• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.1036-1045
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• 2023

Sarcopenia, a condition characterized by the insidious loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, represents a significant and growing healthcare challenge, impacting the mobility and quality of life of aging populations worldwide. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of soybean leaf extract (SL) for dexamethasone (Dexa)-induced muscle atrophy in vitro and in an in vivo model. In vitro experiments showed that SL significantly alleviated Dexa-induced atrophy in C2C12 myotube cells, as evidenced by preserved myotube morphology, density, and size. Moreover, SL treatment significantly reduced the mRNA and protein levels of muscle RING-finger protein-1 (MuRF1) and muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx), key factors regulating muscle atrophy. In a Dexa-induced atrophy mouse model, SL administration significantly inhibited Dexa-induced weight loss and muscle wasting, preserving the mass of the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles. Furthermore, mice treated with SL exhibited significant improvements in muscle function compared to their counterparts suffering from Dexa-induced muscle atrophy, as evidenced by a notable increase in grip strength and extended endurance on treadmill tests. Moreover, SL suppressed the expression of muscle atrophy-related proteins in skeletal muscle, highlighting its protective role against Dexa-induced muscle atrophy. These results suggest that SL has potential as a natural treatment for muscle-wasting conditions, such as sarcopenia.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.230-236
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• 2010

Jeju Island is a volanic island which is located about 96 km south of Korean Peninsula. Volcanic ejecta, and volcaniclastic materials are widespread as soil parent materials throughout the island. Soils on the island have the characteristics of typical volcanic ash soils. This study was conducted to reclassify Jeju series based on the second edition of Soil Taxonomy and to discuss the formation of Jeju series in Jeju Island. Morphological properties of typifying pedon of Jeju series were investigated, and physico-chemical properties were analyzed according to Soil survey laboratory methods manual. The typifying pedon has dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt clay loam A horizon (0~22 cm), strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) silty clay BAt horizon (22~43 cm), brown (7.5YR 4/4) silty clay Bt1 horizon (43~80 cm), brown (7.5YR 4/6) silty clay loamBt2 horizon (80~105 cm), and brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam Bt3 horizon (105~150 cm). It is developed in elevated lava plain, and are derived from basalt, and pyroclastic materials. The typifying pedon contains 1.3~2.1% oxalate extractable (Al + 1/2 Fe), less than 85%phosphate retention, and higher bulk density than 0.90 Mg $m^{-3}$. That can not be classified as Andisol. But it has an argillic horizon from a depth of 22 to 150 cm, and a base saturation (sum of cations) of less than 35% at 125 cm below the upper boundary of the argillic horizon. That can be classified as Ultisol, not as Andisol. Its has 0.9% or more organic carbon in the upper 15 cm of the argillic horizon, and can be classified as Humult. It dose not have fragipan, kandic horizon, sombric horizon, plinthite, etc. in the given depths, and key out as Haplohumult. A hoizon (0~22 cm) has a fine-earth fraction with both a bulk density of 1.0 Mg $cm^{-3}$ or less, and Al plus 1/2 Fe percentages (by ammonium oxalate) totaling more than 1.0. Thus, it keys out as Andic Haplohumult. It has 35% or more clay at the particle-size control section, and has thermic soil temperature regime. Jeju series can be classified as fine, mixed, themic family of Andic Haplohumults, not as ashy, thermic family of Typic Hapludands. In the western, and northern coastal areas which have a relatively dry climate in Jeju Island, non Andisols are widely distributed. Mean annual precipitation increase 110 mm, and mean annual temperature decrease $0.8^{\circ}C$ with increasing elevation of 100m. In the western, and northern mid-mountaineous areas Andisols, and non Andisols are distributed simultaneously. Jeju series distributed mainly in the western and northern mid-mountaineous areas are developed as Ultisols with Andic subgroup.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.291-298
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• 2007

