• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.137-159
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• 2007

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the risk factors and the genetic polymorphism of TNF-alpha associated with rheumatoid arthritis by Sasang constitution Methods : This study was planned to detect the susceptibility of the patients diagnosed by rheumatoid arthritis to Sasang Constitution and to examine the risk factor such as life style and environmental stress (smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, alcohol intake and so on). The genetic polymorphism of TNF-alpha (G308A) were analyzed by PCR-RFLP in rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls. Rheumatoid arthritis patients and matched controls are assessed with QSCCII question for Sasang Typology. Then the genetic polymorphism of patients by Sasang constitution are compared to those of control, which are statistically analyzed and adjusted by age, sex, smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, and econocmic status. Results: Differential effect of passive smoking on the association between Sasang constitution and rheumatoid arthritis risk was found. This study showed that the genetic polymorphism (TNF-${\alpha}$(G308A)) of rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls associated with the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis by sasang constitution was analyzed. Differential effects of TNF-${\alpha}$(G308) genetic polymorphism on the association between rheumatoid arthritis risk and Sasang constitution were found. Conclusion : It is suggested that the genetic polymorphism correlated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis by specific sasang constitution used as its susceptibility marker and further as basic data to prevent the risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis. But larger studies will be needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.55-71
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• 2013

This study assessed the thermal comfort of new towns in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (Ilsan, Bundang, Dongtan1) using PET (Physiologically Equivalent Temperature) which refers to real human heat stress. The relationship between PET and urban spatial elements was also analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The study results show that the thermal comfort of Dongtan 1, which is considering a reduction of the urban heat island effect in the planning phase, is higher than other cities. In addition, through regression results, the impervious ratio, floor area ratio, commercial area ratio, and residential area ratio were found to be major factors increasing PET. Moreover, the river area ratio and NDVI were found to be major factors decreasing PET. This study has scientific significance as research that focuses on the assessment of thermal comfort scientifically and definitely, by estimating PET for an entire urban area using GIS analysis that included remote sense analysis and the wind field model. The results of this study can be used in preparing more effective urban plans for the promotion of citizen thermal comfort.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.6.1-6.8
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• 2017

The objective of this research was to study the effect of astaxanthin (AST) on growth performance and antioxidant capacity in golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) both in vivo and in vitro. In the in vivo study, two diets were formulated with or without astaxanthin supplementation (D1 and D2; 0 and 200 mg/kg) to feed fish for 6 weeks. In the in vitro study, cells from hepatopancreas of golden pompano were isolated and four treatments with or without astaxanthin and $H_2O_2$ supplementation were applied (control group: without both astaxanthin and $H_2O_2$ treated; $H_2O_2$ group: just with $H_2O_2$ treated; $H_2O_2$ + AST group: with both astaxanthin and $H_2O_2$treated; AST group: just with AST treated). Results of the in vivo study showed that weight gain (WG) and special growth rate (SGR) significantly increased with astaxanthin supplemented (P < 0.05). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of fish fed D2 diet was significantly lower than that of fish fed D1 diet (P < 0.05). Hepatic total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the reduced glutathione (GSH) of golden pompano fed D2 diet were significant higher than those of fish fed D1 diet (P < 0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) was significantly declined as astaxanthin was supplemented (P < 0.05). Results of the in vitro study showed that the cell viability of $H_2O_2$ group was 52.37% compared to the control group, and it was significantly elevated to 84.18% by astaxanthin supplementation ($H_2O_2$ + AST group) (P < 0.05). The total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the reduced glutathione (GSH) of cell were significant decreased by oxidative stress from $H_2O_2$ (P < 0.05), but it could be raised by astaxanthin supplementation ($H_2O_2$ vs $H_2O_2$ + AST), and the malondialdehyde (MDA) was significant higher in $H_2O_2$ group (P < 0.05) and astaxanthin supplementation could alleviate the cells from lipid peroxidation injury. In conclusion, dietary astaxanthin supplementation can improve the growth performance of golden pompano. Moreover, astaxanthin can improve the golden pompano hepatic antioxidant capacity both in vivo and in vitro study by eliminating the reactive oxygen species.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2007

