• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.33-52
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• 2002

The effects of Arctii fructus extract on allegenic inflammation were investigated using in vivo and in vitro test models. Firstly, the cytotoxicity of Arctii fructus extract was validated using MTT assay. As a result, Arctii fructus extract showed no cytotoxic potential, while SDS, a positive control, revealed strong cytotoxic effect. In LLNA assay, Arctii fructus extract showed no skin allergenicity. Next, the anti-allergic actions of Arctii fructus extract were evaluated using rodent experimental models. The oral, intraperitoneal and intradermal administration of Arctii fructus extract significantly inhibited the compound 48／80-induced vascular permeability documented by Evans blue extravasation. In addition, Arctii fructus extract showed potent inhibitory effect on passive cutaneous anaphylaxis activated by anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP) IgE when orally administered. In an in vitro study, Arctii fructus extract revealed to possess inhibitory potential on the compound 48／80-induced histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells. Moreover, Arctii fructus extract inhibited the IL-4 and TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA induction by PMA and A23187 in human leukemia mast cells, HMC-1. Finally, it revealed that Arctii fructus extract significantly suppressed histamin-provoked antigenic inflammation reactions in human prick test. Taken together, these results suggest that anti-allergic action of Arctii fructus extract may be due to the inhibition of histamine release and cytokine gene expression in the mast cells.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.571-581
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• 2021

Towards the end of 2019, an atypical acute respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in Wuhan, China and subsequently named Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The rapid dissemination of COVID-19 has provoked a global crisis in public health. COVID-19 has been reported to cause sepsis, severe infections in the respiratory tract, multiple organ failure, and pulmonary fibrosis, all of which might induce mortality. Although several vaccines for COVID-19 are currently being administered worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet effectively under control. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents to eradicate the cause of the disease and/or manage the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 should be developed to effectively regulate the current pandemic. In this review, we discuss the possibility of managing the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 using natural products derived from medicinal plants used for controlling pulmonary inflammatory diseases in folk medicine. Diverse natural products have been reported to exert potential antiviral effects in vitro by affecting viral replication, entry into host cells, assembly in host cells, and release. However, the in vivo antiviral effects and clinical antiviral efficacies of these natural products against SARS-CoV-2 have not been successfully proven to date. Thus, these properties need to be elucidated through further investigations, including randomized clinical trials, in order to develop optimal and ideal therapeutic candidates for COVID-19.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.1345-1354
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• 2019

Clogging of sump strainers that filter the recirculation water in containment after a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) seriously impedes the continued cooling of nuclear reactor cores. In experiments examining the corrosion of aluminium alloy 6061, a common material in containment equipment, in borated solutions simulating the water chemistry of sump water after a LOCA, we found that Fe-bearing intermetallic particles, which were initially buried in the Al matrix, were progressively exposed as corrosion continued. Their cathodic nature $vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ the Al matrix provoked continuous trenching around them until they were finally released into the test solution. Such particles released from Al alloy components in a reactor containment after a LOCA will be transported to the sump entrance with the recirculation flow and trapped by the debris bed that typically forms on the strainer surface, potentially aggravating strainer clogging. These Fe-bearing intermetallic particles, many of which had a rod or thin strip-like geometry, were identified to be mainly the cubic phase ${\alpha}_c-Al(Fe,Mn)Si$ with an average size of about $2.15{\mu}m$; 11.5 g of particles with a volume of about $3.2cm^3$ would be released with the dissolution of every 1 kg 6061 aluminium alloy.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2021

In this work, we have performed a corrosion failure analysis of a leaking tube connected to an upper header of a condensate pre-heater in a heat recovery steam generator. It was revealed that the leakage position in the tube was the location where the materials were easily vulnerable due to tensile residual stresses induced by the material manufacturing process and welding process. In addition to an imbalance in the module induced by temperature difference during operation of the pre-heater, the weight of the modules and thermal fatigue provoked a type of stress of tensile-tensile fatigue on the tube. Thus, the leakage position of the pre-heater was exposed to the tensile stress on the inner surface of the tube facing the gas, which rendered the unstable oxide layer susceptible to corrosion and the formation of pits on the water side. The cracks propagated along with the degraded microstructure in a transgranular cracking mode under fatigue loading and finally resulted in water leakage.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.109-117
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• 2021

Purpose: Ménétrier disease (MD) was first described in 1888, and 50 cases have been reported until now. We aimed to discuss the etiology, diagnostics, and management of MD in children. Methods: We searched for case reports published from 2014 till 2019 in English using PubMed. Articles were selected using subject headings and key words of interest to the topic. Interesting references of the included articles were also included. Results: The pathophysiology of MD is still uncertain. However, overexpression of transforming growth factor alpha with transformation of the gastric mucosa has been observed, which may be mediated by genetics and provoked by an infectious trigger. Clinically, MD is diagnosed by abdominal pain, vomiting, anorexia, and edema secondary to hypoalbuminemia. A gastroscopy with biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of MD. In children, the disease is self-limiting and only requires supportive treatment. In general, children have a good prognosis and recover spontaneously within a few weeks. Conclusion: Few pediatric cases of MD have been described in recent years, and with all different etiology. Endoscopy with biopsy remains the golden standard for the diagnosis of MD, and in children, the disease is self-limiting.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.205-210
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• 2021

