• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.39-52
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• 2009

Objectives : Cue reactivity is a key factor that modulates motivational goal-directed behavior associated with compulsive drug-taking and relapse. We investigated whether acupuncture attenuated the skin conductance response and the heart rate response to smoking-related visual cues in smokers. Methods : Twenty-nine smokers were treated with real acupuncture (RA) or sham acupuncture (SA). The stress response inventory was measured on the 5th day after quitting smoking. The skin conductance response and the heart rate were measured to evaluate the autonomic changes to the smoking related visual cues on the same day. Results : The sympathetic alterations in skin conductance and the heart rate induced by the smoking-related visual cues were significantly lower in the RA group, as compared to the SA group. The stress response inventory, such as somatization and frustration, in the RA group was significantly lower than that of the SA group. Conclusions : Acupuncture ameliorated the stress symptoms as well as the sympathetic activation to smoking cues during withdrawal. These findings indicate that acupuncture might be a useful tool in smoking cessation by inhibiting smoking cues-induced autonomic responses.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.703-710
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• 2012

Purpose : The aim of this study is to review the current status of healthcare provision and its human resources administrative management and propose a coordinated human resource management plan for the more efficient operations of healthcare organizations. Methods : We reviewed the literature and held discussions with officials from the United States Department of Health and Human Services to survey United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps operations. In addition, we surveyed the literature to analyze the current structure and responsibilities of governing bodies involved in public healthcare in Korea. Results : In Korea, there are several administrative offices involved in public health: the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Defense, the Environment Ministry and others. Since these diverse agencies don't integrate their operations, it is difficult to grasp their management of both public healthcare services and their personnel. A potential model is the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a sub-group of the Department of Health and Human Services and an elite team of highly qualified, public health professionals, which coordinates and manages the overall work and personnel of diverse healthcare organizations. Conclusion : We suggest the establishment of a federal level, public health administrative department of human resource management to centralize and coordinate the existing, disparate healthcare administrative agencies.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2004

In this study, the influence of heat treatment and Ca contents on the electrochemical behavior was investigated. Mg-Ca alloys, i.e., Mg-0.22wt%Ca, Mg-0.56wt%Ca, Mg-1.31wt%Ca are prepared by ingot metallurgy. As-cast Mg-Ca alloys exhibited better electrochemical properties than pure Mg. Especially, Mg-0.22wt%Ca alloy improves its anode efficiency up to 62% and lowers the OCP up to -1.72VSCE. Microstructure and XRD patterns of Mg-Ca alloys show that additive Ca element is mainly solid-solutioned. While, the others show the microstructure and XRD pattern with large $Mg_2Ca$ at grain boundary. To assess the effect of heat treatment on the as-cast Mg-alloy, the specimens were heat treated at $200^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours under $CO_2$ gas atmosphere. Although corrosion properties of Mg-Ca alloys are somewhat deteriorated by heat treatment at $200^{\circ}C$ Mg-0.22wt%Ca alloy with uniformly distributed nano-sized $Mg_2Ca$ phase in ${\alpha}$-Mg matrix show still better corrosion properties than pure Mg specimen.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 1987

This paper is a part of the regional characteristics of Korean chotkal. The kinds and materials of Korean chotkals are studied by interviewing local people living in 142 different regions which are bigger than 'myon' in size. Regions are classified according to the structural style of commoner's house. Regional characteristics of chotkal are analyzed and interpreted with natural environmental factor. The rest of my further interested subject will be followed in later issues ; the ways of preservation, period of fermentation according to the regional characteristics and uses of Korean chotkal. The results of this study can be summerized as follows, 1. There are 145 different kinds. 2. Raw materials of 145 kinds of chotkal are devided roughly into five groups ; (1) fishes in 87 kinds (2) Pelecypoda and Gastropoda in 14 kinds (3) Cephalopoda in 10 Kinds (4) Crustacea in 32 kinds and (5) Holothuroidea and Echinoidea in 2 kinds. They can also be classified according to the parts of individual material ; (1) body or flesh in 118 kinds (2) internal organs in 15 kinds and (3) eggs in 12 kinds. Regions are devided into four provinces ; 'Kwanso', 'Chungbu', 'Nambu', and 'Kwanbuk' in which the number of different kinds of chotkal are 32, 41, 99 and 34, respectively. Raw materials vary because of the distribution of marine life in different regions. Fishes and Cephalopoda are used in all four regions, Pelecypoda and Gastropoda in 'Kwanso', 'Chungbu' and western part of 'Nambu' regions. Different species of Crustacea used in each different regions ; sea crab and sea shrimp in the western coastal area, fresh water crab in the field area, fresh water shrimp in 'Chollado', mantis crab at 'Shihung-gun' in 'Kyonggi-do', Holothuroidea and Echinoidea are used in 'Nambu' regions. Chotkal are not used at all in six local districts which are located in inland areas where the transportation is inconvenient.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.81-85
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• 2012

