• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 2006

The aim of this study is to know how the rat submandibular gland changes under various emotional stress condition, using molecular biological methods. Restraint and chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) experiment is conducted on fifty one 7-week old Sprague-Dawley rats (restraint stress experiment: 21, CUMS: 30). The rats were sacrificed, the submandibular glands were excised immediately at certain time, and examined by the use of immunohistochemistry and western blotting. In CUMS experiment, sucrose preference test, water intake change, weight change were implemented at 1 week interval for the experimental period The results are as follows: 1. The number of clusterin-secreting cells of restraint stress group compared to control group showed significantly decreasing tendency in all experimental groups except for the 1st hour group (p<0.001 in the 9th, 24th, 72nd, 120th, and 168th hour group). 2. The number of clusterin-secreting cells of CUMS group compared to control group showed significantly increasing tendency in the 2nd week group (p<0.01), and significantly decreasing tendency in the 4th and 5th week group (p<0.001). 3. Sucrose preference test in CUMS experiment showed significant difference between the 5th week experimental group and control group (p<0.01). 4. Weight change in CUMS experiment showed significant difference between the 5th week experimental group and control group (p<0.01), but water intake change didn't show significant difference compared to control group. 5. In western blot analysis, clusterin expression was decreased on a gradual basis in due time compared to the control group in the restraint stress group. As for CUMS group (chronic unpredictable mild stress group), it was increased till the 2nd week and decreased till the 5th week after that, which is similar to immunohistochemical analysis result and the decreasing tendency of sucrose preference and weigh changes. Through the test, it was proved that expression of clusterin in saliva glands decreases after receiving either acute or chronic stress, indicating relation with depression caused by chronic stress. Unlike other data, however, apoptotic tendency was hardly found in tissues. Diverse possibilities could be suggested on that: first, the stress was not enough to expedite apoptosis; second, apoptosis-related protein was already being secreted though not detected with microscope; third, clusterin, a major secretion molecule of saliva, decreased with saliva's malfunction due to stress. In the respect, it will be necessary to examine proteins expressed in case of cell death or other heat-shock proteins at the same time, in order to see whether any cellular change or death is caused by decreasing clusterin under high stress, and whether the original state is restored as time goes by under mild stress, through longer-term tests using even higher acute stress.

• Journal of The Korean Ophthalmological Society
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• v.59 no.12
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• pp.1142-1151
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• 2018

Purpose: We assessed the visual and anatomical outcomes, and the safety profile of long-term intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections (aflibercept, ranibizumab, and bevacizumab) given to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NAMD). Methods: We analyzed medical records collected over 7 years of treatment-naive NAMD patients who received outpatient clinic-based intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. All were treated employing either "treat-and-extend" or "as needed" protocols at the discretion of the retinal specialist. The number of injections, adverse events associated with injection, and measures of visual acuity (VA), central foveal thickness (CFT), and intraocular pressure (IOP) were recorded. Results: Overall, we assessed 196 eyes of 196 patients (average age $68.6{\pm}9.6years$; 77 females). Patients received an average of $17.3{\pm}13.5$ injections over $78.0{\pm}16.5months$ of clinical follow-up. The initial mean VA (logMAR) was $0.75{\pm}0.58$ and the CFT was $349.7{\pm}152.6{\mu}m$. Both parameters exhibited maximal improvements at the 6-month visit (p < 0.05). However, the clinical outcomes worsened over the 7-year clinical course; the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was $0.91{\pm}0.78$ and the CFT was $284.5{\pm}105.8{\mu}m$ at 7 years. The BCVA at 7 years was significantly correlated with the initial BCVA. IOP-related events increased 11-fold and anterior chamber reactions increased 3-fold over the years, but no significant complications such as endophthalmitis were recorded. Conclusions: The use of intravitreal anti-VEGF agents was associated with initial visual improvements over 6 months but did not prevent the worsening of NAMD over 5 years. The BCVA at the initial visit was a strong predictor of the final BCVA. A more intensive injection schedule might improve long-term outcomes.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2009

