• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2017

Background: Plants over-expressing Arabidopsis ABF3 (abscisic acid-responsive element-binding factor 3) have enhanced tolerance to various environmental stresses, especially drought. Using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis, we compared the rhizosphere-associated structures of microbial communities for transgenic potato containing this gene and conventional "Jopoong" plants. Results: During a 2-year field experiment, fungal richness, evenness, and diversity varied by year, increasing in 2010 when a moderate water deficit occurred. By contrast, the bacterial richness decreased in 2010 while evenness and diversity were similar in both years. No significant difference was observed in any indices for either sampling time or plant line. Although the composition of the microbial communities (defined as T-RF profiles) changed according to year and sampling time, differences were not significant between the transgenic and control plants. Conclusions: The results in this study suggest that the insertion of ABF3 into potato has no detectable (by current T-RFLP technique) effects on rhizosphere communities, and that any possible influences, if any, can be masked by seasonal or yearly variations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2389-2394
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• 2016

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is influenced by genetic and micro-environmental changes. Malignant plasma cells produce an abnormal monoclonal immunoglobulin, as well as cytokines, such as IL-10 and IL-6 which stimulate cells of the bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) and cause dysfunction and failure of many organs. B cell activating factor (BAFF), IL6, IL10 are known to influence the growth & survival of the malignant clone. Aim: The objectives of the present study were to investigate the circulating levels of BAFF, IL-10 and IL-6, correlate them with well-known parameters of disease activity in patients with MM, and to detect their impact on the patients' survival. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 89 newly diagnosed MM patients and seventy apparently healthy volunteers as a normal control group. BAFF, IL6, IL10 were measured by ELISA for both groups. Survival analysis was performed for all patients. Results: Studied markers were higher in the MM patients compared to the normal control subjects. Patients' survival was improved by high serum BAFF levels. Conclusions: High levels of BAFF were found to improve patients' survival. BAFF and IL-6 can be considered probable diagnostic markers for MM.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2017

Leaf spot disease on black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) was observed at several locations in Korea during 2014-2015. Leaf spots were distinct, scattered over the leaf surface and along the leaf border, subcircular to irregular and brown surrounded by a distinct dark color, and were expanded and coalesced into irregularly shaped lesions. Severely infected leaves became dry and fell off eventually. The causative agent was identified as Pseudocercospora pyricola. Morphological observations and phylogenetic analyses of multiple genes, including internal transcribed spacer, translation elongation factor 1-alpha, actin, and the large subunit ribosomal DNA were conducted. The pathogenicity test was conducted twice yielding similar results, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report on P. pyricola infection of A. melanocarpa globally.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.51-57
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• 2008

NDT(Non-Destructive Testing Evaluation) using electromagnetic(EM) properties can be used for evaluation of physical performance in cement-based materials. In this study, a technique for strength evaluation in cement mortar is proposed through the measured EM properties(conductivity and dielectric constant). For this research, cement mortar specimens with 5 W/C ratios are made for evaluation of compressive strength and they are also utilized for tests of EM properties in the range of $0.2{\sim}20GHz$ frequency considering exposure condition and curing period. The averaged conductivity and dielectric constant in $5{\sim}20GHz$ frequency are reduced to $83{\sim}93%$ and $81{\sim}87%$, respectively with increasing water to cement ratios. Through the linear regression analysis, relationships between EM properties and results from the compressive strength are obtained, which shows higher correlated factor($0.93{\sim}0.94$) in the specimens exposed to room condition. The gradients in dielectric constant for strength results is measured to be higher than those in conductivity by $3.9{\sim}5.1$ times. The results from dielectric constant in room condition shows the most efficient relation for evaluation of strength.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2005

The immune response to any stimulus is complex, requiring coordinated action by several types of cells in a tightly regulated sequence. Thus, a physical stress such as exercise may act at any number of points in the complex sequence of events collectively termed the immune response. Although exercise causes many propound changes in parameters of immune function, the nature and magnitude of such changes rely on several factors including the immune parameters of interest; type, intensity, and duration of exercise; fitness level or exercise history of the subject; environmental factors such as ambient temperature and humidity. Although regular moderate exercise appears to be important factor for increasing immunity, Athletes are susceptible to illness, in particular upper respiratory track infection, during periods of intense training and after competition. In addition, in elite athletes, frequent illness is associated with overtraining syndrome, a neuroendocrine disorder resulting from excessive training. Through this paper, we want to investigate the effects of exercise on the immunosuppression such as exercise induced lymphopenia, asthma, anaphylaxis, URT (upper respiratory track), and TB (tuberculosis) infection. and also, we want to suggest a direct mechanism, protection and therapy of exercise induced immunosuppression.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.187-214
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• 2012

