• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.240-247
• /
• 2010

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram (-) opportunistic human pathogen causing a wide variety of infections on lung, urinary tract, eyes, and burn wound sites and quorum sensing (QS), a cell density-sensing mechanism plays an essential role in Pseudomonas pathogenesis. In order to investigate the importance of QS in the Pseudomonas infections of Korean patients, we isolated 189 clinical strains of P. aeruginosa from the patients in Pusan Paik Hospital, Busan, South Korea. The QS signal production of these clinical isolates was measured by signal diffusion assay on solid media using reporter strains. While most clinical strains (79.4%) produced the QS signals as similar level as a wild type strain, PAO1 did, where LasR, the initial QS signal sensor-regulator was fully activated, a minority of them (4.2%) produced much less QS signals at the level to which LasR failed to respond. Similarly, while 72.5% of the clinical isolates produced QS signals enough to activate QscR, an another QS signal sensor-regulator, some few of them (9%) produced the QS signals at much lower level where QscR was not activated. For further analysis, we selected 74 clinical strains that were obtained from the patients under suspicion of Pseudomonas infection and investigated the total protease activity that is considered important for virulence. Interestingly, significant portion of them showed very low protease activity (44.6%) or no detectable protease activity (12.2%). When the biofilm-forming ability that is considered very important in chronic infection was examined, most isolates showed lower biofilm-forming activity than PAO1. Similarly, significant portion of clinical isolates showed reduced motility (reduced swarming activity in 51.4% and reduced twitching activity in 41.9%), or non-detectable motility (swarming-negative in 28.4% and twitching-negative in 28.4%). Our result showed that the clinical isolates that produced QS signals at the similar level to wild type could have significantly reduced activities in the protease production, biofilm formation, and motility, and some clinical isolates had unique patterns of motility, biofilm formation, and protease production that are not correlated to their QS activity.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.375-395
• /
• 2006

Purpose: Lingual nerve (LN) damage may be caused by either tumor resection or injury such as wisdom tooth extraction, Although autologous nerve graft is sometimes used to repair the damaged nerve, it has the disadvantage of necessity of another operation for nerve harvesting. Moreover, the results of nerve grafting is not satisfactory. The nerve growth factor (NGF) is well-known to play a critical role in peripheral nerve regeneration and its local delivery to the injured nerve has been continuously tried to enhance nerve regeneration. However, its application has limitations like repeated administration due to short half life of 30 minutes and an in vivo delivery model must allow for direct and local delivery. The aim of this study was to construct a well-functioning $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus for the ultimate development of improved method to promote peripheral nerve regeneration with enhanced and extended secretion of hNGF from the injured nerve by injecting $rhNGF-{\beta}$ gene directly into crush-injured LN in rat model. Materials and Methods: $hNGF-{\beta}$ gene was prepared from fetal brain cDNA library and cloned into E1/E3 deleted adenoviral vector which contains green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene as a reporter. After large scale production and purification of $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus, transfection efficiency and its expression at various cells (primary cultured Schwann cells, HEK293 cells, Schwann cell lines, NIH3T3 and CRH cells) were evaluated by fluorescent microscopy, RT-PCR, ELISA, immunocytochemistry. Furthermore, the function of rhNGF-beta, which was secreted from various cells infected with $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus, was evaluated using neuritogenesis of PC-12 cells. For in vivo evaluation of efficacy of $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus, the LNs of 8-week old rats were exposed and crush-injured with a small hemostat for 10 seconds. After the injury, $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus($2{\mu}l,\;1.5{\times}10^{11}pfu$) or saline was administered into the crushed site in the experimental (n=24) and the control group (n=24), respectively. Sham operation of another group of rats (n=9) was performed without administration of either saline or adenovirus. The taste recovery and the change of fungiform papilla were studied at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks. Each of the 6 animals was tested with different solutions (0.1M NaCl, 0.1M sucrose, 0.01M QHCl, or 0.01M HCl) by two-bottle test paradigm and the number of papilla was counted using SEM picture of tongue dorsum. LN was explored at the same interval as taste study and evaluated electro-physiologically (peak voltage and nerve conduction velocity) and