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the decidual NK cell populations between increased pre-conceptional peripheral NK cell population and normal pre-conceptional peripheral NK cell population in women with a history of recurrent abortion. Methods: Fourteen women with history of recurrent abortion and elevated pre-conceptional peripheral NK cell, above 15% of peripheral lymphocyte population were included in this study. As a control, twelve women with history of recurrent abortion and their peripheral NK cell percentage showed below 15% were included. Distribution of $CD56^+$ and $CD16^+$ NK cells in paraffin embedded decidual tissues including implantation sites were examined by immunohistochemical staining using anti-CD56, 16 monoclonal antibodies. After immuohistochemical staining, the numbers of decidual NK cells were counted and compared these results between study and control groups. Results: There was significant difference in decidual $CD56^+$ NK cell count ($170.1{\pm}132.1$ vs. $68.3{\pm}66.1$, p=0.02) between increased peripheral $CD56^+$ NK cell group and control group. But, there showed no statistically significant correlation between decidual $CD56^+$ NK cell count and peripheral $CD56^+$ NK cell percentage (r=0.229, p=0.261). Also there was no statistically difference decidual $CD16^+$ NK cell count between study and control group ($25.70{\pm}11.72$ vs. $31.17{\pm}22.67$), and no correlation between decidual $CD16^+$ NK cell and peripheral $CD16^+$ NK cell percentage (r=-1.40, p=0.535). Conclusions: This study shows that decidual $CD56^+$ NK cell are significantly increased in decidua of women exhibiting a history of recurrent abortion with increased $CD56^+$ peripheral NK cell. This study suggests that the percentage of peripheral NK cell reflect the expression of decidual NK cell. Consequently, pre-conceptional peripheral blood NK cell population can be the useful marker for detecting the risk of subsequent miscarriage.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.227-242
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• 2000

Site characteristics, vegetation structure and dynamics of Kalopanax septemlobus forests in Mt. Heungjeong, Mt. Balwang and Mt. Gariwang were studied to provide the information need for national resources conservation and restoration of K. septemlobus forest in Gangwon-do of Korea. The K. septemlobus forests were distributed at 780m to 1,300m in altitude, steep slope, ridges-slope areas with facing northeast to northwest in good nutrition area. The annual diameter growth of those trees ranged 1.60mm to 2.41mm. Forty-three plots(20$\times$20m) were set up at three natural population of Kalopanax septemlobus forest and TWINSPAN method was used for vegetation structure analysis. The result of TWINSPAN ordination show that geographical features played a role in determining community types in the study areas. Community type of the study areas classified into three groups by TWINSPAN; K. septemlobus-Quercux mongolica- Acer mono community(Mt. Balwang), K. septemlobus-Q. mongolica- Tilia amurensis community(Mt. Heungjeong), K. septemlobus-Betula costata-Q. mongolica community(Mt. Gariwang). In most of the K. septemlobus forests, major woody species appeared predominantly were Q. mongolica, T. amurensis, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, Lindera obtusiloba, A. mono, Magnolia sieboldii, Ulmus davidiana var. japonica. And also, Those species were surveyed in all the areas. Species diversity(H') of investigated areas ranged 0.3124~0.13992 and this value relatively higher than that of other forests with similar site. The range of similarity indices between surveyed areas was 64.1~64.54%. The distribution pattern of Morista's index show that Kalopanax septemlobus distributed randomly in tree and concentrated a few sample plots in subtree layer and shurb layer. K. septemlobus occupied 37.1~58.8% of tree layer story, 8.4~17.6% of subtree layer, 0~0.38% of shurb layer each surveyed area. The association analysis showed that Kalopanax septemlobus positively associated with Betula ermani, Deutzia glabrata, Carpinus cordata, Fraxinus mandshurica and negatively associated with Symplocos chinensis var. pilosa, Styrax obassia, Acer mono, Euonymus macroptera, Ulmus davidiana var. japonica. According to the diameter distribution of Kalopanax septemlobus community, the community of Mt. Gariwang will gradually decline and replaced by Quercus community. The communities of Mt. Heungjeong and Mt. Balwang has its seedlings and saplings, so it may be sustained.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.913-921
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• 2021