The mechanism of acacetin-induced apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells was investigated. Acacetin caused 50% growth inhibition ($IC_{50}$) of MCF-7 cells at $26.4{\pm}0.7{\mu}M$ over 24 h in the MTT assay. Apoptosis was characterized by DNA fragmentation and an increase of sub-G1 cells and involved activation of caspase-7 and PARP (poly-ADP-ribose polymerase). Maximum caspase 7 activity was observed with $100{\mu}M$ acacetin for 24 h. Caspase 8 and 9 activation cascades mediated the activation of caspase 7. Acacetin caused a reduction of Bcl-2 expression leading to an increase of the Bax:Bcl-2 ratio. It also caused a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential that induced release of cytochrome c and apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) into the cytoplasm, enhancing ROS generation and subsequently resulting in apoptosis. Pretreatment of cells with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced ROS generation and cell growth inhibition, and pretreatment with NAC or a caspase 8 inhibitor (Z-IETD-FMK) inhibited the acacetin-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c and AIF. Stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun $NH_4$-terminal kinase 1/2 (SAPK/JNK1/2) and c-Jun were activated by acacetin but extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) nor p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were not. Our results show that acacetin-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells is mediated by caspase activation cascades, ROS generation, mitochondria-mediated cell death signaling and the SAPK/JNK1/2-c-Jun signaling pathway, activated by acacetin-induced ROS generation.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2006

Among poly aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxin and PCBs are the most controversial environmental pollutants in our modern life. These pollutants are known as human carcinogens, and liver is the most sensitive target in animal cancer models. Specific aims of the study were focused on the mechanism of carcinogenesis in hepatocytes and the structure-activity relation among these diverse environmental chemicals. Because key mechanisms of dioxin-induced carcinogenesis in human epithelial cell model are the alteration of signal transduction pathway and PKC isoforms, the alteration of the signal transduction pathways and other factors associated with carcinogenesis were studied. Rat hepatocytes cultured under the sandwich protocols were exposed with the various concentration of dioxins and PCBs, and signal transduction pathway, protein kinase C isoforms, oxidant stress, and apoptotic nuclei were evaluated. Since it is important to understand the structure-activity relation among these chemicals to properly assess the carcinogenic potentials, the study analyzed the parameters associated with carcinogenic processes, based on their structural characteristics. In addition, signal transduction pathways and PKC isoforms involved in inhibition of UV-induced apoptosis were also analyzed to elaborate the tumor promotion mechanism of these chemicals. Induction of apoptosis by UV irradiation was optimal at $60\;J/m^2$ in primary hepatocyte in culture. Compared to non coplanar PCBs such as PCB 114 and PCB 153, coplanar PCBs such as PCB 77 and PCB126 showed a stronger inhibition of apoptosis induced by UV irradiation. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was more stimulated by non-coplanar PCBs than coplanar PCBs with the most potent induction of ROS by chlorinated non-coplanar PCB. As compared to the level of induction by PCB126, non-coplanar PCB153 showed a higher increase of intracellular concentrations. Besides the alteration of intracellular calcium concentration, translocation of PKC from cytosolic fraction to membrane fraction was clearly observed upon the exposure of non-coplanar PCB. Taken together, the present study demonstrated that there is a potent structure-activity relationship among PCB congeners and the mechanism of PAH-induced carcinogenesis is structure-specific. The study suggested that more diverse pathways of PAH-induced carcinogenesis should be taken into account beyond the boundary of Ah receptor dogma to assess the health impact of PAH with more accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.40-49
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• 1986