histomorphometrically (axon count, myelin thickness). Results: The recombinant adenovirus vector carrying $rhNGF-{\beta}$ was constructed and confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis and DNA sequence analysis. GFP expression was observed in 90% of $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected cells compared with uninfected cells. Total mRNA isolated from $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected cells showed strong RT-PCR band, however uninfected or LacZ recombinant adenovirus infected cells did not. NGF quantification by ELISA showed a maximal release of $18865.4{\pm}310.9pg/ml$ NGF at the 4th day and stably continued till 14 days by $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected Schwann cells. PC-12 cells exposed to media with $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus infected Schwann cell revealed at the same level of neurite-extension as the commercial NGF did. $rhNGF-{\beta}$ adenovirus injected experimental groups in comparison to the control group exhibited different taste preference ratio. Salty, sweet and sour taste preference ratio were significantly different after 2 weeks from the beginning of the experiment, which were similar to the sham group, but not to the control group.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.29-39
• /
• 2015

This study has attempted to determine the micro-discourse from blogs as personal media that reflect citizens' actual opinions of the Seoul Forest without intervention of experts. Furthermore, a qualitative research method discourse analysis was selected to analyze the micro-discourse regarding the Seoul Forest in a time series. The extracted samples of blogs by year were intended to identify the comment section of the process of change and the discursive structure. The results are as follows; first, from the beginning of the development of the Seoul Forest to the present, it is divided into four chronological periods along with individuals' micro-discourse with social changes. During the beginning of the development of the Seoul Forest, the social discourse was formed, and in the next period, the micro-discourse was developed with a more emotional and complex discourse. In the formative period, four or five years later, the discourse reflected the civic consciousness of development more than ever, showing the diversity of participation in the program at the Seoul Forest. In the growth period, as the users' experiences had been accumulated, the users started writing about the role of the Seoul Forest in their own words. This can also be called place discourse. From the individuals' micro-discourse, this study shows the discourse structure of how individuals think about the Seoul Forest in each period. Unlike the experts, the micro-discourse contains specific daily interactions, experiences, and the stories of individuals who actually use the parks. It also shows how users reproduce and understand the space. In this respect, this is the most significant finding of this study. Based on this research, this study has demonstrated that the emotional description of a place that actually functions as a discourse about city parks, and confirms that blogs could be used as a space to form discourse and as a research tool to read the trends. In accordance with these results, this study has described not only the discourse of experts, but also how the discourse of individuals' comments can be an important part of the discourse of modern urban parks.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.389-398
• /
• 2012

Virtual worlds have pursued reality as if they actually exist. In order to evaluate the sense of reality in the computer-simulated worlds, several subjective questionnaires, which include specific independent variables, have been proposed in the literature. However, the questionnaires lack reliability and validity necessary for defining and measuring the virtual realization. Few studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of visual factors on the sense of reality experienced by exposing to a virtual environment. Therefore, this study was aimed at reinvestigating the variables and proposing a more reliable and advisable questionnaire for evaluating the virtual realization, focusing on visual factors. Twenty-one questions were gleaned from the literature and subjective interviews with focused groups. Exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation was performed on the data obtained from 200 participants(females: 100) after exposing to a virtual character image described in an extreme way. After removing poorly loading items, remained subsets were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis on the data obtained from the same participants. As a result, 3 significant factors were determined to efficiently measure the virtual realization. The determined factors included visual presence(3 subset items), visual immersion(7 subset items), and visual interactivity(4 subset items). The proposed factors were verified by conducting a subjective evaluation in which participants were asked to evaluate a 3D virtual eyeball model based on the visual presence. The results implicated that the measurement method was suitable for evaluating the degree of the virtual realization. The proposed method is expected to reasonably measure the degree of the virtual realization.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.33-49
