• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.9-20
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• 1999

The genetic defects in human gametes and embryos can cause adverse effects on overall reproductive events. Biopsy of embryos for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) offers a new possibility of having children free of the genetic disease. In addition, advanced embryo culture method may enhance the effectiveness of embryo biopsy for the practical application of PGD. This experimental study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of coculture on the development in vitro of biopsied mouse embryos as a preclinical model for PGD of human embryos. Embryos were obtained after in vitro fertilization (IVF) from F1 hybrid mice (C57BLfemale/CBAmale). Using micromanipulation, 1, 2, 3 or 4 blastomeres of 8-cell stage embryos were aspirated through a hole made in the zona pellucida by zona drilling (ZD) with acidic Tyrode's solution (ATS). After biopsy of blastomeres, embryos were cultured in vitro for 110 hours in Ham's F-10 supplemented with 0.4% BSA or cocultured on the monolayer of Vero cells in the same medium. The frequence of blastocyst formation were recorded, and the embryos beyond blastocyst stage were stained with 10% Giemsa to count the total number of nuclei in each embryo. There was no significant difference in the blastocyst formation between the zona intact control group and the zona drilling (ZD) only, or biopsied groups. The hatching rate of all the treatment groups except 4/8 group was significantly higher than that of control group. In all the treatment groups, there was a significant reduction in the mean cell number of embryos beyond blastocyst stage ($50.2{\pm}14.0$ in control group vs. $41.2{\pm}7.9$ in ZD, $39.3{\pm}8.8$ in 7/8, $29.7{\pm}6.4$ in 6/8, $25.1{\pm}5.7$ in 5/8, and $22.1{\pm}4.3$ in 4/8 groups, p<0.05). When the same treatments were followed by coculture with Vero cells, a similar pattern was seen in the blastocyst formation and the hatching rate. However, in all the treatment groups, there was a significant increase in the mean cell number of embryos beyond blastocyst stage with coculture, compared with the parallel groups without coculture. In the cleavage rate of biopsied blastomeres cultured for 110 hours after IVF, there was no significant difference between coculture and non-coculture groups (87.2% vs. 78.7%). However, the mean cell number of embryos developed from the biopsied blastomeres was significantly higher in coculture group ($11.5{\pm}4.7\;vs.\;5.9{\pm}1.9$, p<0.05). In conclusion, biopsy of mouse embryos after ZD with ATS is a safe and highly efficient method for PGD, and coculture with Vero cells showed a positive effect on the development in vitro of biopsied mouse embryos and blastomeres as a preclinical model for PGD of human embryos.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.710-718
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• 2021

Placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) are promising candidates for cell-based therapy in regenerative medicine. The migration and homing potential of PD-MSCs to injured sites is a critical property of MSC engraftment. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been shown to regulate the critical functions of MSCs, such as proliferation, survival, and migration. The objective of the present study was to identify the miRNA and target genes involved in PD-MSCs homing in a bile duct ligation (BDL) rat model. We selected candidate miRNAs targeting genes for PD-MSCs homing based on microarray analysis. PD-MSC engraftment in BDL-injured rat liver was identified by immunofluorescence assay and human-specific Alu gene expression by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) one week after transplantation. Compared with migrated naïve PD-MSCs under hypoxic and normoxic conditions (Hyp/Nor), the transplanted group with PD-MSCs (Tx) showed distinct differences in miRNA expressions in BDL-injured rat liver. We also validated the miRNAs and their target genes for PD-MSCs homing. The expressions of integrin α4 (ITGA4) and integrin α5 (ITGA5) target genes for miR-199a-5p and miR-148a-3p were significantly upregulated in the Tx group (p<0.05). In addition, integrin β1 (ITGB1) and integrin β8 (ITGB8) were upregulated by suppressing miR-183-5p and miR-145-5p, respectively. These results demonstrated that PD-MSCs regulate miRNA expression related to the integrin family for their homing effects on the BDL-injured rat liver. The findings further suggest that miRNA-mediated regulation of the integrin family contributes to the therapeutic efficacy of PD-MSCs in the rat hepatic fibrosis model by BDL.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.268-284
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• 1995