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of TI-201 SPECT with intra coronary injection (lC-I) in the detection of viable myocardium, we have performed SPECT imaging after direct intracoronary injection of TI-201 and images were compared with those of stress-reinjection (Re-I) SPECT. Methods: Fourteen coronary artery disease patients (male 11, mean age 54 years) who had myocardial infarction or demonstrated left ventricular wall motion abnormality on echocardiography were enrolled. Three mCi of TI-201 was injected into both coronary arteries during angiography and images were acquired between 6- and 24-hour after injection. Reinjection imaging with 1 mCi of TI-201 was performed at 4-hour after adenosine stress imaging with 3 mCi of TI-201. Images were interpreted according to 4-grade visual scoring system (grade 0-3). Segments with mild to moderated uptake (${\leq}$grade 1), and upgraded more than one score with reinjection, and were defined as viable myocardium. Results: Image quality was poor in two cases with IC-I. Numbers of non-viable segments were 60 (23.8%) with IC-I, and 38 (15.1%) with Re-I, respectively. Overall agreement for perfusion grade per myocardial segment in each IC-I and Re-I was 76.5%. Overall agreement for viable segment between IC-I and Re-I was 90.5%. Only one out of 38 segments interpreted as non-viable with Re-I were interpretated as viable with IC-I. And 23 out of 214 segments interpreted as viable with Re-I were interpreted as non-viable with IC-I. Conclusion: Intracoronary TI-201 SPECT seemed to be not advantageous over stress-rest reinjection imaging in the assessment of myocardial viability, mainly due to low count statistics at 6-hour or 24-hour delayed time points. The feasibility of intracoronary TI- 201 SPECT is considered to be limited.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.41-75
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• 2004

This research discusses how to improve the current environment for record management in relation to the Revision of the Law of Record Management in South Korea. Three major issues are: 1) Legal status of the National Archives & Records Service of Korea as the government institution in charge of managing centrally records, 2) System for the education and training of professionals who specialize in record management, and 3) Foundation of the national museum and archives of records. Findings are as follows: First, the existing 'National Office of Records' as the government institution in charge of managing records, should be promoted to the 'National Archives & Records Service of Korea' in order to be administered by the class of a vice-minister in the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs. Second, the qualification criteria which currently requires the Master's degree of Record Management, should be modified to include the Bachelor's degree in the field in order to expand the pool of professional human resources. Also, to hire the public officials for record management, either the positions of 'researcher/record manager group' should be created, or the existing positions of librarian, archivist, and record manager should be integrated into the new position of 'record culture group'. Third, the most significant task for the office of record management of local governments is to inherit and further develop the traditional culture and documentary legacy which are unique to those local communities and governments at various levels, and a priority should be given to those tasks. Therefore, when the Law of Record Management will be later revised, the establishment of the office of record management for local governments at every level should be required, and the museum and archives of records should be also established as a significant part of the institution. Unique local culture and history of particular communities should be collected and preserved in systematically specialized and differentiated ways in those institutions of record management, and the names should be uniquely given to the institutions according to the characteristics of local governments.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.97-117
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• 2005

This study was designed to compare the differences m results of supervisor and subordinate rating. Data was collected from personnel evaluation and subordinate rating results for middle managers(n=68) in hospital from 3rd January to 20th March in 2004. Supervisor rating consisted of performance, ability and attitude evaluation. Subordinate rating consisted of leadership, ability and attitude evaluation. Collected data included sociodemographic characteristics, work department, work level, years of work, years at present level and whether working in a patient serving department. The difference of standardized supervisor and subordinate rating score was used to define groups as 'higher in supervisor rating group'. Groups were defined in total score, ability score and attitude score. Main results were as follows: 1. In total score, sectional chiefs were apt to be 'higher in subordinate rating group' while chief clerks were apt to be 'similar group' or 'higher in supervisor rating group'. Staffs in patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in supervisor rating group' and staffs in non-patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in subordinate rating group'. All these results were statistically significant. 2. In ability score, there were no statistically significant differences in age, sex, years of education, work department, work level, years of work and whether working in a patient serving department among 'higher in supervisor rating group', 'similar group' and 'higher in subordinate rating group'. 3. In attitude score, staffs in the department of medical affairs and the department of administration were apt to be 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Staffs in the department of nursing were apt to be 'higher in supervisor rating group'. Staffs in a patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in supervisor rating group' and staffs in a non-patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in subordinate rating group'. All these results were statistically significant. 4. Logistic analysis about total score showed that sectional chiefs had higher Odds Ratio(OR) to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Staffs in a non-patient serving department had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Both these results were statistically significant. 5. Logistic analysis about ability score showed that sectional chiefs had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Staffs in a non-patient serving department had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. These results were not statistically significant. 6. Logistic analysis about total score showed that sectional chiefs had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group', but the difference was not statistically significant. Staffs in a non-patient serving department had significantly higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. In conclusion, there is no clear superiority between supervisor and subordinate rating in personnel evaluation. It would be better to use a mixed model. It's also suggested to use an intervening rate of application or scores considering work levels and work department in personnel evaluation. These results would be helpful for hospitals planning a supervisor and subordinate rating system for personnel evaluation.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.637-652
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• 2015