• /
• 2018

The impact of TV Drama success on TV Rating and the channel promotion effectiveness is very high. The cultural and business impact has been also demonstrated through the Korean Wave. Therefore, the early prediction of the blockbuster success of TV Drama is very important from the strategic perspective of the media industry. Previous studies have tried to predict the audience ratings and success of drama based on various methods. However, most of the studies have made simple predictions using intuitive methods such as the main actor and time zone. These studies have limitations in predicting. In this study, we propose a model for predicting the popularity of drama by analyzing the customer's viewing pattern based on various theories. This is not only a theoretical contribution but also has a contribution from the practical point of view that can be used in actual broadcasting companies. In this study, we collected data of 280 TV mini-series dramas, broadcasted over the terrestrial channels for 10 years from 2003 to 2012. From the data, we selected the most highly ranked and the least highly ranked 45 TV drama and analyzed the viewing patterns of them by 11-step. The various assumptions and conditions for modeling are based on existing studies, or by the opinions of actual broadcasters and by data mining techniques. Then, we developed a prediction model by measuring the viewing-time distance (difference) using Euclidean and Correlation method, which is termed in our study similarity (the sum of distance). Through the similarity measure, we predicted the success of dramas from the viewer's initial viewing-time pattern distribution using 1~5 episodes. In order to confirm that the model is shaken according to the measurement method, various distance measurement methods were applied and the model was checked for its dryness. And when the model was established, we could make a more predictive model using a grid search. Furthermore, we classified the viewers who had watched TV drama more than 70% of the total airtime as the "passionate viewer" when a new drama is broadcasted. Then we compared the drama's passionate viewer percentage the most highly ranked and the least highly ranked dramas. So that we can determine the possibility of blockbuster TV mini-series. We find that the initial viewing-time pattern is the key factor for the prediction of blockbuster dramas. From our model, block-buster dramas were correctly classified with the 75.47% accuracy with the initial viewing-time pattern analysis. This paper shows high prediction rate while suggesting audience rating method different from existing ones. Currently, broadcasters rely heavily on some famous actors called so-called star systems, so they are in more severe competition than ever due to rising production costs of broadcasting programs, long-term recession, aggressive investment in comprehensive programming channels and large corporations. Everyone is in a financially difficult situation. The basic revenue model of these broadcasters is advertising, and the execution of advertising is based on audience rating as a basic index. In the drama, there is uncertainty in the drama market that it is difficult to forecast the demand due to the nature of the commodity, while the drama market has a high financial contribution in the success of various contents of the broadcasting company. Therefore, to minimize the risk of failure. Thus, by analyzing the distribution of the first-time viewing time, it can be a practical help to establish a response strategy (organization/ marketing/story change, etc.) of the related company. Also, in this paper, we found that the behavior of the audience is crucial to the success of the program. In this paper, we define TV viewing as a measure of how enthusiastically watching TV is watched. We can predict the success of the program successfully by calculating the loyalty of the customer with the hot blood. This way of calculating loyalty can also be used to calculate loyalty to various platforms. It can also be used for marketing programs such as highlights, script previews, making movies, characters, games, and other marketing projects.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.169-178
• /
• 2021

