• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1339-1344
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• 2014

Aims: Alterations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been implicated in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. We here evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic potential of mtDNA as a biomarker for breast cancer. Methods: Using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction, nuclear DNA (nDNA) and mtDNA levels in serum, buffy coat, tumor, and tumor-adjacent tissue samples from 50 breast cancer patients were determined and assessed for associations with clinicopathological features. To evaluate mtDNA as a biomarker for distinguishing between the four sample types, we created receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: The mtDNA levels in buffy coat were significantly lower than in other sample types. Relative to tumor-adjacent tissue, reduced levels of mtDNA were identified in buffy coat and tumor tissue but not in serum. According to ROC curve analysis, mtDNA levels could be used to distinguish between buffy coat and tumor-adjacent tissue samples with good sensitivity (77%) and specificity (83%). Moreover, mtDNA levels in serum and tumor tissue were positively associated with cancer TMN stage. Conclusions: The mtDNA levels in blood samples may represent a promising, non-invasive biomarker in breast cancer patients. Additional, large-scale validation studies are required to establish the potential use of mtDNA levels in the early diagnosis and monitoring of breast cancer.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.327-333
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• 2015

Previously, all-sky airglow images observed at Shigaraki ($34.9^{\circ}N$, $136.1^{\circ}E$), Japan, during 2004 and 2005 were analyzed in relation to those observed at Mt. Bohyun ($36.2^{\circ}N$, $128.9^{\circ}E$) for a comparison of their gravity wave characteristics (Kim et al. 2010). By applying the same selection criteria of waves and cloud coverages as in the case of Mt. Bohyun all-sky images, we derived apparent wavelengths, periods, phase velocities, and monthly occurrence rates of gravity waves at Shigaraki in this study. The distributions of wavelengths, periods, and speeds derived for Shigaraki were found to be roughly similar to those for Mt. Bohyun. However, the overall occurrence rates of gravity waves at Shigaraki were 36% and 34% for OI 557.7 nm and OH Meinel band airglow layers, respectively, which were significantly higher than those at Mt. Bohyun. The monthly occurrence rates did not show minima near equinox months, unlike those for Mt. Bohyun. Furthermore, the seasonal preferential directions that were clearly apparent for Mt. Bohyun were not seen in the wave propagation trends for Shigaraki. These differences between the two sites imply different origins of the gravity waves near the Korean peninsula and the Japanese islands. The gravity waves over the Japanese islands may originate from sources at various altitudes; therefore, wind filtering may not be effective in causing any seasonal preferential directions in the waves in the airglow layers. Our analysis of the Shigaraki data supports recent theoretical studies, according to which gravity waves can be generated from in situ sources, such as mesosphere wind shear or secondary wave formation, in the mesosphere.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.5_3
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• pp.589-602
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• 1998

Mt. Nam (265m), a city park of Seoul, was originally covered with a typical deciduous broad-leaved forests in Central Korea. However, the park forests have been changed the development for various purpose such as the construction of castle wall, road way, broadcasting station, theater, hotel and apartments, in addition, to thoughtless plantation or alien plant introduction. Human population growth from ca. 100 thousands persons less in that time established Seoul as the capital of choseon dynasty in 1394 to ten millions over persons at present, accelerated the vegetational changes of the park. mt. Nam boundary in those days of sunjong (1908) also was much shrinked as much the range of 300 m distance in the northern most to 700 or 800m distance in some places. The actual vegetation of Mt. Nam largely can be classified by floristic composition into two plant communities of Quercus mongolica community and Pinus densiflora community, four plantations of Pinus rigida, Robinia pseudo-acacia, Populus tomentiglandulosa and other tree species, and on mixed forest with native and alien tree species in secondary succession stage (Yim et al. 1987). The restoration movement of Mt. Nam toward to the natural condition of forest or biodiversity is moving now. However, in the movement there are some problems such as the lack of ecological consideration and the undesirable decision of priority in the practice. A warning should be given, especially, on the undesirable plantation of non-native tree species restricting the forest succession, as in the case of southern slope of Mt. Nam. First of all, the most importance in Mt. Nam management is that the restoration for natural forest and biodiversity should be carried on the basis of integrated ecological principles based on the site evaluation.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 1998