This study was designed to test effects of nursing ethics education (NEE) on moral reasoning and ethical decision making of subjects. This NEE that was teached for 10 hours course was composed of these : Nurses' ethical code, moral responsibility, Moral value and professional accountability, Respect for human life, General ethics, Theory and Norms of biomedical ethics, Ethical decision making model and Discussion about hypothetical ethical dilemmas Twenty-five senior student nurses were sampled from four year college of nursing from Nov. 3rd, 1993 to Nov. 24th, 1993. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires included two kinds of tests. Rest's Defining Issues Test was adopted to measure the stage of moral development, which was classified with the stage 2 (instrumental relativist orientation), the stage 3 (interpersonal concordance), the stage 4 (law and order), the stage 5A (societal consensus), and the stage 5B (intuitional humanism), the stage 6 (universal ethical practice). In particular, the level of principled thinking (P) was measured by summing these scores of the stages 5A, 5B, and 6. The possible range of P is 0 to 95. As for measuring the levels of morality and nursing dilemma, Crisham's Nursing Dilemma Test was adopted. This test generated the morality score(MS) and the dilemma score (DS). The data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, Mc Nemar's test and Pearson correlation coefficients. The results were as follows ; 1. For the Moral Reasoning both before and after NEE, The Mean score of the stage 5A was significantly higher than that of other stages.(P=0.0001) Before NEE, the mean score of the stage 4 was significantly different from stage 2, 3, 5A, and after NEE, different from stage 2, 5B,6. 2. The analysis of change of moral development level revealed that the score of stage 4 increased after NEE.(P=0.0004) 3. The Effect of NEE for the mean score of 5A, 6, P after education was significantly different by birth place. 4. With regard to the five dilemmas postulated such as forcing medication performing cardiac pulmonary resuscitation, reporting a medication error, informing diagnosis to terminally ill adult, and providing new-nurse orientation, the mean score of the MS and the DS was no significant difference with general characteristics of the students. Effect of NEE morality score and dilemma score after education was no significant difference. 5. As for the correlations between moral reasoning and decision making, the score of the stage 2, 5A, 6, DS was positively correlated with the scores of before and after. Positive correlation was also observed between the scores of stage 2 and stage 4, stage 3 and 6. On the other hand, the score of P was negatively correlated with the scores of stage 2 and of stage 4 and of stage 5A. The score of the stage 5A was also negatively correlated with the score of the sge 6.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.115-123
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• 2020

In this paper, we propose to evaluate the potential anti-inflammatory properties of root bark extract of Cudrania (C.) tricuspidata on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in macrophages of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout (ApoE^-/-) mice, murine model of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a chronic vascular inflammatory disease. C. tricuspidata is a small tree of the Moraceae family and its extract has anti-inflammatory activities. However, its role in the progress of atherosclerosis is not yet clear. To determine anti-inflammatory effects of C. tricuspidata in atherogenesis, we applied LPS in peritoneal macrophages of ApoE^-/- mice and measured cell viability by CCK-8 and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines by qRT-PCR following treatment with root bark extract of C. tricuspidata. Research data was expressed as differences between the cells treated with LPS and root bark extract and the cells treated with LPS alone (control) by a two-tailed non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test using GraphPad Instat program. No cytotoxic effect was observed when the cells were treated with the extract at concentrations ≤ 100 ㎍/mL. The expression of inflammatory cytokines, including MCP-1, IL-1β, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-6 were inhibited by the extract. These results indicated that the extract has an anti-inflammatory effect and therefore a possible role in the treatment of atherosclerosis.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.7-17
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• 2009

The precise analysis of exercise data for designing an effective rehabilitation system is very important as a feedback for planing the next exercising step. Many subjective and reliable research outcomes that were obtained by analysis and evaluation for the human motor ability by various methods of biomechanical experiments have been introduced. Most of them include quantitative analysis based on basic statistical methods, which are not practical enough for application to real clinical problems. In this situation, data mining technology can be a promising approach for clinical decision support system by discovering meaningful hidden rules and patterns from large volume of data obtained from the problem domain. In this research, in order to find relational rules between posture training type and muscle activation pattern, we investigated an application of the WAR(Weishted Association Rule) to the biomechanical data obtained mainly for evaluation of postural control ability. The discovered rules can be used as a quantitative prior knowledge for expert's decision making for rehabilitation plan. The discovered rules can be used as a more qualitative and useful priori knowledge for the rehabilitation and clinical expert's decision-making, and as a index for planning an optimal rehabilitation exercise model for a patient.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2020

This study was undertaken to examine the effects and to investigate the relevant mechanisms of overexpressing stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) produced by engineered mesenchymal stem cells, in a neurogenic bladder (NB) rat model. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (N=48) were randomly divided into 4 groups comprising 12 rats each: control group, Injury group, Injury+imMSC group, and Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group. Rats in the Injury+imMSC group were treated with imMSCs, whereas the Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group were administered SDF-1 eMSCs. After 4-weeks therapy, the bladder and pelvic nerve (PN) tissues were examined by subjecting to Masson's trichrome staining and immunofluorescence. Administration of SDF-1 eMSC resulted in improved smooth muscle content in the bladder tissue, significantly increased β-III tubulin expression of the PN, and enhanced SDF-1 expression (P<0.05). The bladder wall repair can be attributed to the overexpression of SDF-1 by SDF-1 eMSCs. Significantly increased SDF-1 expression was obtained in the Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group (P<0.05). The crushed PN also showed significant recovery in the Injury+SDF-1 eMSC group (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results indicate that SDF-1 eMSCs express more SDF-1 in vivo, thereby facilitating the repair of injured nerve and recovery of NB in rats.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2020