The Korean girl group "Kara" has suffered the trilemma of its de facto failure to debut, the crisis of team breakup, and the CEO crisis of the agency. But the group has made an outstanding achievement in the history of Korean pop music after overcoming all odds. Their success strategy has never been disclosed by insiders involved in Kara's total music projects. This study has been carried out in the analysis of the strategy to provide academic implications and to honor the contribution of the late CEO Ho-yeon Lee and Kara's key member Ha-ra Gu. Therefore, between Nov. and Dec. 2020, we conducted in-depth interviews with managers, composers, stylists and Ha-ra Gu(Only in 2019, before her death) who took part in the project. The research model is set up by combining Porter's Competitive Advantage Strategy and the music value chain model into categories of "Product Innovation Differentiation (PD)" (producing, album production, performance activities) and "Marketing Differentiation (MD)" (market targeting, image specialization, promotion and communication). The analysis showed that the PD focused on complete rediscovered harmonization and revalued members' personality and sincerity with peppy songs and dainty dances as well as emission of "bright energy" which caused healing effects instead of mimicking other star singers recklessly. In terms of MD, they selected Japan's 10-20s as their main market, increasing intimacy with fans and media with the image of cute+pretty+classy+sexy. The result suggests that Poter's differentiation can function as a meaningful strategy frame in the fostering, hit, and revival of idol groups. In addition, it reaffirmed that spontaneous and passionate activities of early-stage or celebrity fan may serve as a valid catalyst for realizing differentiation, as Kara's caller of Japanese actor Gekidan Hitori caused a strong "priming effect" that drove Kara's unexpected wonderful success in Japan.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.145-158
• /
• 2023

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are effective technologies for urban wastewater management, utilizing natural physico-chemical and biological processes to remove pollutants. This study employed a bibliometric analysis approach to investigate the progress and future research trends in the field of CWs. A comprehensive review of 100 most-recently published and open-access articles was performed to analyze the performance of CWs in treating wastewater. Spain, China, Italy, and the United States were among the most productive countries in terms of the number of published papers. The most frequently used keywords in publications include water quality (n=19), phytoremediation (n=13), stormwater (n=11), and phosphorus (n=11), suggesting that the efficiency of CWs in improving water quality and removal of nutrients were widely investigated. Among the different types of CWs reviewed, hybrid CWs exhibited the highest removal efficiencies for BOD (88.67%) and TSS (95.67%), whereas VSSF, and HSSF systems also showed high TSS removal efficiencies (83.25%, and 78.83% respectively). VSSF wetland displayed the highest COD removal efficiency (71.82%). Generally, physical processes (e.g., sedimentation, filtration, adsorption) and biological mechanisms (i.e., biodegradation) contributed to the high removal efficiency of TSS, BOD, and COD in CW systems. The hybrid CW system demonstrated highest TN removal efficiency (60.78%) by integrating multiple treatment processes, including aerobic and anaerobic conditions, various vegetation types, and different media configurations, which enhanced microbial activity and allowed for comprehensive nitrogen compound removal. The FWS system showed the highest TP removal efficiency (54.50%) due to combined process of settling sediment-bound phosphorus and plant uptake. Phragmites, Cyperus, Iris, and Typha were commonly used in CWs due to their superior phytoremediation capabilities. The study emphasized the potential of CWs as sustainable alternatives for wastewater management, particularly in urban areas.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
• /
• v.13 no.8
• /
• pp.411-424
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study is to explore the feasible policy directions for sports welfare that can not only improve the standard of living through health but also ensure a happy and enjoyable life for the people of Gangwon Province. For this purpose, I have conducted studies such as the analysis on the sports class voucher project being implemented by the South Korean government and the case analysis in sports welfare, and present policy directions as follows. First of all, it is about upgrading the sports class voucher project. And as its implementation plans, I suggest ① increased publicity, ② the earmarking of the province's own budget for the sports class voucher project, ③ the establishment of a system for cooperation for work implementation between the related organizations and their staff in charge with a view to activating the sports class voucher project, and ④ the upgraded services for the sports class voucher project and the upgraded access to the life cycle-based universal welfare. Second, it is about using public sports facilities and developing various programs. I suggest the active utilization of the public sports facilities that enable people to learn the skills for such sports disciplines as baseball, badminton, ice sports, and golf and the development and distribution of distinctive educational programs for dance for media entertainment shows for female youths, climbing, cheer leading, fencing, surfing and horseback riding. Third, it is about nurturing the human resources and networking. For this, I suggest the creation of 'Sports Welfare Specialist Training Program' and the training of the college students majoring in sports science with the aim of creating a number of jobs. Fourth, it is about refurbishing the system and