This study was undertaken to evaluate phenotypic and genotypic methods for detection of Metallo-Beta-Lactamases (MBLs) among nosocomial Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Of the 50 P. aeruginosa isolates from clinical specimens, 20 were evaluated for carbapenem resistance and screened for MBL by double-disk synergy test and combined-disk test. Nineteen strains (95%) were found to be MBL producers among the 20 P. aeruginosa. MBL positives were further confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). For the IMP and VIM types of MBLs, PCR analysis was performed on 19 of the 20, and 10 were positive for VIM MBL type. This study reports the validation of a simple and accurate MBL detection method that can be easily incorporated into the daily routine of a clinical laboratory. Early detection of MBL-carrying organisms, including those with susceptibility to carbapenems, is of paramount clinical importance, as it allows rapid initiation of strict infection control practices as well as therapeutic guidance for confirmed infection.Key Words : Hepatitis A virus (HAV), Anti-HAV, Hospital workers, Prevalence, Vaccination

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2009

We investigated the nutritional state of B vitamins and the neuropsychological functions in 25 subjects, aged $63.1{\pm}6.3$ years, residing in rural areas of Korea. Nutritional states of thiamin, riboflavin, and pyridoxine were assessed enzymatically in the erythrocytes, and folate concentrations were measured microbiologically in the plasma and erythrocytes. A battery of composite neuropsychological test was administered to the subjects. Plasma folate was correlated with the total intelligence score (p=0.049). Folate levels in the erythrocytes were correlated with the performance intelligence scores such as block design (p=0.017) and picture arrangement (p=0.016). The red cell folate was correlated with memory scores such as general memory (p=0.009) and delayed recall (p=0.000). Although it did not reach statistical significance, verbal memory (p=0.053) was highly correlated with the red cell folate. The red cell folate was also correlated positively with the percent of conceptual level response number score (p=0.029), and negatively with the grooved pegboard test score for the non-dominant hand (p=0.010). Fine motor coordination was also influenced by folate nutrition, as finger tapping scores in both hands were significantly correlated with red cell folate (dominant hand; p=0.026, non-dominant hand; p=0.004). Other B vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, and vitamin $B_6$ were not as strongly correlated with neuropsychological function test scores as folate was. These results suggest that folate nutrition influences neuropsychological function test scores significantly in humans. Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between folate or other vitamin B nutrition and neuropsychological functions and the implications thereof.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.63-71
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• 2016

Objective : To suggest a scientific evidence of Aconitum carmichaeli Debx. (Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata: ALRP) as one of cooling and heating medicines on the regulation of body temperature, we investigated the effects of ALRP water extract on hypothyroidism. Methods : Hypothyroidism was induced by intradermal injection with PTU for 4 weeks in SD rats. ALRP extract or L-thyroxine as a control drug was orally administrated for 2 weeks with PTU injection in rats. The physiological and serological parameters were measured in rats. The histological change of thyroid tissues was observed by H&E staining, and also the expression of thermo-regulating proteins was determined by Western blot in dorsal root ganglia and brain tissues of rats. Results : The administration of ALRP extract in PTU-induced hypothyroidism rats was significantly increased body temperature, but did not changes on body weight, food and water intake. ALRP extract did not effect on the levels of TSH and T4 in the hypothyroidism rats. ALRP extract significantly decreased the levels of GPT, glucose, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and total cholesterol in the hypothyroidism rats. In histological observation, the enlarged epithelium and atrophic follicles with higher concentration of follicular cells on hypothyroidism were improved by ALRP extract. In addition, ALRP extract increased the expression of TRPV1 and TRPM8 ion channel proteins in hypothyroidism rats. Conclusion : These results indicate that ALRP extract can improve PTU-induced hypothyroidism through regulation of body temperature and lipid accumulation. The action mechanism of ALRP extract is related with body temperature control by thermoregulation with TRP ion channels.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.183-188
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• 2009

