• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.306-316
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• 1999

Objectives: In Korea, as in most countries, there will be a sharp increase in the number of dementia patients in the near future. However basic data on dementia prevalence, which is important in defining epidemiologic characteristics and in implementing preventive strategy, are limited. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence rate of dementia in the urban elderly aged 65 or older in Kwangmyung, Korea. Methods: A two phase design was used for case finding and case identification. In phase I, a representative sample aged 65 or older was selected and interviewed by door-to-door survey with a Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). In phase II, Of the 946 subjects interviewed in phase 1,356 elderly were randomly selected disproportionately according to K-MMSE score. Of these elderly, 223 (61.5%) underwent standardized clinical evaluations, including psychiatric interview, neurological examination, and neuropsychological assessment. Dementia was diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was made by National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and feinted Disorders Association(NINCDS-ADRDA) criteria and vascular dementia (VD) by DSM-IV. Results: The overall weighted prevalence rate of all dementia among Kwangmyung residents aged 65 or older was 12,8%(age-adjusted rate: 13,0%, 95% Confidence Interval[CI]: 10.6-15.3%). Women had much higher prevalence rate than men even when age was controlled(15.9%[95% CI 12.6-19.2%] vs 7.5%[95% CI 4.0-10.4%]), The rates of dementia were 5.2%, 12.2%, 17.0%, and 34.3% for the age groups of 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 and 80 and over, respectively. The rate of AD appeared to be slightly higher than that of VD(5.2% vs 4.8%), though not statistically significant. Most of the cases(69%) were mild dementia according to CDR(<1) in these subjects. Conclusions : These results showed that the prevalence rate of dementia among urban elderly in Korea appears to be higher than those of other Asian countries.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.37
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• pp.271-306
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• 1999

This study aimed to present a comprehensive case management model which might be helpful for social workers in community social welfare agencies who works with North Korean refugees for their psychosocial adjustment in South Korea. After being constructed, the model was put into practice upon North Korean refugees. This article described the whole process of model construction and its application. Detail steps taken in this research include: (a) The researcher had 20 unstructured individual interviews with 11 North Korean refugees in order to identify psychosocial problems that need social workers' intervention; (b) Based upon the problems identified through interviews and previous literature review, program components were identified and sorted out into two phases, one of which is therapeutic phase, the other is case management phase; (c) By interlocking the two phases, the researcher proposed a comprehensive case management model whereby North Korean refugees can get psychosocial services as well as linkage services in an interactive fashion; (d) The utility of the proposed model was examined by using a couple of North Korean refugees who initially showed complicated psycho-social-economic problems. The therapeutic phase employed a cognitive-behavioral approach. The case management phase consists of: assessment and diagnosis; service planning and resource identification; linking of clients to needed services; monitoring of service delivery; and evaluation. Although the program could not go through with because of the limited contacts with North Korean refugees for security reasons, the program was turned out to be very useful in helping North Korean refugees' settling-down in South Korea. Implications for the application of the proposed model was discussed along with limitations of this study.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2002

The study was conducted to isolate and identify insecticidal bacteria for biological control of larvae of mushroom fly, Lycoriella mali, which is one of serious pests to oyster mushrooms during its cultivation period. Among eight bacteria isolated from the soil in the oyster mushroom beds and the dead body of L. mali, two bacteria, Bti-D and Bti-U showed more toxicity with mortality rate than other six-bacteria isolates. The two bacteria showed more toxicity in three instar of the period of development of the mushroom fly than in other instar. Symptoms of the larvae of L. mali infected by the two bacteria developed as follows: at the early infection, the front middle gut changed color to light brown, the middle gut to brown, whole body to black brown, and eventually, the fly died. For the identification of these isolates, cultural and biochemical characteristics by Bergey's manual and Biolog system, cell morphology by TEM, endospore and endotoxin by phase-contrast microscope, and test using 33H antisera were examined. According to the results, these two isolates, Bti-D and Bti-U were identified as Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis respectively.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.64-67
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• 2003

