• International Journal of Molecular Medicine
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.2409-2419
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• 2019

The use of finasteride for alleviating hair loss has been investigated, and it has been applied as an oral dose medication. However, due to the inconvenience of daily drug administration over long period of time, novel controllable finasteride delivery has been actively investigated. As a novel method of finasteride delivery, the development of finasteride-loaded microspheres for subcutaneous administration is becoming increasingly pharmaceutically important. Therefore, the present study aimed to use finasteride-loaded microspheres in a controlled manner in an attempt to overcome the limitations of the oral administration of finasteride and to cause fewer adverse effects. Finasteride-loaded microspheres containing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and finasteride at a ratio of 4:1 were prepared, and a testosterone-induced androgenic alopecia mouse model was used. Following observation for 10 weeks, the percentage hair growth was 86.7% (total hair growth 60%, partial hair growth 26.7%) in the orally-applied finasteride-treated group as a positive control, and 93.3% (total hair growth 60%, partial hair growth 33.3%) in the finasteride-loaded microspheres-treated group. Serum dihydrotestosterone levels began to decrease at week 6 in the orally-applied finasteride- and finasteride-loaded microsphere-treated groups. In addition, the finasteride-loaded microspheres-treated group exhibited similar follicular number, follicular length, anagen/telogen ratio and hair bulb diameter values to those of the orally-applied finasteride-treated group. Furthermore, the finasteride-loaded microspheres increased the activities of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B and Wnt/β-catenin in relation to hair follicle cell growth signaling in mouse skin, and suppressed the apoptosis of hair follicle cells by reducing the expression of transforming growth factor-β2 and caspase-3, which are indicators of apoptosis. In conclusion, the administration of a single injection of finasteride-loaded microspheres was effective in treating testosterone-induced alopecia. Furthermore, it led to equivalent hair growth effects when compared with orally-applied finasteride, thus revealing the possibility of effective treatment via different routes of administration.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.1987-1999
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• 2024

Objective: Somatostatin (SS) plays important regulatory roles in animal growth and reproduction by affecting the synthesis and secretion of growth hormone (GH). However, the mechanism by which SS regulates growth and development in goats is still unclear. Methods: In this study, we randomly selected eight 7-month-old Dazu black goats (DBGs) of similar body weight and equally assigned four bucks as the immunised and negative control groups. The immunised group received the Salmonella typhi attenuated vaccine X9241 (ptCS/2SS-asd) orally, whilst the negative control group received the empty vector vaccine X9241 (pVAX-asd) orally. Results: The SS concentration in the serum of goats in the immunised group was significantly lower than that in the negative control group, and the daily gain was significantly higher (p<0.05). SS-14 DNA vaccine immunisation resulted in significantly higher concentrations of growth-related hormones such as GH-releasing hormone and insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the serum of goats (p<0.05). RNA-seq analysis of hypothalamus of oral SS-14 DNA vaccine and negative control DBGs identified 31 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Pituitary gland identified 164 DEGs. A total of 246 DEGs were detected in the liver by RNA-seq. Gene ontology of DEGs was enriched in mitochondrial envelope, extracellular region, receptor binding and cell proliferation. The biological metabolic pathways associated with DEGs were explored by Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis. DEGs were associated with metabolic pathways, oxidative phosphorylation, vitamin digestion and absorption and galactose metabolism. These candidate genes (e.g. DGKK, CYTB, DUSP1, and LRAT) may provide references for exploring the molecular mechanisms by which SS promotes growth and development. Conclusion: Overall, these results demonstrated that the SS DNA vaccine enhanced the growth of DBGs by altering growth-related hormone concentrations and regulating the expression of growth-related genes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-liver axis.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.115-141
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• 2017