Inversion schemes of 2-D MT survey data generally take enormous computational time and computer memory. In addition, careful attention must be paid in handling MT data, especially in cases of TM mode, inversion results can be seriously distorted because of static effect caused by current channeling across inhomogeneous surface boundaries. There-fore inversion algorithm using the GRRI scheme for TM mode MT data was implemented. This scheme is based on a perturbation analysis with a locally 2-D analysis and local inversions were sequently performed over each divided section without additional forward modelings. The algorithm was applied to several synthetic data for the purpose of verification of its efficiency and applicability. With less computer resources than conventional schemes, it could handle static effect directly by including current channeling across inhomogeneous boundaries. Thus it is expected to be used for an useful tool such as a real-time inversion scheme in the field.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.224-231
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• 2017

PURPOSE. This study was designed to evaluate the teeth and dental implants during dental maintenance therapy over 3 years in different conditions after periodontal and dental prosthetic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS. 166 patients received maintenance therapy. 59 patients were treated with 2% minocycline-HCl ointment as local drug delivery (LDD) (L group) and 107 patients were treated without LDD (NL group). Clinical data was collected in maintenance period for evaluation. Patients were classified into groups depending on the application of LDD with maintenance therapy, the type of dental treatment before maintenance period (Pre-Tx), the frequency (F-MT), and regularity (R-MT) of maintenance therapy. RESULTS. The numbers of lost teeth (N-teeth, P=.003) and newly placed dental implants (N-implants, P=.022) are significantly different according to Pre-Tx. F-MT among patients who received surgical dental treatment before maintenance period showed statistical differences in N-teeth (P=.041), but not in N-implants (P=.564). All of the patients in L group showed high F-MT (F-MT1). In NL group, there were no statistical differences in N-teeth or N-implants according to F-MT or R-MT. In F-MT1 group, application of LDD made N-teeth significantly different from both Pre-Tx groups while no significant difference could be found in N-implant. Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were selected for statistical analysis. CONCLUSION. The regular maintenance therapy and LDD can be effective for teeth during maintenance period. It is not only pharmacological efficacy in decreasing bacterial species that makes LDD a useful adjunct. Application of LDD also motivates patients to take adequate check-ups in the aspects of both frequency and regularity.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2014

In order to evaluating physiochemical properties of soil under minimum tillage and direct seeding cultivation on dry rice paddy, we conducted to analyze the soil physiochemical characteristics in treatment with 2-year minimum tillage and dry direct seeding (2MT), 3-year minimum tillage and dry direct seeding (3MT), and tillage transplanting cultivation (TT). As results of analyzing soil organic matter (OM) contents with 2 cm soil depth of interval from surface to 30 cm, OM contents with surface soil from 0 to 2MT and 3MT were higher than TT, recorded 34.6, 28.1 and $19.8gkg^{-1}$, respectively. But until 20cm in soil depth, it was not so large on the deviation of OM contents among the 3 treatments comparing with 2cm surface. Beneath 20 cm in soil depths, 2- and 3-year, OM contents in TT were distributed to be lower than 2MT and 3MT. The contents of total nitrogen in 2MT and 3MT were higher than the content in TT across the soil profile. Consequently, though minimum tillage and direct seeding farming is obviously the practice to saving of machinery work and labor, other practices such as continuously input OM should be needed to achieve carbon sequestration goal through minimum tillage and direct seeding on dry paddy.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.89-98
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• 1985

Correlations between horizontal distributions of bamboos (Bambusaceae) in the Korean peninsula and environmental factors were studied using taxanomic and geographical literatures, both old and current. The vertical distributions of bamboos on Mt. Chiri were also studied, and environmental factors limiting horizontal and vertical distributions were compared. There are 18 species of bamboos (belonging to 5 genera) distributed in the Korean peninsula. The distributional range of each genus were distinct, although overlapped. Northern limit of bamboos of any species was marked by the line connecting Paikryung Island (124。40'E, 38。00'N), Mt. Changsoo, Mt. Myungji, Mt. Myohyung and Myungchum (129。40'E, 41。10'N). The optimum range of bamboos was concluded to be restricted to several southern province, with annual precipitation over 1,200 mm. The limiting factors on the distribution were inferred to be low temperature and duration of it. Mean daily minimum temperature of January and the number of days with daily mean temperatures below zero during January showed close associations with the distributional range, and an environmental factors favouring the distributrion of bamboos appeared to be vicinity of warm sea current, deep and extended snow acculation and southern exposure. The vertical distribution of bamboos on Mt. Chiri was limited by low temperature, unfavorable topographic and edaphic conditions caused by steep slope. Difference in the vertical limits between SE and NW slopes are caused by the differences in temperature and precipitation between the slopes. Bamboos were more abundant in valleys than on the ridge, apparently because the deeper snow in the valleys protected the plants from low temperature, heavy winter winds and desiccation.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.439-442
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• 2001

