• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.13-21
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• 1991

To investigate the factors that affect the fertilization and cleavage rates of mature oocytes, 44 patients undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation(COH) with FSH/hMG/hCG regimen for IVF - ET were analyzed. During follicular phase, serum LH levels were measured by radioimmunoassay and bioassay. Based on the mean follicular immunoactive LH(i-LH) and bioactive LH(b-LH) levels, patients were divided into 3 groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in basal serum FSH levels on menstrual cycle day 3, serum estradiol($E_2$) and progesterone ($P_4$) levels on the day of hCG administration, and the numbers of follicles aspirated and oocytes retrieved among groups. In relation to the mean follicular i-LH levels, the fertilization and cleavage rates of mature oocytes did not show a significant difference among groups. However, in groups with higher mean follicular b-LH levels, the fertilization and cleavage rates were reduced significantly. During late follicular phase, day-to-day variance in b-LH levels was not significant, but there was a significant difference among groups. There was no significant correlation between serum P. and b-LH levels. These data suggest that the fertilization and cleavage rates of mature oocytes are adversely affected by the raised mean follicular b-LH levels, and monitoring of serum b-LH levels is more useful in COH when compared with i-LH. It appears that the reduced rates are not due to the attenuated endogenous LH surge.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• 제1권4호
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• pp.275-280
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• 2005

Carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) is well known hepatotoxicant. Its overdose cause severe centrilobular hepatic necrosis in human and experimental animals. We administered $CCl_{4}$ at low (0.2 mL/kg p.o.) and high (2 mL/kg p.o.) doses to mice. Mice were sacrificed at 24 h after administration. We evaluated liver toxicity by serum AST and ALT level and by microscopic observation. Using cDNA chip, we conducted gene expression analysis in liver. Mean serum activities of the hepatocellular leakage enzymes, ALT and AST, were significantly increased compare to control, respectively, in the low and high dose groups. H&E evaluation of stained liver sections revealed $CCl_{4}-related$ histopathological findings in mice. Moderate centrilobular hepatocellular necrosis was present in all $CCl_{4}$ treated mice. We found that gene expression pattern was very similar between low and high dose group. However, some stress related genes were differently expressed. These results could be a molecular signature for the degree of liver injury. Our data suggest that the degree of severity could be figure out by gene expression profiling.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권9호
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• pp.1395-1403
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• 2020

There is an increasing interest in using inactivated probiotics to modulate the host immune system and protect against pathogens. As the immunomodulatory function of heat-killed Lactobacillus brevis KCTC 12777BP (LBB) and its mechanism is unclear, we investigated the effect of LBB on immune response based on the hypothesis that LBB might exert stimulatory effects on immunity. In the current study, we demonstrate that administration of LBB can exert immune-stimulatory effects and promote clearance of foreign matters through enhancing phagocytosis. Treatment with LBB induced the production of TNF-α, IL-6, and nitric oxide in macrophages. Importantly, LBB directly increased the phagocytic activity of macrophages against bacterial particles. LBB was able to promote the production of TNF-α in bone marrow-derived macrophages and splenocytes and also increase the proliferation rate of splenocytes, suggesting that the immune-stimulating activity of LBB can be observed in primary immune cells. Investigation into the molecular mechanism responsible revealed that LBB upregulates TAK1 activity and its downstream ERK, p38, and JNK signaling pathways. To further confirm the immunomodulatory capability of LBB in vivo, we orally administered LBB to mice and assessed the effect on primary splenocytes. Splenocytes isolated from LBB-treated mice exhibited higher TNF-α expression and proliferative capacity. These results show that heat-killed L. brevis, a wildly consumed probiotic, may provide protection against pathogens through enhancing host immunity.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.1-31
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• 2010

One of the prominent challenges of e-government identified in developing countries is low level of ICT literacy and skills of e-government users. For those countries at the nascent stage of e-government development, it is crucial to identify and provide e-skills needed from the demand side. However, prior research has mostly focused on the supply side of e-skills, ignoring the consumption side of e-skills. In addition, no user centric approach for e-skills identification and development for e-service consumption, with respect to the stages of e-government development, have been proposed and validated. The purpose of this article is thus to: 1) Identify skills required for e-services utilization by all participants-citizens, public, and private sector employees-involved in G2C, G2B, and G2E e-government relationships respectively; assuming they are consumers of e-government and to 2) Propose and validate an user-centric approach for e-skills identification and development based on stages of e-government utilizing the Delphi method. As a result of the study, a comprehensive list of e-skills (N = 81) was generated. We found that e-skills required for e-service consumption are not merely technical; they include a wide variety of related skills that can be applied to enhancing e-skills. Therefore, the findings can serve as a standard curriculum for training and educating both citizens and government employees in developing countries. Moreover, the findings of this research may also facilitate international organizations in indentifying and measuring citizens' readiness for e-government in terms of e-skills.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.47-54
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• 2019

