• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

Objectives : This study aims to identify temperament and characteristics of cannabis and methamphetamine abusers for elucidating psycho-biological variables related to certain substance abuse. Methods : A total of 320 patients who registered in the 'Hepatitis C cohorts study of intravenous drug users' between March 2006 and March 2010 participated in this study. Data on demographic variables were obtained and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and measures for nicotine dependence, alcohol dependence, depression and anxiety were assessed. After comparing TCI between cannabis, methamphetamine, and co-abusers, correlations between TCI and other clinical variables were examined. Results : The methamphetamine abuser group showed significantly higher scores in Novelty Seeking (NS2) and Harm Avoidance (HA3) in temperament than the cannabis abuser and co-abuser groups, whereas the cannabis abuser group had higher scores in purposefulness (SD2), congruent second nature (SD5), and self-directedness (SD) in character than the methamphetamine abuser group. In addition, temperaments and characters correlated with various psychiatric symptoms. Conclusions : We found the differences in temperament and characters among cannabis abusers, methamphetamine abusers. These findings might contribute to further understanding of mechanisms of cannabis and methamphetamine abuse.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological factors of Sasang constitutions which are classified by QSCC II(Questionnaire for Sasang Constitution Classification II) using major personality tests which are based on western psychological theory. Methods: 151 college students completed the MMPI-2, MBTI, NEO-PI-R, TCI-RS, and QSCC II. The data were analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc testing to find which personality scale significantly differentiated each Sasang constitution style. Results: MMPI-2, scale 2(D), 5(Mf), 7(Pt), 0(Si) and introversion scale(INTR) showed significant differences between Soeumin and Soyangin. Also, on the dimension of introversion-extraversion in MBTI, and neuroticism(N) and extraversion(E) in NEO-PI-R, there were differences between Soeumin and the other two constitutions(Soyangin and Taeeumin). Finally, in TCI-RS, there were differences between Soeumin and Soyangin on the scale of novelty seeking(NS) and reward dependence(RD), and with regards to the harm avoidance scale(HA), Soeumin received a higher score than any other constitutions. Conclusions: The analysis demonstrates that the classification of QSCC II is most consistent between Soeumin and Soyangin across 4 major personality tests.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.366-375
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• 2012

Gallotannin (GT) is derived from plant poly phenol and is associated with biological actions in a wide range of cells. In this study, we evaluated the effect of GTon apoptosis and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and attempted to shed light on the mechanism of action in A549 human lung carcinoma cells. We found that GT dramatically induced apoptosis as demonstrated by expression of p53 and active caspase-3 via western blot analysis and fragmented DNA as detected by DNA fragmentation and DAPI staining. We also observed that GT significantly causes COX-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner determined by western blot analysis. Phosphorylation of Akt and p38 was considerably increased by GT in A549 human lung carcinoma cells. Inhibition of Akt and p38kinase with LY294002 or SB203580 suppressed GT-induced apoptosis and COX-2 expression. Furthermore, we have shown that prevention of COX-2 with NS398 or indomethacin does not any effects on apoptosis induced by GT. Taken together, our present results suggest that GT regulates apoptosis and COX-2 expression through Akt and p38kinase pathway in A549, human lung carcinoma cells.

• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 1998

The Kwinana Shoreline Fumigation Experiment (KSFE) took place at Fremantle, WA, Australia between January 23 and February 8, 1995. The CSIRO DAR LIDAR measured plume sections from near the Kwinana Power Station (KPS) stacks to up to about 5 km downstream. It also measured boundary layer aerosols and the structure of the boundary layer on some occasions. Both stages A and C of KPS were used as tracers at different times. The heart of the LIDAR system is a Neodymium-doped Yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser operating at a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm, with harmonics of 532 nm and 355 nm. For these experiments the third harmonic was used because the UV wavelength at 355 nm is eye safe beyond about 50 m. The laser fires a pulse of light 6 ns in duration (about 1.8 m long) and with an energy (at the third harmonic) of about 70 mJ. This pulse subsequently scattered and absorbed by both air molecules and particles in the atmosphere. A small fraction of the laser beam is scattered back to the LIDAR, collected by a telescope and detected by a photo-multiplier tube. The intensity of the signal as a function of time is a measure of the particle concentration as a function of distance along the line of the laser shot. The smoke plume was clearly identifiable in the scans both before and after fumigation in the thermal internal boundary layer (TIBL). Both power station plumes were detected. Over the 9 days of operation, 1,568 plumes scans (214 series) were performed. Essentially all of these will provide instantaneous plume heights and widths, and there are many periods of continuous operation over several hours when it should be possible to compile hourly average plume statistics as well. The results of four days LIDAR observations of the dispersion of smoke plume in the TIBL at a coastal site are presented for the case of stages A and C.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1353-1362
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• 2016