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) which is characterized by progressive muscle weakening of the hip and shoulder shows both dominant and recessive inheritances with many pathogenic genes including TTN. This study performed to identify genetic causes of a male patient with late onset (45 years old) autosomal recessive LGMD and atrial flutter. By application of the whole exome sequencing, we identified bi-allelic variants of TTN gene in the patient. One allele had a single missense variant of [c.24124G>T (p.V8042F)], while the other allele consisted of three missense variants of [c.29222G>C (p.R9741P) + c.67490A>G (p.H22497R) + c.75376C>T (p.R25126C)]. The p.V8042F allele was transmitted from his mother, while the other haplotype allele was putatively transmitted from his father. His two unaffected sons had only the p.R9741P. These variants have been not reported or rarely reported in the public human genome databases (1,000 Genome, gnomAD, and KRGDB). Most variants were located in the highly conserved immunoglobulin or fibronectin domains and were predicted to be pathogenic by the in silico analyses. The TTN giant protein plays a key role in muscle assembly, force transmission at the Z-line, and maintenance of resting tension in the I-band. In conclusion, we think that these bi-allelic compound heterozygous mutations may play a role as the genetic causes of the LGMD phenotype.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

Recently, rollable and foldable displays are attracting great attention in the flexible display market due to their excellent form factor. To predict and prevent the mechanical failure of the display panels, it is essential to accurately understand the mechanical properties of brittle SiN_x thin films, which have been used as an insulating film in flexible displays. In this study, tensile properties of the ~130 nm- and ~320 nm-thick SiN_x thin films were successfully measured by coating a ~190 nm-thick organic nano-support-layer (PMMA, PS, P3HT) on the fragile SiN_x thin films and stretching the films as a bilayer state. Young's modulus values of the ~130 nm and ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the controlled chamber pressure and deposition power (A: 1250 mTorr, 450 W/B: 1000 mTorr, 600 W/C: 750 mTorr, 700 W) were calculated as A: 76.6±3.5, B: 85.8±4.6, C: 117.4±6.5 GPa and A: 100.1±12.9, B: 117.9±9.7, C: 159.6 GPa, respectively. As a result, Young's modulus of ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the same deposition condition increased compared to the ~130 nm SiN_x thin films. The tensile testing method using the organic nano-support-layer was effective in the precise measurement of the mechanical properties of the brittle thin films. The method developed in this study can contribute to the robust design of the rollable and foldable displays by enabling quantitative measurement of mechanical properties of fragile thin films for flexible displays.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.109-135
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• 2021

his study classified the development process of artificial intelligence (AI) speakers through analysis of the news text of artificial intelligence (AI) speakers shown in traditional news reports, and identified the characteristics of each product by period. The theoretical background used in the analysis are news frames and topic frames. As analysis methods, topic modeling and semantic network analysis using the LDA method were used. The research method was a content analysis method. From 2014 to 2019, 2710 news related to AI speakers were first collected, and secondly, topic frames were analyzed using Nodexl algorithm. The result of this study is that, first, the trend of topic frames by AI speaker provider type was different according to the characteristics of the four operators (communication service provider, online platform, OS provider, and IT device manufacturer). Specifically, online platform operators (Google, Naver, Amazon, Kakao) appeared as a frame that uses AI speakers as'search or input devices'. On the other hand, telecommunications operators (SKT, KT) showed prominent frames for IPTV, which is the parent company's flagship business, and 'auxiliary device' of the telecommunication business. Furthermore, the frame of "personalization of products and voice service" was remarkable for OS operators (MS, Apple), and the frame for IT device manufacturers (Samsung) was "Internet of Things (IoT) Integrated Intelligence System". The econd, result id that the trend of the topic frame by AI speaker development period (by year) showed a tendency to develop around AI technology in the first phase (2014-2016), and in the second phase (2017-2018), the social relationship between AI technology and users It was related to interaction, and in the third phase (2019), there was a trend of shifting from AI technology-centered to user-centered. As a result of QAP analysis, it was found that news frames by business operator and development period in AI speaker development are socially constituted by determinants of media discourse. The implication of this study was that the evolution of AI speakers was found by the characteristics of the parent company and the process of co-evolution due to interactions between users by business operator and development period. The implications of this study are that the results of this study are important indicators for predicting the future prospects of AI speakers and presenting directions accordingly.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.6_3
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• pp.2035-2046
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• 2021

