• Plant Resources
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2002

Twenty-three plants of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume) were collected from several sites around Mountains JIRI in Korea. Japanese apricots having the different morphological features were evenly distributed in the groups made from the cluster analysis, indicating no geographic distributions but artificial vegetations in Korea. Japanese apricots were, as based on the PCR-RAPD techniques, clustered into the three groups; a group (prototype) having the five white petals with the five red sepals, a group (green type) having the five white petals with the five green sepals, and a group (hybrid type) having the more than five red petals with various colored sepals. The prototype apricots showed higher toxicities than other type apricot against bacteria and production of less compounds in TLC plates. The polypetal types of Japanes apricot were related to those of p. armebiaca in the characteristics of seed (the ruggedness), but also to be closed to those of p. armebiaca in PCR-RAPD analysis. The cluster analysis of the twenty three apricots and its related species calculated from the two primers were shown to distinguish relationships of cultivars within species, or of individual plants within cultivars, but also to display the two overlapping bands resulted from PCR-RAPD technique.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.61-65
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• 2014

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the oral toxicity of Gami-Jakyak Gamcho buja Decoction (Mecasin) to develop safe treatments. Methods: All experiments were conducted at the Medvill, an institution authorized to perform non-clinical studies, under the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations. In order to investigate the oral toxicity of Mecasin, we administered Mecasin orally to rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups of five male and five female animals per group: group 1 being the control group and groups 2, 3, and 4 being the experimental groups. Doses of Mecasin, 500 mg/kg, 1,000 mg/kg and 2,000 mg/kg, were administered to the experimental groups, and a dose of normal saline solution, 10 mL/kg, was administered to the control group. We examined the survival rate, weight, clinical signs, and gross findings. This study was conducted under the approval of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. Results: No deaths or abnormalities occurred in any of the four groups. Although slight decreases in the weights of some female rats were noted on the third day, no significant changes in weights or gross findings between the control group and the experimental groups were observed. To check for abnormalities in organs, we used microscopy to examine representative histological sections of each specified organ; the results showed no significant differences in any of the organs. Conclusion: The results showed that administration of 500 - 2,000 mg/kg of Mecasin did not cause any changes in weight or in the results of necropsy examinations. It also did not result in any mortalities. The above findings suggest that treatment with Mecasin is relatively safe. Further studies on this subject are needed to yield more concrete evidence.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.447-454
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• 2014

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inclination treadmill training with dynamic stretching on the spasticity and gait of chronic stroke patients. METHODS: Twenty two subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (EG, n=11) or a control group (CG, n=11). Both groups participated in a standard rehabilitation program; in addition, the EG participated in inclination treadmill training for 20 min per day, five times per week, for 4 weeks, and the CG participated in treadmill walking training for 20 min per day, five times per week, for 4 weeks. Outcome measurements, recorded before and post intervention. Walking ability was measured using the 10m walking test (10MWT) and Timed up and go (TUG) test. Spasticity of the medialis gastrocnemius was measured using a myotonometer. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed the both groups for walking ability and spasticity after the training program. The results of the study were follows: 10MWT and TUG was significantly increased in both groups (p<0.05) and it was also found to be significant between groups after intervention (p<0.05). Spasticity was significantly increased in both groups (p<0.05) and it was also found to be significant between the groups after intervention (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that inclination treadmill training improves gait ability and reduces spasticity of the medialis gastrocnemius. Inclination treadmill training may be used as an easy, effective and accessible way to improve the walking ability and decrease spasticity in stroke patients. Further studies are necessary to generalize the findings of this study.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2014