Hanwoo, a Korean native cattle (Bos taurus coreana), has great economic value due to high meat quality. Also, the breed has genetic variations that are associated with production traits such as health, disease resistance, reproduction, growth as well as carcass quality. In this study, next generation sequencing technologies and the availability of an appropriate reference genome were applied to discover a large amount of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ten Hanwoo bulls. Analysis of whole-genome resequencing generated a total of 26.5 Gb data, of which 594,716,859 and 592,990,750 reads covered 98.73% and 93.79% of the bovine reference genomes of UMD 3.1 and Btau 4.6.1, respectively. In total, 2,473,884 and 2,402,997 putative SNPs were discovered, of which 1,095,922 (44.3%) and 982,674 (40.9%) novel SNPs were discovered against UMD3.1 and Btau 4.6.1, respectively. Among the SNPs, the 46,301 (UMD 3.1) and 28,613 SNPs (Btau 4.6.1) that were identified as Hanwoo-specific SNPs were included in the functional genes that may be involved in the mechanisms of milk production, tenderness, juiciness, marbling of Hanwoo beef and yellow hair. Most of the Hanwoo-specific SNPs were identified in the promoter region, suggesting that the SNPs influence differential expression of the regulated genes relative to the relevant traits. In particular, the non-synonymous (ns) SNPs found in CORIN, which is a negative regulator of Agouti, might be a causal variant to determine yellow hair of Hanwoo. Our results will provide abundant genetic sources of variation to characterize Hanwoo genetics and for subsequent breeding.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2014

Periodic analysis of local epidemiologic data of prevalent pathogens of blood culture can provide clinicians with relevant information to guide empirical antibiotic therapy. In this study, we analyzed a pattern of change of causative microorganisms and antimicrobial resistance at a tertiary medical center in Chungcheong province from 2003 to 2012, retrospectively. Of 70,258 blood specimens cultured, 6,063 (8.6%) were positive. Among the positive isolates, 95.9% were aerobic or facultative anaerobic bacteria, 0.1% were anaerobes, and 3.9% were fungi. Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) (32.9%), Escherichia coli (16.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (9.1%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (6.4%), and ${\alpha}$-hemolytic Streptococcus (5.9%) were commonly isolated bacteria, and Candida albicans (1.4%) was the most commonly isolated fungi. Enterococcus faecium progressively increased but Streptococcus pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Proteus species gradually decreased over a period of 10 years. The multidrug-resistant microorganisms such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), cefotaxime-resistant E. coli, imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IRPA) and imipenem-resistant A. baumannii (IRAB), were significantly increased. Therefore, there is a need for a more strict control of antibiotics and a more updated guideline for the treatment of bloodstream infection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4329-4333
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• 2015