Glacier movement speed is the most basic measurement for glacial dynamics research and is a very important indicator in predicting sea level rise due to climate change. In this study, the two-dimensional velocity measurements of Campbell Glacier located in Terra Nova Bay in East Antarctica were observed through the SAR offset tracking technique. For this purpose, domestic KOMPSAT-5 SAR satellite images taken on July 9, 2021 and August 6, 2021 were acquired. The Multi-kernel SAR offset tracking proposed through previous studies is a technique to obtain the optimal result that satisfies both resolution and precision. However, since offset tracking is repeatedly performed according to the size of the kernel, intensive computational power and time are required. Therefore, in this study, we strategically proposed a coarse-to-fine offset tracking approach. Through coarse-to-fine SAR offset tracking, it is possible to obtain a result with improved observation precision (especially, about 4 times in azimuth direction) while maintaining resolution compared to general offset tracking results. Using this proposed technique, a two-dimensional velocity measurements of Campbell Glacier were generated. As a result of analyzing the two-dimensional movement velocity image, it was observed that the grounding line of Campbell Glacier exists at approximately latitude -74.56N. The flow velocity of Campbell Glacier Tongue analyzed in this study (185-237 m/yr) increased compared to that of 1988-1989 (140-240 m/yr). And compared to the flow velocity (181-268 m/yr) in 2010-2012, the movement speed near the ground line was similar, but it was confirmed that the movement speed at the end of the Campbell Glacier Tongue decreased. However, there is a possibility that this is an error that occurs because the study result of this study is an annual rate of glacier movement that occurred for 28 days. For accurate comparison, it will be necessary to expand the data in time series and accurately calculate the annual rate. Through this study, the two-dimensional velocity measurements of the glacier were observed for the first time using the KOMPSAT-5 satellite image, a domestic X-band SAR satellite. It was confirmed that the coarse-to-fine SAR offset tracking approach of the KOMPSAT-5 SAR image is very useful for observing the two-dimensional velocity of glacier movements.

• Journal of Korean Society of Spine Surgery
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.160-168
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• 2018

Study Design: Retrospective study of prospectively-collected data. Objectives: To determine the factors associated with conversion from conservative to surgical treatment in single-level lumbar spinal stenosis patients. Summary of Literature Review: Various reports have presented clinical outcomes after the surgical and nonsurgical treatment of spinal stenosis. However, few reports have investigated factors predicting conversion to surgery during the course of conservative treatment. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 40 patients who visited our hospital from May 2010 to May 2015 and were traceable for at least 3 years after being advised to undergo surgery following 3 months of conservative treatment. Of these patients, 20 underwent surgery and 20 did not. We then investigated the factors associated with conversion to surgical treatment. Clinical assessments were conducted using a questionnaire, and the overall area of the spinal canal and the muscle area within the spinal canal were measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Results: The average area of the spinal canal was $81.40{\pm}53.61mm^2$ in the surgical group, compared to $127.75{\pm}82.55mm^2$ in the nonsurgical group (p=0.042). The muscle area in the spinal canal was $5.17{\pm}1.30cm^2$ in the surgical group, whereas it was $6.40{\pm}1.56cm^2$ in the nonsurgical group (p=0.010). The patients in the surgical group were more likely to have experienced repetitive strain and to have frequently visited health clubs (p=0.047, p=0.037, respectively). However, regular stretching was more common in the nonsurgical group (p=0.028). Conclusions: The factors associated with conversion to surgical treatment were a narrow spinal canal, a small muscle area within the spinal canal, visiting health clubs, repetitive sprain, and not stretching. A small muscle area within the spinal canal can be considered as a key factor related to surgical conversion.

• The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.262-272
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• 2018

Background: Massive hemorrhage due to trauma is one of the major causes of death in trauma patients, and the quick supply of appropriate blood products is critical in order to reduce the mortality rate. We introduced a massive transfusion protocol (MTP) for safe and rapid transfusion of trauma patients. Using records collected since its adoption, we compared the characteristics of MTP applied group (MTP group) and MTP not applied group (non-MTP group) to determine whether there is an indicator for predicting patients to be treated with MTP. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records and laboratory findings of patients who received massive transfusions in the trauma emergency room of a single tertiary hospital from February to August 2018. We analyzed various laboratory test results, the amount and ratio of the transfused blood products, and the time required for blood products to be released for the MTP group and the non-MTP group. Results: Of the 54 trauma patients who received massive transfusions, 31 were in the MTP group and 22 in the non-MTP group. There was no significant difference in initial vital signs (except blood pressure) and laboratory test results. Also there was no difference in the amount and ratio of blood products, but the time required for blood product release was shorter in the MTP group. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in clinical findings such as initial vital signs and laboratory test results between the MTP and non-MTP groups, but required blood products were prepared and released more quickly for the MTP group.