This study has been conducted from April 25, 1999 to June 25, 1999 in Jeju Province in order to determine the influence of seeding date on growth, yield and chemical composition of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) Delaying the seeding date from April 25 to June 25 decreased the plant height of Kenaf from 278.5 cm to 205.7 cm. As for the number of leaves, number of withering leaves, number of branches, and stem diameter decreased as the seeding date was delayed. As the seeding date was delayed, fresh forage yield decreased from 98.5MT/㏊ to 45.9MT/㏊, dry matter yield from 20.7MT/㏊ to 8.2MT/㏊, crude protein (CP) yield from 2.9MT/ha to 1.3MT/ha and total digestible nutrients (TDN) yield form 1l.6MT/㏊ to 5MT/㏊. However, both leaf yield and stem yield were nearly the same tendency. Delaying the seeding date from April 25 to June 25 increased crude protein contents of leaves from 21.5％ to 24.4％, crude fat contents from 5.2％ to 6.1％, nitrogen free extract (NFE) contents form 39.9％ to 41.2％ and TDN contents from 64.3％ to 69.7％. However, delaying seeding date decreased crude fiber contents from 20.8％ to 17.5％, and crude ash contents from 7.9％ to 7.0％. Based on the these findings, optimum seeding date for forage production of Kenaf seems to be about 25 April in atmospheric phenomena and volcanic ash soils of Jeju island.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2019

Purpose: Ulcerative colitis is a common inflammatory bowel disease. Prolonged colitis can be a risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer. Mulberry twig (MT, Sangzhi), a dry branch of Morus alba L., which is widely distributed throughout East Asia, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory activities in the cells. However, the effects of MT extracts on colitis in in vivo are limited. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of MT extracts in the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced mouse colitis model. Methods: Six week-old, male ICR mice were divided into 3 groups: Control (n = 5), DSS (n = 7), and DSS+MT (n = 7) groups. Mice in the DSS and DSS+MT groups were administrated 3% DSS in drinking water for 5 days to induce colitis. At the same time, water extracts of MT (5 g/kg body weight/day) were orally administered to mice in the DSS+MT groups for 5 days. Results: The MT extracts significantly reduced the clinical and pathological characteristics of colitis. Disease activity index, mucosal thickness, and colonocyte proliferation were significantly reduced in the DSS+MT group compared with the DSS group. Furthermore, MT administration reduced the levels of plasma $TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and the colonic myeloperoxidase activity as well as mRNA expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, Cox-2, and iNOS. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that MT water extracts have potent anti-colitis activities in the mouse colitis model.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.338-350
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• 2024

A vegetation survey was conducted and analyzed on 25 survey plots of Betula ermanii communities in the subalpine zone of Mt. Gariwang, Mt. Balwang, Mt. Bangtae, and Mt. Hambaek in Gangwon-do. As a result of TWINSPAN and DCA analysis, the community was divided into a total of 3 communities: Betula ermanii-Quercus mongolica community(GroupI), Betula ermanii-Acer pseudosieboldianum community (GroupII), and Betula ermanii community(GroupIII). As a result of the vegetation structure analysis, Betula ermanii-Quercus mongolica community(GroupI) is located on the periphery of the Mt. Bangtae trail at altitude of 1,082~1,192m, and Betula ermanii-Acer pseudosieboldianum community(GroupII) is located on the ridges and slopes of Mt. Bangtae, Mt. Gariwang, and Mt. Hambaek at altitudes of 1,230~1,373m. Betula ermanii-Quercus mongolica community(GroupI) and Betula ermanii-Acer pseudosieboldianum community(GroupII) are currently dominated by Betula ermanii, but after long term, it is expected that they will transe to Quercus mongolica. The Betula ermanii community(GroupIII) is located the summit of Mt. Hambaek and the summit of Mt. Balwang at altitude of 1,428~1,464m. It is expected that the community will be maintained as Betula ermanii community, because Betula ermanii is very dominant, and so the next generation dominant species is maintained by Betula ermanii. Betula ermanii community generally appear above 1,000 m above sea level, and the higher the altitude, the more dominant the Betula ermanii are. As a result of the soil analysis, the soil characteristics shows a similar pattern to the subalpine belt of Daecheongbong Peak of Mt. Seoraksan and Banyabong Peak of Mt. Jirisan. As a result of the species diversity index analysis, the species diversity index was 1.210~1.293, the abundance index was 0.698~0.795, and the dominance index was 0.208~0.302.