Background: To investigate the change of frequency and immuno-inhibitory function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) after treatment of cisplatin (DDP) in A375 human melanoma model. Materials and Methods: BALB/c nude mice were inoculated with A375 cells to establish the human melanoma model and randomly divided into control group given normal saline (NS) and experimental group treated with DDP (5 mg/kg). The percentages of MDSCs in the tumor tissue and peripheral blood after DDP treatment were detected by flow cytometry. The proliferation and interferon-${\gamma}$ (IFN-${\gamma}$) secretion of T cells co-cultured with MDSCs were analyzed through carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) labeling assay and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay, respectively. Results: In A375 human melanoma model, DDP treatment could significantly decrease the percentage of MDSCs in the tumor tissue, but exerted no effect on the level of MDSCs in peripheral blood. Moreover, DDP treatment could attenuate the immuno-inhibitory function of MDSCs. T cells co-cultured with DDP-treated MDSCs could dramatically elevate the proliferation and production of INF-${\gamma}$. Conclusions: DDP can decrease the frequency and attenuate immuno-inhibitory function of MDSCs in A375 melanoma model, suggesting a potential strategy to augment the efficacy of combined immunotherapy.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.873-876
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• 2012

Ionic liquids (ILs) existing in the liquid ion form under standard conditions show a unique properties. 1-10-Alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bromide ([C10mim][Br]) is one of the ILs that shows amphiphilic characteristics under specific conditions. This property enables it to function as a surfactant, and therefore, it finds applications in a wide range of areas. In this study, we tried to predict the behavior, especially the aggregation aspect, of [C10mim][Br] in an aqueous solution using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The canonical (NVT) ensemble was used to relax the system and trace the trajectory of atoms. Several case studies were simulated and the interaction among [C10mim]+, [Br]-, and water was analyzed using the radial distribution function of each atom. The density distribution function was also used for the structural analysis of the entire system. We used the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) code for the present MD simulations.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.195-199
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• 2014

Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), of the Foveavirus genus in the family Betaflexiviridae, is one of the most common viruses of apple and pear trees. To examine variability of the coat protein (CP) gene from ASPV, eight isolates originating from 251 apple trees, which were collected from 22 apple orchards located in intensive apple growing areas of the North Gyeongsang and North Jeolla Provinces in Korea, were sequenced and compared. The nucleotide sequence identity of the CP gene of eight ASPV isolates ranged from 77.0 to 97.0%, while the amino acid sequence identity ranged from 87.7 to 98.5%. The N-terminal region of the viral CP gene was highly variable, whereas the C-terminal region was conserved. Genetic algorithm recombination detection (GARD) and single breakpoint recombination (SBP) analyses identified base substitutions between eight ASPV isolates at positions 54 and 57 and position 771, respectively. GABranch analysis was used to determine whether the eight isolates evolved due to positive selection. All values in the GABranch analysis showed a ratio of substitution rates at non-synonymous and synonymous sites (dNS/dS) below 1, suggestive of strong negative selection forces during ASPV CP history. Although negative selection dominated CP evolution in the eight ASPV isolates, SLAC and FEL tests identified four possible positive selection sites at codons 10, 22, 102, and 158. This is the first study of the ASPV genome in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.822-828
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• 2007

Perchlorate is an unregulated contaminant but recently many cases of perchlorate contamination have been reported in the US. In Japan, also, a couple of contamination incidents caused by perchlorate occurred. Against this backdrop, investigation on perchlorate was urgent for Korea. Accordingly, perchlorate investigation in tap water and river water was conducted one time a week for seven consecutive weeks at major water sources of Korea including Han River, Guem River, Yeong-san River, and Nak-dong River. Perchlorate was not found at Han River, Guem River, and Yeong-san River. However, all the 4 tap water samples in Nak-dong River recorded high level of perchlorate. Among others, NT1 located at Daegu posted the highest value of $22.3{\mu}g/L$. This level is lower than $24.5{\mu}g/L$, the threshold recommended by US EPA. Still, perchlorate contamination in drinking water can deal a heavy blow to nerve development of infants and children by causing iodine deficiency. At the 1st and 2nd investigations, perchlorate concentration reached $18.7{\sim}95.6{\mu}g/L$ and $4.0{\sim}25.6{\mu}g/L$ respectively, both of which are relatively higher. The high perchlorate concentration in Nak-dong River was possible because of the waste water discharged from LCD manufacturing factory which was located at NS3 in Gumi, Korea. Perchlorate concentration of waste water from the factory was $730{\sim}1,858{\mu}g/L$.