establishing the support system. I suggest the dismantling of the partitions in the welfare policy related to sports activities and the formation of (tentatively named) 'Gangwon Province Sports Welfare Implementation Committee', and the creation of (tentatively named) 'Sports Welfare Project Support Team' in Health, Welfare & Women's Affairs Bureau or Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau in the short term and then its long-term expansion into (tentatively named) 'Gangwon Province Sports Welfare Support Center' in responding to the needs that reflect the provincial demographics, with a view to establishing a single lineup for the administrative support system. Furthermore, as budget and manpower are needed to realize customized sports welfare that suits the characteristics of the province and in which all the provincial residents can collect benefits, I suggest that the province provide the legal basis through creating 'Ordinance Promoting Sports Welfare in Gangwon Province' and pushing forward with (tentatively named) 'Gangwon Province Sports Welfare Competition' as what revises the sports class voucher project for the purpose of broadening the basis for sports welfare promotion.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.657-689
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to develop a substantive theory on 'eating alone'(honbob)and the process of maintaining the lifestyle of eating alone for the need of a non-judgmental understanding on the new 'honbob' lifestyle. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 10 male and female workers in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, who voluntarily eat alone over 70% of their meals per week with the minimum duration of 5 years. Data analysis was performed using grounded theory proposed by Strauss & Corbin (1998) in the qualitative research method. As a result, a paradigm model on the process of maintaining 'honbob' was derived. Based on categorical analysis, the causal condition was 'not trying to tune' and the central phenomenon was 'following the desire to set efficiency as the top priority. Contextual conditions were 'the atmosphere of fierce competition', 'weakening of organizational culture', 'diffusion of individualistic culture'. The intervening conditions were 'personal trait and emotional experience', 'job characteristics of less organization culture'. The action/interaction strategies were 'accepting internal conflicts', 'acting in autonomy', 'finding relationship through media', and 'distancing from superficial relationship'. The consequences were 'enjoying time for self-exploration', 'valuing self-care', 'becoming a epicurean conventionalist', and 'becoming aware of the need for balance'. The core category has been shown as 'self-oriented in accordance to priority of efficiency and being able to appreciate the importance of social group'. The Such phenomenon passes through four different stages - first, the stage of weighing time efficiency while beginning hon-bob; second, the stage of conflict when one feels nervous and not free from others' view; third, the stage of adjustment to justify his/her 'hon-bob'; and the final stage of balance to perceive the importance of social group while going on 'honbob'. The study had the aim of increasing the understanding and acceptance of the new 'honbob' lifestyle through an in-depth exploration of office worker's 'honbob' experience and the process of maintaining 'honbob' so the society can better accept it and, further, to embrace co-existence of various cultures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.82 no.4
• /
• pp.889-902
• /
• 2021

Purpose To assess the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for additional MR-detected enhancing lesions and to determine whether or not kinetic pattern results comparable to dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) of the breast can be obtained using the quantitative analysis of CEUS. Materials and Methods In this single-center prospective study, a total of 71 additional MR-detected breast lesions were included. CEUS examination was performed, and lesions were categorized according to the Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of CEUS were calculated by comparing the BI-RADS category to the final pathology results. The degree of agreement between CEUS and DCE-MRI kinetic patterns was evaluated using weighted kappa. Results On CEUS, 46 lesions were assigned as BI-RADS category 4B, 4C, or 5, while 25 lesions category 3 or 4A. The diagnostic performance of CEUS for enhancing lesions on DCE-MRI was excellent, with 84.9% sensitivity, 94.4% specificity, and 97.8% positive predictive value. A total of 57/71 (80%) lesions had correlating kinetic patterns and showed good agreement (weighted kappa = 0.66) between CEUS and DCE-MRI. Benign lesions showed excellent agreement (weighted kappa = 0.84), and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) showed good agreement (weighted kappa = 0.69). Conclusion The diagnostic performance of CEUS for additional MR-detected breast lesions was excellent. Accurate kinetic pattern assessment, fairly comparable to DCE-MRI, can be obtained for benign and IDC lesions using CEUS.