This study is to find the key factors of the Internet of Things for development in public sector. In previous studies, it is said that Internet of Things can work digital system without human operation and gives a lot of outputs(information) users. Generally, people are a subject of operating digital system in traditional way, while people are an object on the internet of things. In other words, it is possible to work digital system with only networking from things to things. After all, it is reported that these advantages of the Internet of Things make possible to reduce social costs significantly in public sector. However, despite the strengths of the Internet of Things, there is a specific user acceptance of the technology factor for the Internet of Things rarely. It means that developing of the Internet of Things only focuses on the final purpose. If the focus on development meet this purpose, the user is ignored for the specific reason that using a technique. As a result of this, many users gradually decrease the continuous using of the Internet of Things. Thus, in this study, we need to find what critical factors should reflect to the Internet of Things in public sector. To find this result, there is no choice to use Technology Acceptance Model(TAM). Many researchers have proved that Technology Acceptance Model is valid through the four process in model introduction, confirmation, expansion and refinement from 1986 to 2003. The results of this study showed that the result explanatory power of Internet of Things in public sector is the most important factor affecting only perceived social usefulness and ease of use. Finally, it can be seen that the user has a positive attitude toward use, which has a positive effect on the intention to use continuously. The implications of this study are summarized as follows: When the public Internet of Things service is provided, it means that the user can easily understand the result, and when the person and the object communicate the result to each other, they should be able to communicate with each other. This means that a lot of user effort is needed to understand the outcome of the public Internet of Things being provided.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.3-30
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• 2012

In the development process, small and medium-sized enterprises in China have shown their unique features and regularities which are closely related to China's national condition and economic characteristics. But in 2008, because of the global financial crisis which started in the USA, the rate of Chinese export and the rate of economic growth has evidently slowed. Due to shortage of funds, foreign orders fell, increase the value of RMB, lack of talented factors, Chinese SMEs are facing bankruptcy. In this context, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of domestic and international market environment, the government assistance for entering overseas market, entrepreneur characteristics, etc. on the global performance. Based on these, a research model and some hypotheses were set up and tested by the multiple regression analysis with total 317 effective survey data. The results of this paper are as follows. First, a positive effect relation on the financial performance was shown for the companies with high domestic and international market environment in the aspect of market environment. According to such analysis result, it was found that the market environment in which SMEs belong to is a very important factor. Second, in the aspect of government export assistance related to overseas, market development showed a positive effect relation on the both financial and non-financial performance. However, the direct financial assistance showed a positive effect relation only on the non-financial performance. Overall, it was found that the government assistance program on entering overseas market is having significant effects on SMEs, but direct financial assistance have not achieved the desired results. Third, the innovative-ness and progressiveness of entrepreneur showed a positive effect relation on the global market performance. However, the risk-taking of entrepreneur only showed a negative effect relation on the non-financial performance. Overall, it was found that the entrepreneurship of SMEs is an important and influential factor. This is a result implying that the propensity of taking too much risk is not desirable based on the uncertainty of the global environment market. To sum up, this study confirmed that the market environment, the government assistance and entrepreneur characteristics, which are the major prerequisites of global performance, have effects on global performance.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.747-753
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• 2008

Purpose : Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Early atherosclerotic changes in the arterial walls begin in adolescence and the risk factors are associated with its development. To assess the usefulness of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), as a marker of early atherosclerosis, we evaluated the structural and functional characteristics of the carotid artery and investigated their relationshop with the metabolic and anthropometric parameters in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Methods : For this study, we enrolled 23 children with type 1 diabet and 19 age and sex-equivalent healthy children as the control group. Metabolic and anthropometric parameters such as serum lipid levels, plasma glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and body mass index were measured after a 12-h fasting period. The carotid artery IMT was measured by a high-quality ultrasound system, and compliance, and distensibility were calculated by an equation. Results : There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to the sex ratio, age, blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels' however, HbA1c levels were significantly higher in the diabetic children ($8.5{\pm}1.8$ vs. $5.0{\pm}0.2$, P=0.001). Ultrasonographic findings showed that compared with the control group, the diabetic group had higher IMT ($0.45{\pm}0.06mm$ vs. $0.41{\pm}0.04mm$, P=0.04), but there were no significant differences in compliance and distensibility. The HbA1c (P=0.002) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.026) levels were independent IMT predictors in the diabetic group. Conclusion : Here, the carotid artery IMT was higher in the diabetic group, and it is correlated with atherosclerotic risk factor. Thus, carotid IMT could be evaluated as a marker of early atherosclerosis in diabetic children.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.53-63
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• 2017