Over 30 million prescriptions of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are issued every year. Considering that these drugs are available without a prescription as over the counter (OTC) drugs, their use will be astronomical. With the increasing use of NSAIDs, their adverse effects are drawing attention. Especially, stomach bleeding, kidney toxicity, liver toxicity, and neurological toxicity are reported as common. Ibuprofen, one of the extensively used NSAIDs along with aspirin, can also induce liver toxicity, but few studies are addressing this point. Here we examined the liver toxicity of ibuprofen and investigated whether co-exposure to ethanol can manifest synergistic effects. We employed 2D and 3D cultured human hepatoma cells, HepG2 to examine the synergistic hepatotoxicity of ibuprofen and alcohol concerning cell viability, morphology, and histology of 3D spheroids. As a result, ibuprofen and alcohol provoked synergistic hepatotoxicity against hepatocytes, and their toxicity increased prominently in 3D culture upon extended exposure. Oxidative stress appeared to be the mechanisms underlying the synergistic toxicity of ibuprofen and alcohol as evidenced by increased production of ROS and expression of the endogenous antioxidant system. Collectively, this study has demonstrated that ibuprofen and EtOH can induce synergistic hepatotoxicity, providing a line of evidence for caution against the use of ibuprofen in combination with alcohol.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.252-258
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• 2022

Ukraine has a significant in quantity and unique in quality parameters, in particular, the level of education, a resource - the labor force, which, along with natural resources, can serve as the basis for economic growth and the achievement of sustainable development goals. The study is aimed at a thorough identification of the main factors influencing the formation and use of the labor force in Ukraine, including by comparing with the indicators of the EU countries, before the start of the active phase of military aggression by the Russian Federation. It was found that until February 24, 2022, there were negative trends in the change in the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the labor force due to the demographic crisis, the transformation of the national economy and shortcomings in state regulation of labor market development processes. The military actions not only exacerbated pre-existing problems, but also led to the emergence of new ones. A significant number of refugees and internally displaced persons, with the termination of the activities of half of the economic entities, provoked a sharp increase in real unemployment and a decrease in wages. The specific problem of the labor market of Ukraine - the "labor crisis", which has and will have a significant impact on the labor force, is carefully considered.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1492-1499
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• 2021

Skin prick test is widely used in diagnosing allergic sensitization to common inhalant or food allergens, in which positivities are manually determined by calculating the areas or mean diameters of wheals and erythemas provoked by allergens pricked into patients' skin. In this work, we propose a segmentation algorithm over U-Net, one of the FCN models of deep learning, to help us more objectively grasp the erythema boundaries. The performance of the model is analyzed by comparing the results of automatic segmentation of the test data to U-Net with the results of manual segmentation. As a result, the average Dice coefficient value was 94.93%, the average precision and sensitivity value was 95.19% and 95.24% respectively. We find that the proposed algorithm effectively discriminates the skin's erythema boundaries. We expect this algorithm to play an auxiliary role in skin prick test in real clinical trials in the future.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.275-275
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• 2022

Tsunamis triggered by undersea earthquakes have the characteristic of longer wavelengths and can propagate a very long distance. Although the occurrence frequency of tsunami is low, it can cause casualties and properties. Historically, tsunamis that occurred on the western coast of Japan attacked the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula and damaged the property and the loss of human life in 1983 and 1993. By tsunami in 1983 especially, 2 people were killed, and more than 200 casualties occurred. In addition, it caused 2 million dollars in property damage at Imwon Port. In 2011, The eastern cities of Japan: Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, and Fukushima were damaged by a tsunami that occurred near onshore along the Pacific ocean and caused more than 300 billion dollars in property damage, and 20,000 casualties occurred. Moreover, those provoked nuclear power plant meltdown at Fukushima. In this study, it was carried out a relationship between maximum tsunami heights and fault parameters of earthquake: strike angle, dip angle, and slip angle at Imwon port. Those fault parameters are known that it does not relate to the magnitude of earthquake directly. Virtual tsunamis, which could be triggered by probable undersea earthquakes in the future, were investigated and mutual information based on probability and information theory was introduced to figure out the relationship between maximum tsunami height and fault parameters. Fault parameters were evaluated according to the strong relationship with maximum tsunami heights finally.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.47-64
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• 2010

It is unfair that environmental pragmatism has been regarded as a mouthpiece for industrial expediency and business boosterism. John Dewey's radical pragmatism known as 'Instrumentalism' has provoked ecological fundamentalists' criticism more vehemently than any other pragmatic philosophies. However, most of the presumptive misunderstandings of such critics as Holmes Rolston, J. Baird Calliott, Erich Katz, C. A. Bowers and many others come from their limited or reduced reading of Deweyan pragmatism. The following three aspects of Deweyan pragmatism can work out in opening up a dialogical space with those eco-centrist thinkers mentioned above. First, the concept of Dewey's 'primary experience' can articulate the foundationalist view of nature, which is often found in aboriginal cultures. Second, as Andrew Light points out, ecological essentialism can share its metaphilosophical position with the pragmatist epistemology. While Anthony Weston pursues pluralism, admitting that the foundationalism might be one of the efficient approaches to nature, Eric Katz is also clearly attracted to the metaphilosophical element in Weston's argument that anyone who attempts to claim the 'inherent value' of non-human nature never possibly avoids a pitfall of anthropomorphism. Lastly, in a more comprehensive perspective, Dewey's pragmatism shows a philosophical complexity, what Larry A. Hickman calls 'post-postmodernism.' a dynamic interaction between modernism and postmodernism. Significantly enough, the environmental version of this complexity can procure a meeting ground between foundationalist ecology and the pragmatic view of nature.