Estrogen withdrawal in post-menopausal women leads to overactivation of osteoclasts, which contributes to the development of osteoporosis. Inflammatory cytokines are known as one of mechanisms of osteoclast activation after estrogen deficiency. SPA0355 is a thiourea derivative that has been investigated for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, its efficacy in bone resorption has not been previously investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of SPA0355 on the development of osteoporosis and to explore its mode of action. In vitro experiments showed that SPA0355 inhibited receptor activator of $NF-{\kappa}B$ ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis in primary bone marrow-derived macrophages. This effect appears to be independent of estrogen receptor activation as ICI 180,782 failed to abrogate its effects on osteoclasts. Further signaling studies revealed that SPA0355 suppressed activation of the MAPKs, Akt, and $NF-{\kappa}B$ pathways. SPA0355 also increased osteoblastic differentiation, as evidenced by its effects on alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization nodule formation. Intraperitoneal administration of SPA0355 to ovariectomized mice prevented bone loss, as verified by three-dimensional images and bone morphometric parameters derived from ${\mu}CT$ analysis. Noticeably, SPA0355 did not show hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity and also had little effect on hematological parameters. Taken together, the results indicate that SPA0355 may protect against bone loss in ovariectomized mice by stimulation of osteoblast differentiation and by inhibition of osteoclast resorption. Therefore, SPA0355 is a safe and potential candidate for management of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

• 대기
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.183-196
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• 2019

High-quality and high-resolution meteorological information is essential to reduce damages due to disastrous weather phenomena such as flash flood, strong wind, and heat/cold waves. There are many meteorological observation stations operated by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) in Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA). Nonetheless, they are still not enough to represent small-scale weather phenomena like convective storm cells due to its poor resolution, especially over urban areas with high-rise buildings and complex land use. In this study, feasibilities to use additional pre-existing networks (e.g., operated by local government and private company) are tested by investigating the effects of network density on the gridded horizontal distribution of two meteorological variables (temperature and precipitation). Two heat wave event days and two precipitation events are chosen, respectively. And the automatic weather station (AWS) networks operated by KMA, local-government, and SKTechX in Incheon area are used. It is found that as network density increases, correlation coefficients between the interpolated values with a horizontal resolution of 350 m and observed data also become large. The range of correlation coefficients with respect to the network density shows large in nighttime rather than in daytime for temperature. While, the range does not depend on the time of day, but on the precipitation type and horizontal distribution of convection cells. This study suggests that temperature and precipitation sensors should be added at points with large horizontal inhomogeneity of land use or topography to represent the horizontal features with a resolution higher than 350 m.

• 청정기술
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.91-101
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• 2009

아마이드계 섬유를 고농도로 염색할 때 피염물의 우수한 견뢰도를 얻기 위해 사용되는 금속착염(metal complex) 염료의 대부분은 Cr을 함유하고 있는 유독성 염료이어서, 잔욕에 남게 등의 환경적인 문제를 일으킬 뿐 아니라, $Cr^{6+}$를 함유할 경우 인체에도 심각한 질병을 줄 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 금속착염 염료를 대체하기 위해 중금속 함유량을 최소화한 반응성 염료를 양모와 나일론 염색에 응용하였다. 각 섬유에 대한 반응성 염료의 염색성을 파악하고, 실제 염색공장에서의 적용을 위해 색상 영역별 흡진률과 견뢰도 수준을 확인하였다. 또한 반응성 염료들에 대한 중금속 함량 및 유해아민분석을 통하여 그 유해성 경향을 수치적으로 검증하며, 기존 사용 염료와의 비교를 통해 미래 지향적인 청정염료로서의 가능성을 보고자 하였다.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제29권7호
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• pp.868-876
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• 2000