With increasing the importance of venture startup in the national economy, a trend shows that the government's policy support for venture startup is not only strengthened, but also entrepreneurial enthusiasm is increasing. In order for this trend to continue as an ongoing phenomenon, not a temporary phenomenon, venture startups should continue to grow with survival competitiveness. In this respect, there is a time when it is necessary to study the factors affecting the success of venture startups more than ever. There is a limit to seeing main factors, which affect the entry into the growth stage with survival competitiveness for the success of venture startups, as only 'entrepreneur capacity' and 'differentiation strategy' claimed by existing previous studies. As a more fundamental factor, entrepreneurial behavior is important in terms of opportunity discovery and opportunity utilization, but research into this falls short of expectations. This study is intended to look into success factors of venture startup. To achieve this, a survey was empirically carried out to CEOs in 100 small and medium venture startups through AHP analysis. The results are as follows. As stated above, entrepreneurship of success factors in venture startups is considered most critical, followed by innovation, economics, and technology. And 'entrepreneur's competency', 'positive entrepreneurial motivation', 'creative technology utilization', and 'continuous investment in technical development' are considered most critical for 'entrepreneurship', 'innovation', 'technology', and 'economics' as sub-factors, respectively. Consequently, entrepreneur's entrepreneurship that has been required in general startups is a critical factor to be also in common required in venture startups. This means that they can secure the competitiveness of venture startup along with continuous investment support in business startup with a positive mindset and their own technological competence as innovators to overcome the risk and uncertainty of business startup as entrepreneurship that marks the start of a new enterprise.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.11-24
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• 2010

The main focus of this research is the establishment of a systemic evaluation model based on objective evaluation indices, which are drawn to assess the experiencing of nature and recreational value at the level of the district unit. First of all, as a result of a literature review, a total of 10 indices can be drawn including vegetation structure, pavement rate, and hemeroby to evaluate an assessment of natural experiences and recreational value. Also, as a result of expert survey analysis, all evaluation index items were above 4.4, which is a high importance average. Hemeroby and unique landscape factor items in particular were above 5.8, which is very high. In addition, as a result of implementing a factor analysis to classify evaluation indices according to characteristics, three factors arise: 'landscape structure and quality of natural experience', 'typical availability', and 'quality of aesthetic and visual sense.' Based on the above survey analysis results, the 'quality of aesthetic and visual sense' was the highest, at 3.510. The classification 'landscape structure and quality of natural experience' was the lowest, at 3.035. A systemic value evaluation model was established by comprehensively analyzing these results. To verify the validity of the evaluation model drawn, real sites are selected and applied. First of all, as a result of a biotope types classification of sites, biotope type groups are classified into a total of 13 including the stream biotope while its subordinate biotope types are classified into a total of 61 groups. Lastly, as a result of biotope value evaluation, which was a previously established evaluation model, there are a total of 16 types including vegetation-abundant natural rivers and small-scale woodlands near forests in grade I. There are 9 types in grade II, 8 in grade III, 8 in grade IV, 19 in the least-valuable grade V.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.197-209
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• 2018

Recently, many start-up failures occur as the number of attempts to start a business increases in a social atmosphere that encourages start-up. In particular, young entrepreneurs have a lower survival rate than general entrepreneurs because young entrepreneurs are challenging just with a simple idea to overcome the difficulties of employment while lacking prior knowledge and experience of business. Therefore, the reason for the failure of start-up is lack of preparation for start-up and lack of entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to develop a measurement tool to build a basic framework for entrepreneurship development and start - up preparation activities for young people. To develop an entrepreneurship measurement tool, researchers developed a preliminary question through qualitative research methods such as literature research, focus group interview, and expert verification. After that, researchers surveyed 102 entrepreneurs using quantitative research method and to verify the construct validity of the measurement tool, the final entrepreneurship measurement tool was completed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The entrepreneurship measurement tool developed through this research process consists of 7 components and 15 measurement items. First, in the step of 'confirming entrepreneurial intention', two items of 'self-analytic competence', three items of 'ability of establishing start-up philosophy'are contained. Second, in the step of 'drawing up a start-up model', two items are contained in each category such as, 'ability of eliciting entrepreneurial idea,' 'ability of analyzing idea validity,' 'competence of planning a venture start-up model'. Third, in the step of 'planning the venture start-up,' two items are contained in each category such as, 'business-plan presentation competency,' 'ability of implementing organizational system.'. The measurement tool of entrepreneurship is meaningful as it could help young entrepreneur find out their lacking competence in preparing their start-ups and strengthen necessary competences by measuring their own entrepreneurship. Rather in the entrepreneurship education, basic data that can diagnose the entrepreneurship of young entrepreneurs is provided.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2017

