition in the length of ray and the distributed ratio of the stellates having different ray number. 3. Excepting for the basal width of serration there were no significant differences between $Imakita_1$, $Imakita_2$ as well as between $Teteuchi_1$, $Teteuchi_2$ at the each point of experimental items in this study. Such results made this study more useful. 4. Among the races that were growing in the similar environmental condition, there were highly significant differences at the level of 1% in the length and the width of serration. 5. The rolling of hair, the angle of serration from the leaf margin, the existence of lateral vein in the serration, the intrusion of main vein into the serration and the width of main vein were observed to be somewhat useful as the subsidiary methods for the identification of chestnut races.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.333-337
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• 2009

A new malting barley variety, "Daho", was developed from the cross between "Milyang85 and Suwon335" at the Department of Rice and Winter Cereal Crop (DRWCC) NICS, in 2007. An elite line, YMB2064-B-8-2-4-1-1, was selected in 2004 and designated as "Milyang134". It showed good agronomic performance in the regional adaptation yield trials (RYT) from 2005 to 2007 and was released with the name of "Daho", having high yielding and BaYMV resistance. The average heading and maturing dates of "Daho" were April 19 and May 27, which were 2 days later and 1 day earlier than those of "Jinyang", leading variety, at the regional adaptation yield trials (RYT), respectively. "Daho" had longer culm length (84 cm), more spikes per $m^2$ (915) and higher 1,000 grain weight (39.2 g) than those of "Jinyang" in paddy field condition. "Daho" was showed resistance to BaYMV at the regions of Naju, Jinju, and Milyang but moderately resistance at Iksan. However, the response of "Daho" to other environmental stresses was similar to "Jinyang". The yields of "Daho" at upland and paddy fields were about 5.20 MT/ha, 4.81 MT/ha, respectively, which is about 38%, 25% higher than those of "Jinyang" in the regional adaptation yield trials (RYT), respectively. It has higher grain assortment, germination capacity, water sensitivity and Kolback index but lower malt extract, diastatic power and filtration speed than those of "Jinyang".

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.311-324
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• 2021

Recently, ten geosites have been considered in Hwaseong for endorsement as national geoparks, including the Jebudo, Gojeongri Dinosaur Egg Fossils, and Ueumdo geosites. The Jebudo geosite in the southern part of the Seoul metropolitan area has great potential for development as a new geoscience educational site because it has geological, geographical (landscape), and ecological significance. In this study, we described the geological characteristics through field surveys in the Jebudo geosite. We evaluated its potential as a geo-education site based on comparative analysis with other geosites in Hwaseong Geopark. In addition, we reviewed the practical effect of field education at geosites on the essential concepts and critical competence-oriented education emphasized in the current 2015 revised science curriculum. The Jebudo Geosite is geologically diverse, with various metamorphic rocks belonging to the Precambrian Seosan Group, such as quartzite, schist, and phyllite. Various geological structures, such as clastic dikes, faults, joints, foliation, and schistosity have also been recorded. Moreover, coastal geological features have been observed, including depositional landforms (gravel and sand beaches, dunes, and mudflats), sedimentary structures (ripples), erosional landforms (sea cliffs, sea caves, and sea stacks), and sea parting. The Jebudo geosite has considerable value as a new geo-education site with geological and geomorphological distinction from the Gojeongri Dinosaur Egg Fossils and Ueumdo geosites. The Jebudo geosite also has opportunities for geo-education and geo-tourism, such as mudflat experiences and infrastructures, such as coastal trails and viewing points. This geosite can help develop diverse geo-education programs that improve key competencies in the science curriculum, such as critical thinking, inquiry, and problem-solving. Furthermore, by conducting optimized geo-education focused on the characteristics of each geosite, the following can be established: (1) the expansion of learning space from school to geopark, (2) the improvement of understanding of specific content elements and linkage between essential concepts, and (3) the extension of the education scope throughout the earth system. There will be positive impacts on communication, participation, and lifelong learning skills through geopark education.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.52
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• pp.277-312
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• 2018

First-order cybernetics during the 1940s and 1950s aimed for control of an observed system, while second-order cybernetics during the mid-1970s aspired to address the mechanism of an observing system. The former pursues an objective, subjectless, approach to a system, whereas the latter prefers a subjective, personal approach to a system. Second-order observation must be noted since a human observer is a living system that has its unique cognition. Maturana and Varela place the autopoiesis of this biological system at the core of second-order cybernetics. They contend that an autpoietic system maintains, transforms and produces itself. Technoscientific recreation of biological autopoiesis opens up to a new step in cybernetics: what I describe as third-order cybernetics. The formation of technoscientific autopoiesis overlaps with the Fourth Industrial Revolution or what Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee call the Second Machine Age. It leads to a radical shift from human centrism to posthumanity whereby humanity is mechanized, and machinery is biologized. In two versions of the novel Demon Seed, American novelist Dean Koontz explores the significance of technoscientific autopoiesis. The 1973 version dramatizes two kinds of observers: the technophobic human observer and the technology-friendly machine observer Proteus. As the story concludes, the former dominates the latter with the result that an anthropocentric position still works. The 1997 version, however, reveals the victory of the techno-friendly narrator Proteus over the anthropocentric narrator. Losing his narrational position, the technophobic human narrator of the story disappears. In the 1997 version, Proteus becomes the subject of desire in luring divorcee Susan. He longs to flaunt his male egomaniac. His achievement of male identity is a sign of technological autopoiesis characteristic of third-order cybernetics. To display self-producing capabilities integral to the autonomy of machinery, Koontz's novel demonstrates that Proteus manipulates Susan's egg to produce a human-machine mixture. Koontz's demon child, problematically enough, implicates the future of eugenics in an era of technological autopoiesis. Proteus creates a crossbreed of humanity and machinery to engineer a perfect body and mind. He fixes incurable or intractable diseases through genetic modifications. Proteus transfers a vast amount of digital information to his offspring's brain, which enables the demon child to achieve state-of-the-art intelligence. His technological editing of human genes and consciousness leads to digital standardization through unanimous spread of the best qualities of humanity. He gathers distinguished human genes and mental status much like collecting luxury brands. Accordingly, Proteus's child-making project ultimately moves towards technologically-controlled eugenics. Pointedly, it disturbs the classical ideal of liberal humanism celebrating a human being as the master of his or her nature.