In order to identify the origin and nature of the spilled oil in the potential source, we analyzed the concentrations of specific fuel constituents in fuel standard and environmental samples. The ratios of pristane/phytane are virtually unaltered because these compounds have the same bolatility in environmental samples. These were useful to identify the source of the fuel oil and to assess the effect of microbial degradation and weathering of the fuel oil. We analyzed the ratios of pristane/phytane in neat white kerosene, boiler kerosene, JP-8 and diesel products from L and S gas station. The ratios of pristane/phytane in L-white kerosene and JP-8 was 3.10 $\pm$0.03 and 1.77 $\pm$ 0.01, respectively. Otherwise, the ratios of pristane/phytane in water phase after distribution of fuel oil and water was 2.97 $\pm$0.02 in case of white kerosene and 1.65 $\pm$ 0.02 in case of JP-8. It is apparent from the results that the ratios of pristane/phytane were as product-specific, especially between kerosene and JP-8, and therefore, can also be used for fuel type identification in free products and groundwater samples which were collected in monitoring wells.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.106-115
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• 2011

Systematic toxicological analysis (STA) means the process for general unknown screening of drugs and toxic compounds in biological fluids. In order to establish STA, in previous study we investigated pattern of drugs & poisons in autopsy cases during 2007~2009 in Korea, and finally selected 62 drugs as target drugs for STA. In this study, rapid and simple drug identification and quantitative analytical program by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) was developed. The in-house program, "DrugMan", consisted of modified chemstation data analysis menu and newly developed macro modules. Total 55 drugs among 62 target drugs were applied to this program, they were 14 antidepressants, 8 anti-histamines, 5 sedatives/hypnotics, 5 narcotic analgesics, 3 antipsychotic drugs, and etc. For calibration curves, fifty five drugs were divided into four groups of range considering their therapeutic or toxic concentrations in blood specimen, i.e. 0.05~1 mg/l, 0.1~1 mg/l, 0.1~5 mg/l or 0.5~10 mg/l. Standards spiked bloods were extracted by solid-phase extraction (SPE) with trimipramine-D3 as internal standard. Parameters such as retention times, 3 mass fragment ions, and calibration curves for each drug were registered to DrugMan. A series of identification, semi quantitation of target drugs and reporting the results were performed automatically. Calibration curves for most drugs were linear with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.98. Sensitivity rate of DrugMan was 0.90 (90%) for 55 drugs at the level of 0.5 mg/l. For standard spiked bloods at the level of 0.5 mg/l for 29 drugs, semi quantitative concentrations were ranged 0.36~0.64 mg/l by DrugMan. If more drugs are registered to database in DrugMan in further study, it will be useful tools for STA in forensic toxicology.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.3 s.32
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• pp.47-53
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• 2004

Eutectic Au-20Sn(compositions are all in weight percent unless specified otherwise) solder alloys were soldered on the Ni substrate with various time and temperature. The composition, phase identification and morphology of intermetallic compounds(IMC) at the interface were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM). There were two types of IMCs, $(Au,Ni)_3Sn_2$ and $(Au,Ni)_3Sn$ at the interface. The transition in morphology of $(Au,Ni)_3Sn_2$ has been observed at $300{\~}400^{\circ}C$. The morphology transition of $(Au,Ni)_3Sn_2$ is due to the decrease of enthalpy of formation of $(Au,Ni)_3Sn_2$ phase and has been explained well by Jackson's parameter with temperature. Because the number of diffusion channel is different at each soldering temperature, IMC thickness is nearly same at all temperature.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.164-169
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• 2008

Methylmercury (MeHg) is known to have devastating effects on the mammalian nervous system. In order to characterize the mechanism of MeHg-induced neurotoxicity, we investigated the analysis of transcriptional profiles on human 8k cDNA microarray by treatment of $1.4{\mu}M$ MeHg at 3, 12, 24 and 48h in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line. Some of the identified genes by MeHg treatment were significant at early time points (3h), while that of others was at late time points (48h). The early response genes that may represent those involved directly in the MeHg response included pantothenate kinase 3, a kinase (PRKA) anchor protein (yotiao) 9, neurotrophic tyrosine kinase, receptor, type 2 gene, associated with NMDA receptor activity regulation or perturbations of central nervous system homeostasis. Also, when SH-SY5Y cells were subjected to a longer exposure (48h), a relative increase was noted in a gene, glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate transaminase 1, reported that overexpression of this gene may lead to the increased resistance to MeHg. To confirm the alteration of these genes in cultured neurons, we then applied real time-RT PCR with SYBR green. Thus, this result suggests that a neurotoxic effect of the MeHg might be ascribed that MeHg alters neuronal receptor regulation or homeostasis of neuronal cells in the early phase. However, in the late phase, it protects cells from neurotoxic effects of MeHg.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.285-295
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• 2010