In the present work, a number of three-dimensional (3D) parametric numerical analyses have been carried out to study the influence of tunnelling on the behaviour of adjacent piles considering the transverse distance of the pile tip from the tunnel. Single piles and $5{\times}5$ piles inside a group with a spacing of 2.5d were considered, where d is the pile diameter. In the numerical modelling, several key issues, such as the tunnelling-induced pile settlements, the interface shear stresses, the relative shear displacements, the axial pile forces, the apparent factors of safety and zone of influence have been rigorously analysed. It has been found that when the piles are inside the influence zone, the pile head settlements are increased up to about 111% compared to those computed from the Greenfield condition. Larger pile settlements and smaller axial pile forces are induced on the piles inside the pile groups than those computed from the single piles since the piles responded as a block with the surrounding ground. Also tensile pile forces are induced associated with the upward resisting skin friction at the upper part of pile and the downward acting skin friction at the lower part of pile. On the contrary, when the piles were outside the influence zone, tunnelling-induced compressive pile forces developed. Based on computed load and displacement relation of the pile, the apparent factor of safety of the piles was reduced up to about 45%. Therefore the serviceability of the piles may be substantially reduced. The pile behaviour, when considering the single piles and the pile groups with regards to the influence zone, has been analysed by considering the key features in great details.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2011

One of the major reasons for fierce competition among firms is that they strive to increase their own market shares in the same market with similar and apparently undifferentiated products in terms of quality and perceived benefit. Due to such changes in the marketing environment, differentiated after-sales service and diversified promotion strategies have become more important in the race to gain a competitive advantage. Price discount is one of the popular promotion strategies that most retailers use, especially to increase sales, but offering a price discount does not always lead to the expected result. If marketers apply an identical price-promotion strategy without considering the characteristic differences in products and consumer preferences, the discounted price itself may make people skeptical about the quality of the product. Moreover, the changes in perceived value may appear differently depending on factors such as consumer involvement. This implies that variables such as the level of consumer involvement, brand loyalty, and external reference prices, in reality, would have different effects on how consumers perceive the value of price discounts. The variables that affect consumers' perceived values and buying decisions are diverse and complicated. Several studies have examined the effects of such variables as external reference price, selling price, and brand on consumers' perceived value of products. Results have not shown consistent patterns. Therefore, we must note that the factors affecting consumers' value perceptions and buying behaviors are diverse and that the results of studies on the same dependent variable come out differently depending on what that variable is. This study focused on the level of consumer involvement as a salient variable that supposedly affects the perceived value of a product, willingness to buy, and search intentions. We tried to examine whether a price discount affects the perceived value-such as perceived acquisition value and perceived transaction value-in different ways depending on the level of consumer involvement. In addition, we proposed managerial implications that marketers need to consider as a whole, for instance, product attributes, brand loyalty, and involvement and then established a differentiated pricing strategy, case by case, in order to effectively enhance consumers' perceived values. As a result, we found that perceived transaction value positively affects perceived acquisition value and when discounting the price of a high-involvement product enhances the consumer's willingness to buy, but perceived acquisition value does not affect the search intentions significantly. In the case of discounting prices of low-involvement products, on the other hand, the perceived transaction value has a positive effect on the willingness to buy, but the negative effect of perceived acquisition value on the search intentions was not significant. We suppose that people doubt a product's quality because of a declined perceived quality derived from a price discount. Even though the price discount enhanced the transaction value, people eventually increased their level of searching for additional product information. From the results of this study, we suggest that marketers ought to establish an appropriate value-enhancing strategy based on the understanding of which perceived value consumers rely on more when they conduct purchasing behavior because consumers perceive the degree of importance of acquisition value or transaction value differently, depending on their level of involvement.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.72-81
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to verify whether SCB(Slurry Composting & Bio-filtration) system can be applied for the treatment of anaerobic digestion(AD) wastewater and also, to identify the most effective set among three filtration compost beds tested. Results can be summarized as these; (a) When AD wastewater was sprayed on the top of beds which were mainly composed of sawdust and/or other media and, subsequently, filtrates collected and analyzed, there were large drop in the values of Electric Conductivity(EC), Total Suspended Solid(TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand(BOD), and Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD). In contrast, Total Nitrgen(T-N) and Total Phosphorus(T-P) were progressively elevated. We consider these changes as positive if the filtrate are to be utilized as liquid fertilizer. (b) When three sets of filtration beds (T1, T2, T3) were compared for their effectiveness, no significant difference was found among them. These indicate that expensive sawdust can be replaced in part with cheaper media such as woodchip, rice husks, or others. (c) At early stage of operation (within 20 days), BOD in filtrates were maintained at high level probably due to the lack of microbial activity. During the same stage, T-N, T-P was at low level but, were elevated to higher levels thereafter. These data, when combined, indicate that the filtration system needs at least a couple of weeks for the optimized microbial functioning. (d) The temperatures of the experimental beds were progressively dropped as the experiment continued through the fall season, although filtration effectiveness was not noticeably influenced.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.94 no.1 s.158
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• pp.11-15
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• 2005