Objective : Parkinsonian rat models have generally been characterized by unilateral destruction of both the nigrostriatal pathway and the mesolimbic pathway using the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine. The induction of contraversive turning by apomorphine in these models is thought to reflect the stimulation of supersensitive dopamine D2 receptor or receptor-mediated mechanisms in denervated neostriatum. The present study was undertaken to investigate the expression of dopamine D2 receptor in denervated striatum according to modalities of apomorphine(dopamine agonist) treatment after creating a hemiparkinsonian rat model in which there is 6-hydroxydopamine induced destruction of the unilateral dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway. Methods : After making complete lesion in left side substantia nigra pars compacta(SNpc) by stereotactic injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into medial and lateral areas of SNpc, and confirming successful animal model by apomorphine induced contraversive turning behavior without recovery and complete destruction of ipsilateral SNpc with tyrosine hydroxylase immunostaining in 7th day after operation, 15 rats of parkinsonian model were studied with or without administration of apomorphine at varying doses and durations. According to the modalities of apomorphine treatment for 4 days, these rats were divided into 3 groups, as not-treated group, intermittently treated group and constantly treated group. For investigating the extent of the expression of dopamine D2 receptor in denervated striatum, immunohistochemical staining by dopamine D2 receptor antibody and Western blot were performed. Results : In the D2 receptor antibody immunohistochemical staining, the mean number of positive stained neurons was highest in not-treated group($20.5{\pm}1.14$) of 3 groups. In constantly treated group, the mean number of positive stained neurons was less($3.9{\pm}1.79$) than intermittently treated group(p<0.05). The Western blotting with the D2 receptor antibody revealed that expression of receptors was also highest in not-treated group and less in constantiy treated group than intermittently treated group. Conclusion : Dopamine D2 receptors in denervated striatum of parkinsonian rat models, which were not treated with apomorphine, revealed to be most highly expressed. And, according to doses and durations of apomorphine administration, desensitization of the receptor was more apt to develop with constant treatment than intermittent treatment. In clinical setting, the authors believe that, in long-term treated parkinsonian patients, desensitization of dopamine receptors due to chronic dopaminergic stimulation seems to be partially related to mechanisms of drug tolerance.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.265-273
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• 2009

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is a small single-stranded RNA virus which belongs to the family Picornaviridae, genus Apthovirus. It is a principal cause of FMD which is highly contagious in livestock. In a wild type virus infection, infected animals usually elicit antibodies against structural and non-structural protein of FMDV. A structural protein, VP1, is involved in neutralization of virus particle, and has both B and T cell epitopes. A RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, 3D, is highly conserved among other serotypes and strongly immunogenic, therefore, we selected VP1 and 3D as vaccine targets. VP1 and 3D genes were codon-optimized to enhance protein expression level and cloned into mammalian expression vector. To produce recombinant protein, VP1 and 3D genes were also cloned into pET vector. The VP1 and 3D DNA or proteins were co-immunized into 5 weeks old BALB/C mice. Antigen-specific serum antibody (Ab) responses were detected by Ab ELISA. Cellular immune response against VP1 and 3D was confirmed by ELISpot assay. The results showed that all DNA- and protein-immunized groups induced cellular immune responses, suggesting that both DNA and recombinant protein vaccine administration efficiently induced Ag-specific humoral and cellular immune responses.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.22-28
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• 2011

This study aimed to determine the feasibility of survey questionnaires for pesticide poisoning. We conducted a pilot study to develop a questionnaire for evaluating pesticide poisoning symptoms and to examine the validity of self-reported information for individual pesticides used. In December 2010 we interviewed 20 farmers with self-reported pesticide poisoning histories residing in Gyeonggi Province. For validity of pesticide information, the purchased pesticide lists from the agricultural cooperative federation were compared with individual self-reported pesticides used. Neurological symptoms were the most common among clinical symptoms related to pesticide poisoning, followed by gastrointestinal, dermal and eye symptoms. Insecticides were the main causative pesticide class for poisoning. Twenty one major symptoms were selected for screening for acute pesticide poisoning in a field study based on the pilot results and literature reviews. Substantial under-reporting was found in data on self-reported individual pesticides used (9.2%), as well as low accuracy (36%) compared with their actual purchase lists. In this pilot study, we suggest the selected symptom lists may apply to a field survey of pesticide poisoning. However, the self-reported information on individual pesticides may not be valid and alternative methods need to be developed.