While liver histopathology is heterogeneous in diabetes, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated whether glycemic variation resulting from differential diets can induce heterogeneity in diabetic liver and the underlying molecular mechanisms. We generated end-stage non-obese diabetic model rats by subtotal-pancreatectomy in male Sprague-Dawley rats and ad libitum diet for 7 weeks (n = 33). The rats were then divided into three groups, and fed a standard- or a low-protein diet (18 or 6 kcal%, respectively), for another 7 weeks: to maintain hyperglycemia, 11 rats were fed ad libitum (18AL group); to achieve euglycemia, 11 were calorie-restricted (18R group), and 11 were both calorie- and protein-restricted with the low-protein diet (6R group). Overnight-fasted liver samples were collected after the differential diets together with sham-control (18S group), and histology and molecular changes were compared. Hyperglycemic-18AL showed glycogenic hepatopathy (GH) without steatosis, with the highest GSK-3β inactivation because of Akt activation during hyperglycemia; mitochondrial function was not impaired, compared to the 18S group. Euglycemic-18R showed neither GH nor steatosis, with intermediate GSK-3β activation and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, euglycemic-6R showed both GH and steatosis despite the highest GSK-3β activity and no molecular evidence of increased lipogenesis or decreased ApoB expression, where mitochondrial dysfunction was highest among the groups. In conclusion, heterogeneous liver histopathology developed in end-stage non-obese diabetic rats as the glycemic levels varied with differential diets, in which protein content in the diets as well as glycemic levels differentially influenced GSK-3β activity and mitochondrial function in insulin-deficient state.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.371-384
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• 2012

Objectives : The meridian system is a systematic complex of empirical knowledge, which functions as a basis of acupuncture treatment. In this article, we reviewed the visualization methods of meridian and acupuncture points through the investigation of the characteristics of Diagram of Meridians, Mingtang Diagram, Diagram of Meridians and Collaterals, Bronze Statues and Diagram of Bronze Statue. Methods : We investigated the characteristics of Diagram of Meridians, Mingtang Diagram, Diagram of Meridians and Collaterals, and Bronze Statues. We reviewed the visualization methods of meridian and acupuncture points in those classical Diagrams and analyzed their relationships among them. Results : In order to explain the meridian and acupuncture points easily, ancient people usually used drawings which are named Mingtang Diagram, Diagram of Meridians and Collaterals, by their own characteristics. Owing to their limitations of drawings on the 2 dimensional plane, Chinese people designed the Bronze Statue for Acu-moxibustion and its first invention was invented in Tiansheng age of Song dynasty. For several decades and centuries, these models and drawings were inherited, also reflecting variations of meridian system. As the Bronze Statue has a deficiency in the educational use because of its limitations of mass production, Diagram of Bronze Statue drawn on the 2 dimensional plane was invented. At the beginning of Mingtang Diagram, Diagram of Meridians and Collaterals, Diagram of Bronze Statue and Bronze Statue, their own characteristics were significantly differed with other diagrams and statues. We found that both diagrams and statues were gradually combined with description of the relationship between internal organs and the skeletal structure and the meridian system. Conclusions : Our findings suggest that Diagram of Meridians, Mingtang Diagram, Diagram of Meridians and Collaterals, and Bronze Statues are the basic form of data visualization, one of the infographics. We suggest that ancient Chinese people intend to explain the empirical knowledge using the ancient infographics of meridian system, but have limitations on reflecting theorical or abstractional meaning.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.295-300
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• 2004

Coil embolization technique has been used recently to treat cerebral aneurysms. When a giant or a multilobular aneurysm are treated by roils, filling an aneurysm sac completely with coils is difficult and partial blocking of an aneurysm sac is inevitable. Blood flow characteristics, which nay affect the embolization process of an aneurysm sac, are changed by the locations of coils for the Partially blocked aneurysms. Blood flow fields are also influenced by the geometry of a parent vessel. In order to suggest the coil locations effective for aneurysm embolization, the blood flow fields of lateral aneurysm models were analyzed for the different coil locations and parent vessel geometries. Three dimensional pulsatile flow fields are analyzed by numerical methods considering non-Newtonian viscosity characteristics of blood. Flow rate into the aneurysm sac (inflow rate) and wall shear stress, which are suspected as flow dynamic factors influencing aneurysm embolization, are also calculated. Inflow rates were smaller and the low wall shear stress zones were larger in the neck blocked models compared to the dome blocked models. Smaller inflow and larger low wall shear stress zones in the distal neck blocked model imply that the distal neck should be the effective coil locations for aneurysm embolization.