Objective: In search of an ideal method of assisted hatching (AH), we compared the effects of conventional micropipette-AH and laser-AH on the blastocyst formation rate (BFR) and blastocyst cell numbers. Methods: Four-to five-week-old ICR female mice were paired with male mice after superovulation using Pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and hCG. The two-cell embryos were flushed from the oviducts of female mice. The retrieved two-cell embryos underwent one of five AH procedures: single mechanical assisted hatching (sMAH); cross mechanical assisted hatching (cMAH); single laser assisted hatching (sLAH); quarter laser assisted hatching (qLAH); and quarter laser zona thinning assisted hatching (qLZT-AH). After 72 hours incubation, double immunofluorescence staining was performed. Results: Following a 72 hours incubation, a higher hatching BFR was observed in the control, sMAH, cMAH, and sLAH groups, compared to those in the qLAH and qLZT-AH groups (p<0.05). The hatched BFR was significantly higher in the qLAH and qLZT-AH groups than in the others (p<0.05 for each group). The inner cell mass (ICM) was higher in the control and sMAH group (p<0.05). The trophectoderm cell number was higher in the cMAH and qLAH groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results showed that the hatched BFR was higher in groups exposed the the qLAH and qLZT-AH methods compared to groups exposed to other AH methods. In the qLAH group, although the total cell number was significantly higher than in controls, the ICM ratio was significantly lower in than controls.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of frankincense oil in a skin aging animal model. Skin aging was induced by both the irradiation of UVB and the application of squalene monohydroperoxide (Sq-OOH) to the back of experimental animals for 4 weeks. And at the same time experimental materials were applied topically. Six to seven weeks female SHR-1 hairless mice were divided into five groups including normal (N: saline), control (C: UVB+Sq-OOH+saline), vehicle control (VC: UVB+Sq-OOH+jojoba oil), positive control (PC: UVB+Sq-OOH+0.01% retinoic acid) and experimental (E: UVB+Sq-OOH+3% Frankincense oil) groups, five animals each group. The skin erythema index for the PC and E groups were lower than that of the C group. Whereas, both the lipid and water capacities for the PC and E groups were higher than those of the C group. Wrinkles for the C group were formed as a pattern of deep furrows and thick crests. Whereas, wrinkles for the PC and E groups were formed as a pattern of shallow furrows and thin crests which were similar to that of the N group. As for the both absolute and relative weight of the spleen, the PC group were significantly higher than the other groups. In conclusion, frankincense oil can be used practically for the prevention or improvement of skin aging in terms of health promotion and beauty for the people.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.63-67
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was performed to analyze the single-dose oral toxicity of the super key (processed sulfur). Methods: All experiments were conducted at Medvill, an institution authorized to perform non-clinical studies, under the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations. In order to investigate the oral toxicity of super key. We administered it orally to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The SD rats were divided into four groups of five male and five female animals per group: group 1 being the control group and groups 2, 3, and 4 being the experimental groups. Doses of super key 500 mg/kg, 1,000 mg/kg and 2,000 mg/kg were administered to the experimental groups, and a dose of normal saline solution, 10 mL/kg, was administered to the control group. We examined the survival rates, weights, clinical signs, gross findings and necropsy findings. This study was conducted under the approval of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. (Approval number: A01-14018). Results: No deaths or abnormalities occurred in any of the four groups. Although slight decreases in the weights of some female rats were noted, no significant changes in weights or differences in the gross findings between the control group and the experimental groups were observed. To check for abnormalities in organs, we used microscopy to examine representative histological sections of each specified organ; the results showed no significant differences in any of the organs. Conclusion: The results of this research showed that administration of 500 - 2,000 mg/kg of super key did not cause any changes in the weights or in the results of necropsy examinations. Neither did it result in any mortalities. The above findings suggest that treatment with super key is relatively safe. Further studies on this subject are needed to yield more concrete evidence.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.44-53
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• 2003

Purpose : This study was to identify Korean terms appropriate for a new scale using pain terms to assess the pain of the arthritis patients. Method : This study was conducted by secondary analysis of two previous studies, one from Kim's data (1994) and the other from Lee and Choi's(1988). The subjects were 482 patients with arthralgia. Data were analyzed by SPSS Win 11.0, for frequencies, percentages, and means. Results : Five pain groups were sorted out from the sensory pain category, three in the affective pain category, and two in the miscellaneous pain category by selecting groups of pain terms expressed more than 50% by all subjects. Local inflammatory repeated pain terms, simple irritative pain terms, superficial pressure pain terms, traction pain terms, and peripheral nerve terms were included in the sensory pain category, fatigue-related pain terms, digestion-related terms, and suffering-related terms in the affective category, and dull pain terms and body cavity pressure pain category. Among five sample groups terms selected by more than 3 groups with more than 30% of patients were dugumhada, sikungorinda, wooksinwooksinhada, nurudusi apuda, and dangginda in the sensory pain category; nogonhage apuda, gobukhada, and jajungsurupge apuda in the affecte pain category; and buctjockgigunhada and manjimyon apuda in the miscellaneous pain category. Conclusion : Ten pain groups were tentatively selected out of 20 pain groups; 10 pain terms composed of 1 pain term from each group were selected out of 90 pain terms from thesecondarydataofarthriticpainpatients. Implications More detailed clinical studies are needed for the refinement of the scale.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.371-377
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• 1995