SS(Suspended Solid) concentration by soil erosion into river at normal and flood season should be measured. However, to present the variation of SS due to various development project such as EIA(Environmental Impact Assessment), River Master Plan, and so on, it is necessary to estimate not measure SS, but there are not exist how to estimate SS. In the present study, therefore, we propose the hydrologic method of estimating SS concentration using the results of particular frequency flood discharge and sediment discharge by RUSLE method. SS consists of silty and clay soil and colloid particle etc. However, in the present study, silty and clay soils of sediment discharge except send set up SS standards. The flow discharge to estimate SS concentration are 1~2 years for normal season, 30~100 years for flood season. Meanwhile, analysis software for probable rainfall uses Fard2006, probable rainfalls under 2-year frequency are estimated using rainfall data and frequency factor of Gumbel distribution. The results of estimating SS concentration using runoff volume by sediment and flow discharges of silty and cray soils as above method show that reliable level of SS concentration is considered in predevelopment of natural condition and under development of barren condition. Especially, SS concentration takes notice that the value of sediment discharge makes a huge difference according to channel slope, it was confirmed that the value obtained by dividing the SS concentration by the channel slope is relatively constant even though the topographical factors are different. Therefore, if the present study will be proceeded for various watersheds, it will be developed as estimation method of SS concentration.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.359-365
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• 2004

Objectives : This study was performed to determine whether an increase in abdominal obesity is an independent risk factor for impaired fasting glucose and type 2 DM. Methods : Among 24,212 adults over 30 years who undertook comprehensive medical screening examinations from Jan to Dec 1999, in a university hospital in Seoul, a total of 11,183 subjects were selected who had no DM at baseline and who were followed up more than once by Dec 2002. The average follow up period was 2.4 (${\pm}0.5$) years. DM was defined as having a fasting glucose level $\geq$ 126mg/dl, and impaired fasting glucose as showing a fasting glucose level between 110 and 125 mg/dl. Body weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were simultaneously measured with blood sampling. The relative risks (RRs) for DM and impaired fasting glucose by WC were calculated using Cox proportional hazard model. Ageadjusted rates were estimated by direct standardization using a reference population of 2000 from 30 to 80 years. Results : The average age of the subjects was 41.7 (${\pm}7.0$) years; males 41.2 (${\pm}6.5$) and females 45.6 (${\pm}9.2$). RRs for type 2 DM by WC with the reference group of WC < 80cm were as follows: 2.66 (95%, CI $0.55{\sim}12.8$) for WC of $80{\sim}89cm$ in men, 5.92 (95%, CI $1.08{\sim}32.3$) for WC $\geq$ 90 cm in men, and 2.64 (95%, CI $0.23{\sim}29.8$) for WC of $80{\sim}89cm$ in females. RRs for impaired fasting glucose by WC were 3.03 (95%, CI $2.18{\sim}4.22$) for WC $80{\sim}89cm$ in men, 6.10 (95%, CI $4.25{\sim}8.75$) for WC $\geq$ 90cm in men, and 1.56 (95%, CI $0.43{\sim}5.67$) for WC $80{\sim}89cm$ in women, and 8.08 (95%, CI $2.22{\sim}29.4$) for WC $\geq$ 90cm in females. These results remained significant after adjustment for age, BMI and fasting glucose concentrations at baseline in both sexes. Annual increment of more than 1 cm in WC was associated with the development of DM and impaired fasting glucose independently of age, sex, BMI, or presence of abdominal obesity. Conclusion : In Korean adults, abdominal obesity increased the risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and impaired fasting glucose. This result supports many other prospective studies suggesting abdominal obesity as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.