Protein expression patterns in Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) strains with diverse phenotypes, such as phage type, antibiotic resistance pattern and plasmid profiles were examined. For detailed analysis of proteins expressed by different S. Typhimurium strains, protein fractions were divided into detergent-rich phase (DP) and aqueous phase (AP) using triton X-114 detergent. The two phases were subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), followed by protein identification using peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF). In the results, PMF showed that DP fractions consisted mainly of outer membrane proteins, whereas the AP fractions included cytosolic proteins. Comparison of 2-DE profiles of DP did not show any distinct protein spots which could be correlated with phage type, antibiotic resistance pattern or plasmid profile. However, comparisons of 2-DE profiles of the AP revealed differences in the protein spots, which could be correlated with the plasmid profile and phage types. Among these protein spots, flagellin was specific for strains containing a 90 kb plasmid. Compared to DT193 phage type, three protein spots in the range of pI 5.0-5.5 and MW 8-15 kDa of AP 2-DE profiles were absent in the DT104 phage types. Additionally, a protein spot with PI in the range of 4.5-5.0 and molecular weight (MW) between 51-69 kDa was specific for phage type DT104, while a protein spot with pI in the range of 4.0-4.8 and MW between 18-20 kDa was specific for DT193 phage type. These protein spots may be useful for discriminating phage types of S. Typhimurium.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.177-183
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• 2016

We fortuitously observed a human neutrophil intracellular free-calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) increasing activity in the commercially available phosphodiesterase I (PDE I), which is actually dried crude venom of Crotalus atrox. As this activity was not observed with another commercially available pure PDE I, we tried to find out the causative molecule(s) present in 'crude' PDE, and identified Lys49-phospholipase A2 (Lys49-PLA2 or K49-PLA2), a catalytically inactive protein which belongs to the phospholipase A2 family, by activity-driven three HPLC (reverse phase, size exclusion, reverse phase) steps followed by SDS-PAGE and LC-MS/MS. K49-PLA2 induced $Ca^{2+}$ influx in human neutrophils without any cytotoxic effect. Two calcium channel inhibitors, 2-aminoetoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) ($30{\mu}M$) and SKF-96365 ($20{\mu}M$) significantly inhibited K49-PLA2-induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase. These results suggest that K49-PLA2 modulates $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ in human neutrophils via 2-APB- and SKF-96365-sensitive calcium channels without causing membrane disruption.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2719-2724
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• 2015

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of annexin a1 (ANXA1) and provide molecular evidence to support that decreased ANXA1 expression could enhance cancer migration and invasion in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemistry of a tissue microarray with 162 surgically resected PDAC specimens was performed to examine the expression of ANXA1. We also investigated the relationship between ANXA1 expression and clinicopathological factors and prognosis of PDAC patients. We further studied the role of ANXA1 in PDAC cell proliferation, migration and invasion by cell proliferation assay, migration assay and matrigel invasion assay with reduced ANXA1 expression by RNAi. Western blotting was used to detect matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) expression. We also detected MMP-9 enzyme activity by gelatin zymography. Results: Decreased expression of ANXA1 was significantly associated with poor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM stage of PDAC patients (p<0.05). Moreover, decreased expression of ANXA1 was correlated with poor survival (p<0.05). Furthermore, we found that ANXA1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, induced G1 phase cell cycle arrest, increased PDAC cell migration and invasion capacity compared with controls. In addition, Western blotting showed that ANXA1 knockdown increased the MMP-9 protein level and decreased TIMP-1 expression. Gelatin zymography showed that MMP-9 enzyme activity was also elevated. Conclusions: Negative ANXA1 expression is a most unfavorable prognostic factor for PDAC patients. ANXA1 knockdown inhibits cell proliferation by inducing G1 phase cell cycle arrest and increases migration and invasion of PDAC cells through up-regulating MMP-9 expression and activity, implying that ANXA1 may serve as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for PDAC.