Supply chain management(SCM) helps firms in integrating their business by collaborating with other value chain partners to meet the unpredictable demand of the end user. Agility is the fundamental characteristic of a supply chain needed for survival in turbulent and volatile markets, which are becoming norms as product life cycles shorten and environmental forces create additional uncertainty resulting in higher risk in the supply chain management. Literature reviews reveals various factors that could affect the agility. The objective of this study is to derive interdependence, partnership, quality of information, joint problem solving, modelize the mutual influential relationship between them, and look into the influential relationship influencing the agility. To test the proposed model, we used a data set generated from survey. Date analysis was conducted using 122 respondents. We used structural equation model (SEM) implemented in partial least square(PLS). The results of this study can be summarized as follows. Interdependence had a significant impact on partnership. Partnership had a significant impact on quality of information and joint problem solving. Quality of information had a significant impact on joint problem solving. Quality of information and joint problem solving had a significant impact on agility. This study diagnoses that Inter-organizational relationship characteristics are important for supply chain agility. Inter-organizational relationship characteristics are considered as an essential factor for supply chain agility.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.379-387
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• 2017

In this study, a pile-guide mooring system (PGMS) was designed for an offshore liquefied natural gas bunkering terminal (LNG-BT), which is an essential infrastructure for large LNG-fuelled ships. The PGMS consisted of guide piles to restrict five motions of the floater, except for heave, as well as a seabed truss structure to support the guide piles and foundation piles to fix the system to the seabed. Singapore port was considered for a case study because it is a highly probable ports for LNG bunkering projects. The wave height, current speed, and wind speed in Singapore port were investigated to calculate the environmental loads acting on the hull and PGMS. A load and resistance factor approach was used for the structural design, and a finite element analysis was performed for design verification. The steel usage of the PGMS was analyzed and compared with the material usage of a gravity-based structure under similar LNG capacity and water depth criteria. This paper also describes the water depth limit and wave conditions of the PGMS based on estimation of the initial investment and the present value profit difference. It suggests a suitable LNG-BT support system for various design conditions.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.16-25
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• 2011

This study aimed to evaluate factors related to the ability of ambulatory patients with cerebral palsy (CP) to walk over vertical and horizontal obstacles. Twenty patients with spastic CP who were able to walk independently for at least 10 m with or without walking devices were recruited for the study. Participants were required to walk over small obstacles (1, 4, and 8 cm in height or width; total of 6 conditions). A 'fail' was recorded when either the lower limbs or the walking device contacted the obstacle. Linear regression analyses were used to determine the effects of age, sex, walking devices, eyeglasses, subtype (hemiplegia or diplegia), ankle foot orthoses, functional level, and score of body mass index on the ability of obstacle crossing. Fifteen participants (75%) failed to adequately clear the foot or walking device over obstacles in at least 1 condition. The chance of failure in crossing vertical obstacle was affected by the use of ankle foot orthoses, eyeglasses, gender, and CP subtype (p<.05). The failure rate crossing horizontal obstacle was affected by CP subtype. These findings suggest that rehabilitation procedures should (1) consider the clinical characteristics of patients in order to prepare them to be more independent while performing daily activities, and (2) incorporate environmental conditions that patients encounter at home and in the community.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.209-216
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• 2015

Stress is now recognized as a universal premorbid factor associated with many risk factors of various chronic diseases. Acute stress may induce an individual's adaptive response to environmental demands. However, chronic, excessive stress causes cumulative negative impacts on health outcomes through "allostatic load". Thus, monitoring the quantified levels of long-term stress mediators would provide a timely opportunity for prevention or earlier intervention of stressrelated chronic illnesses. Although either acute or chronic stress could be quantified through measurement of changes in physiological parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, and levels of various metabolic hormones, it is still elusive to interpret whether the changes in circulating levels of stress mediators such as cortisol can reflect the acute, chronic, or diurnal variations. Both serum and salivary cortisol levels reveal acute changes at a single point in time, but the overall long-term systemic cortisol exposure is difficult to evaluate due to circadian variations and its protein-binding capacity. Scalp hair has a fairy predictable growth rate of approximately 1 cm/month, and the most 1 cm segment approximates the last month's cortisol production as the mean value. The analysis of cortisol in hair is a highly promising technique for the retrospective assessment of chronic stress. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(4): 209-216]

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.31-41
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• 2000

The major issue in the post genome sequencing era is determination of gene expression patterns in variety of biological systems. A microarray system is a powerful technology for analyzing the expression profile of thousands of genes at one experiment. In this study, we constructed cDNA microarray which carries 2,304 cDNAS derived from oligo-capped mouse cDNA library. Using this hand-made microarray we determined gene expression in various biological systems. To determine tissue specific genes, we compared Nine genes were highly-expressed in adult mouse brain compared to kidney, liver, and skeletal muscle. Tissue distribution analysis using DNA microarray extracted 9 genes that were predominantly expressed in the brain. A database search showed that five of the 9 genes, MBP, SC1, HiAT3, S100 protein-beta, and SNAP25, were previously known to be expressed at high level in the brain and in the nervous system. One gene was highly sequence similar to rat S-Rex-s/human NSP-C, suggesting that the gene is a mouse homologue. The remaining three genes did not match to known genes in the GenBank/EMBL database, indicating that these are novel genes highly-expressed in the brain. Our DNA microarray was also used to detect differentiation specific genes, hormone dependent genes, and transcription-factor-induced genes. We conclude that DNA microarray is an excellent tool for identifying differentially expressed genes.