Crack, craze and void are common defects which may be found in the bulk of polymeric materials such as either themoplastics or thermosets. The healing phenomena, autohesion, of these defects are known to be a intrinsic material property of various polymeric materials. However, only a few experimental and theoretical investigations on crack, void and craze healing phenomena for various polymeric materials have been reported up to date [1, 2, 3]. This may be partly due to the complications of healing processes and lacking of appropriate theoretical developments. Recently, some investigators have been urged to study the healing phenomena of various polymenic materials since the significance of the use of polymer based alloys or composites has been raised in terms of specific strength and energy saving. In the earlier published reports [1, 2, 3, 4], the crack and void healing velocity, healing toughness and some other healing mechanical and physical properties were measured experimentally and compared with predicted values by utilizing a simple model such as the reptation model under some resonable assumptions. It seems, however, that the general acceptance of the proposed modeling analyses is yet open question. The crack healing processes seem to be complicate and highly dependent on the state of virgin material in terms of mechanical and physical properties. Furthermore, it is also strongly dependent on the histories of crack, craze and void development including fracture suface morphology, the shape of void and the degree of disentanglement of fibril in the craze. The rate of crack healing may be a function of environmental factors such as healing temperature, time and pressure which gives different contact configurations between two separated surfaces. It seems to be reasonable to assume that the crack healing processes may be divided in several distinguished steps like stress relaxation with molecular chain arrangement, surface contact (wetting), inter- diffusion process and com;oete healing (to obtain the original strength). In this context, it is likely that we no longer have to accept the limitation of cumulative damage theories and fatigue life if it is probable to remove the defects such as crack, craze and void and to restore the original strength of polymers or polymer based compowites by suitable choice of healing histories and methods. In this paper, we wish to present a very simple and intuitive theoretical model for the prediction of healed fracture toughness of cracked or defective polymeric components. The central idea of this investigation, thus, may be the modeling of behavior of chain molecules under healing conditions including the effects of chain scission on the healing processes. The validity of this proposed model will be studied by making comparisons between theoretically predicted values and experimentally determined results in near future and will be reported elsewhere.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.19 no.4 s.54
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• pp.48-60
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• 2004

This study is aimed at examining the relationship between health behaviors practices and physical and psychological stresses of radiological technologists who are working at general hospitals across the country. For this purpose, a survey was conducted to 890 subjects by means of questionnaires from the middle of July to the end of August 2003, which resulted in the following outcomes: 1. From the technical and statistical analysis into the physical and psychological states, the item 'I feel miserable and dejected' scored the highest points of (3.91), implying that most subjects got heavily stressed, while the item 'Life is worth living' recorded (2.59), representing that only a few of them got less stressed. 2. With regard to an analysis of variance depending on their regular exercise, a significant difference appeared in 7 items(Pl, P2, P5, P6, P12, P17, and Pl8)(P<0.05). 3. Out of analysis into such variance as smoking, significant results were found in the items 'I become uncomfortable or disturbed at night' and 'I can solve my own problems'(P<0.05), while no significant difference was confirmed in other items regardless smoking. 4. From the T-test conducted to the independent sample depending on the drive under the influence, a significant difference was shown only in the item 'I feel very exhausted, even eating is a labo'( P<0.05). 5. The T-test with the independent sample of drinking coffee, the item 'I am satisfied with the method and the procedure of things I do' turned out to be significant( P<0.05) while no particular difference was confirmed in other items. In conclusion, it was revealed from the study that the physical and psychological states and health-related practices of radiological technologists seemed to be more affected by regular exercise than by smoking or drinking wine or coffee, a result confirming that the health-related acts are closely associated with the socio-psychological stresses. It is, therefore, strongly suggested that the practice of health-related acts to properly control stress will contribute to promoting health and pre venting disease of radiological technologists.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.464-476
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• 1999

This study was conducted between October 1, 1998, and December 31, 1998, in order to provide basic data to develop better self-management educational programs for systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) patients. In the study, the extent of each patients knowledge on the disease and their learning needs about it were examined for 100 lupus inpatients and outpatients at the Kangnam St. Marys Hospital. Data were collected by using questionnaires to those patients. Frequencies, percentage, average, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and Duncans multiple range test were examined through the SAS program. The result of study follows : 1) The average score of patients knowledge on the disease was 15.7 (range, 7-20; standard deviation, 2.74). Subjects scored higher as far as the extent of their knowledge in the following categories : management of daily life, diet, characteristics of the disease, risk factors, and medication. Two categories shared the highest percentage of correct answers : 99% of subjects correctly identified that fatigue and stress aggravate symptoms of lupus and symptoms of lupus vary among individuals in range and type. However, when subjects were asked if patients should get a regular examination by an ophthalmologist every 4-6 months while they are on medication to treat rashes, lupus can be completely cured, and contraceptives that include a female hormone (estrogen) are good as contraceptive methods, the percentages of correct answers were low (32%, 31%, and 20%, respectively). In terms of subjects knowledge about the disease by their general characteristics, single subjects had more knowledge about the disease than married subjects did (t=2.14, p=0.0353). The extent of knowledge also varied by monthly income (F=4.96. p=0.0097). Those with more formal education had more knowledge about lupus than those who had less formation education did (t=2.95, 0.0039). Additionally, those who were satisfied with their education about the disease had better knowledge about it than those who were dissatisfied with their education did (t=2.71, p=0.0090). 2) The extent to which lupus patients wanted to be educated about the disease was, on average, 64.5 (range, 46-75; standard deviation, 7.91). Areas for which patients requested education are listed here in order : risk factors, sexual lives and patients associations. Patients who had been hospitalized demonstrated wanting more education than those who had not been did(t=3.73, p=0.0003). The extent to which they wanted the information was different by the number of educational sessions they had (F=3.98, p=0.0249). In conclusion, the results above would be considered when the education programme is planned for SLE patients.