Fruit characteristics, saccharinity, and antioxidative activity of selected clones of Rubus coreanus, grown in Korea, well-known as edible and medical resources, frequently used and which has an excellent pharmacological activity are examined and analyzed. The results obtained from this study can be summarized as follows; Result of surveying characteristics for the fruit and saccharinity variation by collection time, there are some meaningful differences between examined clones and the collection time, exception of the fruit width. From the clones, SG 3 is the biggest in size, the highest in the saccharinity out of five clones, on the other hand, CJ 18 and SH 3 are the opposite. Meanwhile, comparing examined saccharinity factor with maximum temperature and precipitation out of daily climates at Suwon Meteorological Observatory at the same period, on the day the highest temperature is $29.5^{\circ}C$, saccharinity distinctively ascends, but on the day the precipitation is recorded 121.5 mm and next day, the saccharinity descends. Also, five-day saccharinity until the precipitation lower than 0.1 mm per day shows from 10.4 to 11.5 Brix higher than the average saccharinity of 9.7 Brix. Fifteen clones including CA 6 about fruit characteristics in terms of collection layer and saccharinity variation were examined, there is significantly difference among examined clones, but about the collection layer, only saccharinity factor has meaningful significance. For clones, MJ 11 is the biggest and excellent character of 15 clones but the saccharinity, 10.3 Brix lows a bit, MC 9 and HAE 5 are the worst fruit in character but saccharinity is 13.4 Brix and 10.6 Brix which is higher than the average saccharinity of 9.8 Brix. About saccharinity for the collection layer, the fruit average saccharinity, collected from the upper layer which is good at lightness and temperature condition, is 10.2 Brix which shows higher than the one of the fruit, 9.7 Bix and 9.5 Brix collected from the middle or the lower layer. The saccharinity of fruit collected from the middle or the lower layer is lower than the average saccharinity of 9.8 Brix out of 15 surveyed clones. Surveying antioxidative activity resulted from free radical scavenging activity about 30 clones of fruit in total, there is difference between surveyed clones. Especially, Immatured fruit extracts exhibited higher free radical scavenging activity of 94.5 to 97.5% which indicates the similarity to Ascorbic acid, unlike other clones, on the concentration of 250 to 1,000 ppm.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.211-219
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• 2020

Quercetin is a polyphenol compound with excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, little has been reported about the efficacy of quercetin to control psoriasis. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of quercetin to regulate psoriatic dermatitis with HaCaT cell lines activated by TNF-α and IL-17A, which are in vitro psoriasis skin models. When quercetin was treated with TNF-α-activated HaCaT cell line, inflammatory cytokine expressions such as IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6 were reduced by 49.1±7.14, 42.8±8.16, and 34.5±2.52%, respectively. In addition, mRNA expression levels of IL-8 and CCL20 the chemokines that attract immune cells such as Th17 cells and dendritic cells to the inflammatory reaction site, were also reduced by 38.4±5.83 and 52.9±4.59% compared to the TNF-α treatment group. The expression of proteins KRT6A and KRT16, which was nonspecifically increased in psoriatic skin was also significantly suppressed. Moreover, phosphorylation of IκBα and STAT3 proteins activated by TNF-α was also significantly inhibited. After stimulating the HaCaT with IL-17A, known as another psoriasis-inducing cytokine, it was observed that IκBα mRNA expression decreased by 55.8±5.28%, and STAT3 phosphorylation was downregulated by 36.3±6.81%. Finally, after co-activation by TNF-α/IL-17A, quercetin inhibited all of IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and CCL20 gene expression. The above results strongly suggest that quercetin is a material that has not only anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, but also has an activity in improving psoriasis.