The effect of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and ${\beta}$-carotene supplementation on reducing the oxidative damag in the liver of rats were studied. Forth-five male Sprague Dawley aged 4 weeks were randomly assigned to 9 groups of five for the 12 weeks of the study. Nine groups, sardine oil, sardine oil＋Vt E, sardine oil＋${\beta}$-carotene, soybean oil, soybean oil＋Vt E, soybean oil＋${\beta}$-carotene, lard, lard＋Vt E, lard＋${\beta}$-carotene group, were prepared. Sardine oil, soybean oil, or lard was used for dietary fat and 200% of ${\alpha}$ -tocopherol or 150% of ${\beta}$-carotene was supplemented to each diet. Each diet supplied 65% of total energy as carbohydrate, 15% as protein, and 20% as lipid. The MDA value and protein carbonyl contents of sardine oil group were significantly different(p<0.05) to those of other fat groups indicating that the most severe lipid oxidation occurred in the group fed diet containing highly polyunsaturated fatty acid. When ${\alpha}$-tocopherol or ${\beta}$ -carotene was supplemented to the sardine oil diet, MDA value(-35%, -15%, respectively) and protein carbonyl content(-44%, -32%, respectively) decreased significantly(p<0.05). Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase activities of three different sardine oil groups with or without antioxidants were lower than those of soybean oil or lard group. The reducing effect of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol on oxidative damage in sardine oil group supplemented with ${\alpha}$-tocopherol was noticeable(p<0.05). However the adverse effect of ${\beta}$-carotene was observed. SOD and catalase activities of ${\beta}$-carotene supplemented groups were that the lowest among the same fat groups, but the differences were not statistically significant. The possible cause of decreased enzyme activity seemed to be related to the vitamin A(Vt A) toxicity in the liver where retinol converted from dietary ${\beta}$-carotene in the intestinal mucosa was stored.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 2011

This study presents characteristics of representative five hand dimensions including hand length, medius finger length, hand circumference, hand breadth and hand thickness, and hand scales by gender and age for Koreans. The study was based on data of hand dimensions published in 2008 by Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. The hand dimensions of males were nearly the same as those of females until age of 12~13(10~11 in hand thickness), but the males' were larger than the females' from age group of 14~15 or 12~13. The growth of the hand dimensions was found until age of 12~13(14~15 in hand thickness) in females and 16~17 in males. After the age groups, the hand dimensions was almost the same irrespective of age groups. ANOVA was performed to investigate significant factors affecting hand dimensions. Representative five hand dimensions were significantly affected by gender and age, while they were not affected by occupation. Two hand scales were proposed depending upon gender, for easily using hand characteristics in design stage of hand relevant products. In addition, regression equations were provided for quantitatively predicting hand dimensions on the basis of representative five hand dimensions.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.157-173
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• 2003

The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate and compare the. vowel lengths of English diphthongs and low vowels among native-English-speaking Americans with Korean college students from the Chungnam and Gyungnam provinces. Eight words and sixteen sentences were uttered five times by twenty five subjects from three groups; 1) Chungnam dialect speakers, 2) Gyungnam dialect speakers and 3) five native-English-speaking Americans. Acoustic features (duration) were measured from sound spectrograms made by the PC Quire. Results showed that the vowel lengths of English diphthongs and low vowels between native English speakers and Korean collegians of Chungnam and Gyungnam provinces were different. Comparing the average length of English diphthongs of Korean collegians with those of American natives, we can see that native English speakers tend to pronounce the English diphthongs shorter than Korean collegians do. However, native English speakers tend to pronounce the English low vowels longer than Korean collegians do. In this study we also tried to find out the differences of English diphthongs and low vowel lengths in relation to their utterance positions among American natives and Chungnam and Gyungnam dialect speakers. By the results of this experiment, we observed a lengthening effect in the three groups. However, in the pronunciation of American natives, a lengthening effect of English vowels was more clearly observed, especially in the pronunciation of English diphthongs.