• 한국생태학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.119-125
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• 2002

Application of phytoremediation in the polluted area to remove undesirable materials is a complex and difficult subject without detailed investigation and experimentation. We investigated the accumulation patterns of cadmium and lead in plants naturally grown, the bioavailability of plants to accumulate these toxic metals and the responses of P. thunbergii to cadmium and lead. The soil samples contained detectable lead (<17.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/g), whereas cadmium was not detected in the soils of study area. The whole body of Persicaria thunbergii contained detectable lead (<320.8$\mu\textrm{g}$/g) but cadmium was detected only in the stem (<7.4$\mu\textrm{g}$/g) and root (<10.4$\mu\textrm{g}$/g) of P. thunbergii. Cadmium was not detected in Trapa japonica and Nymphoides peltata, whereas lead was detected in T. japonica (<323.7$\mu\textrm{g}$/g) and N. peltata (<177.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/g). Correlation coefficient between lead content in soil and in these plant samples represented positive correlation. The total content of lead in each plant sample increased in the order of N.peltata$\leq$P.thunbergii

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.494-510
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• 2001

As a family respond to any stressful situation as a whole system, cancer diagnosis of a child, as a serious life event, could be emotional shock to destroy homeostasis of the family system. A family has a resilient capacity to adjust and adapt to stressful events. Previous studies have been focused on family stress and adaptation, but little attention has been given to family value as one of resilient factors. The data for model testing were collected from July 18, 2000 to August 30, 2000 and the analysis included 309 parents of children who are diagnosed as cancer, 18 or less years of age, and treated either hospitalized or at the outpatient clinics. The data analysis utilized SAS 6.12 and LISREL 8 for descriptive statistics, correlation, cluster analysis, factor analysis, and LISREL. The study findings are as follows. 1) Monthly income (γ=-0.28, t=-5.81) was the most important factor to explain family strain along with family support (γ=-0.11, t=-2.43), severity of children's illness (γ=0.26, t=5.22), and family stressor (γ=0.22, t=4.62). All of these factors together explained 40％ of variance in family strain. 2) Among general family value, the relationship with the parents (γ=0.28, t=4.89) and relationship with the children (γ=0.20, t=3.60) showed positive effects to family value for cancer children, while relationship with the spouse (γ=-0.19, t=-3.22) and the age of the cancer children (γ=-0.11, t=-2.21) showed negative effects. These predictors together explained 22％ of variance in family value for cancer children. 3) Family hardiness was explained mostly by family strain (γ=-0.53, t=-8.65) along with direct negative effects of family persistency and indirect negative effects of severity of children's illness, family stressor, relationship with the spouse, and the children's age. Family value for cancer children was the most important predictor with positive effect (γ=0.44, t=6.76) along with indirect effects of monthly income, relationship with the parents, relationship with the children, support from family and significant others, and confidence with the health professionals. 51％ of variance in family hardiness was explained by all of these predictors. 4) The most important predictor for family adaptation was family stressor (γ=-0.50, t=-6.85) with direct and indirect negative effects along with the severity of children's illness (γ=-0.27, t=-5.21). However, family value for cancer children showed compromised total effect (γ=-0.13, t=-1.99) with negative direct effects (γ=-0.28, t=-3.43) and positive indirect effects (γ=0.14, t=3.01). Similarly, confidence with the health professionals also showed compromised total effect (γ=0.09, t=1.99) with positive direct effects and negative indirect effects. Family hardiness showed the biggest positive direct effects while other factors such as monthly income, family stressor, family persistence, support of family and significant others, relationship with the parents, relationship with the children, and relationship with the spouse, and children's age showed indirect effects only. 39％ of variance in family adaptation was explained by all of these predictors.