Structural rearrangements of uni-axially deformed polyethylenes containing 1-octene comonomer and HDPE upon heating were investigated by time-resolved small and wide angle X-ray scattering techniques. During heating, structural changes including crystal transformation and lamellar rearrangement noted were very different depending on the comonomer contents. At low comonomer content below 2 wt%, inverse martensitic transformation of crystal lattice from monoclinic to orthorhombic cell and the rearrangement of broken lamellar units into more ordered and perfect lamellar stacks were noted with the temperature increase. At high contents above 9.5 wt%, however, polyethylene copolymers showed neither the crystal transformation nor lamellar rearrangement that can be attributed to low crystallinity and high content of branch units.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.177-180
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• 2012

The acid and bile tolerance changes of 5 different lactic acid bacteria (LAB; Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus debruekii) with gamma irradiation were evaluated. The abilities of LAB to survive in the acidic conditions at the stomach and the bile acidic conditions at the beginning of the small intestine are the key functions for applying LAB to probiotics. In the results, all of LAB survived more than 50% after incubation in PBS (pH 2.5) for 2 hr, which indicated more than half of LAB are possible to pass through the stomach. However, gamma irradiation decreased the acid tolerances of LAB. The bile tolerances of all bacteria except Lactobacillus acidophilus were observed to survive at a 3% oxgall concentration in MRS, and 1 kGy of gamma irradiation to LAB did not affect any bile tolerances changes. But gamma irradiated Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus casei (3 kGy) showed decreasing survival rate with oxgall added MAS agar. In conclusion, gamma irradiation should be applied to yogurt or fermented foods with care because LAB could be changes their properties on acid and bile tolerances.

• Annals of Laboratory Medicine
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.569-577
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• 2018

Background: The increasing prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) infection represents a global public health emergency. We evaluated the usefulness of a newly developed multiplexed, bead-based bioassay (Quantamatrix Multiplexed Assay Platform [QMAP], QuantaMatrix, Seoul, Korea) to rapidly identify the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and detect rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH) resistance-associated mutations. Methods: A total of 200 clinical isolates from respiratory samples were used. Phenotypic anti-TB drug susceptibility testing (DST) results were compared with those of the QMAP system, reverse blot hybridization (REBA) MTB-MDR assay, and gene sequencing analysis. Results: Compared with the phenotypic DST results, the sensitivity and specificity of the QMAP system were 96.4% (106/110; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9072-0.9888) and 80.0% (72/90; 95% CI 0.7052-0.8705), respectively, for RIF resistance and 75.0% (108/144; 95% CI 0.6731-0.8139) and 96.4% (54/56; 95% CI 0.8718-0.9972), respectively, for INH resistance. The agreement rates between the QMAP system and REBA MTB-MDR assay for RIF and INH resistance detection were 97.6% (121/124; 95% CI 0.9282-0.9949) and 99.1% (109/110; 95% CI 0.9453-1.0000), respectively. Comparison between the QMAP system and gene sequencing analysis showed an overall agreement of 100% for RIF resistance (110/110; 95% CI 0.9711-1.0000) and INH resistance (124/124; 95% CI 0.9743-1.0000). Conclusions: The QMAP system may serve as a useful screening method for identifying and accurately discriminating MTBC from non-tuberculous mycobacteria, as well as determining RIF- and INH-resistant MTB strains.