• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2017

Purpose: To identify baseline prognostic factors for survival in patients with disease progression, during or after chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. Materials and Methods: We pooled data from patients randomized between 2009 and 2012 in 2 phase III, global double-blind studies of ramucirumab for the treatment of advanced gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma following disease progression on first-line platinum- and/or fluoropyrimidine-containing therapy (REGARD and RAINBOW). Forty-one key baseline clinical and laboratory factors common in both studies were examined. Model building started with covariate screening using univariate Cox models (significance level=0.05). A stepwise multivariable Cox model identified the final prognostic factors (entry+exit significance level=0.01). Cox models were stratified by treatment and geographic region. The process was repeated to identify baseline prognostic quality of life (QoL) parameters. Results: Of 1,020 randomized patients, 953 (93%) patients without any missing covariates were included in the analysis. We identified 12 independent prognostic factors of poor survival: 1) peritoneal metastases; 2) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score 1; 3) the presence of a primary tumor; 4) time to progression since prior therapy <6 months; 5) poor/unknown tumor differentiation; abnormally low blood levels of 6) albumin, 7) sodium, and/or 8) lymphocytes; and abnormally high blood levels of 9) neutrophils, 10) aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 11) alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and/or 12) lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Factors were used to devise a 4-tier prognostic index (median overall survival [OS] by risk [months]: high=3.4, moderate=6.4, medium=9.9, and low=14.5; Harrell's C-index=0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64-0.68). Addition of QoL to the model identified patient-reported appetite loss as an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions: The identified prognostic factors and the reported prognostic index may help clinical decision-making, patient stratification, and planning of future clinical studies.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.283-289
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• 2011

This study was conducted to examine the effects of defoliation treatment on the growth and yield of strawberry ($Fragaria{\times}ananassa$ cv. Maehyang and Seolhyang) during nursery period. Leaves of strawberry plantlet had been removed except two, three and four fully expanded leaves until planting date. As the intensity of defoliation was strong, the petiole length was reduced and overgrowth of strawberry plantlet was suppressed. Outer diameter of crown in defoliation treatments significantly decreased but inner diameter of crown was not significant. Number of primary roots of the 3 leaves or 4 leaves defoliation treatment generally tended to increase, but there was not significantly different among treatments. Fresh weight and leaf area in the defoliation treatments significantly decreased and the root weight were higher in partial 3 leaves or 4 leaves defoliation treatment but was not significantly different among treatments. Because T/R ratio decreased significantly as growth inhibition of above-ground part compared to underground part, it is considered easy to take rooting after plantlet plating. As the intensity of defoliation was strong, chlorophyll contents tended to decrease significantly. Reduction of the endogenous nitrogen by defoliation effectively led to promote floral differentiation at low temperature and short day condition. This promoted timing of budding and flowering and also induced uniform flowering after plantlet planting. Marketable fruit yield of 3 leaves defoliation treatment tended to be higher than the control.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.376-384
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• 2015

To investigate the molecular events of controlling intramuscular fat (or marbling), which is an important factor in the evaluation of beef quality, we performed cDNA microarray analyses using the longissimus dorsi muscle and back fat tissues. For this study, we constructed normalized cDNA libraries: fat tissues in native Korean cattle (displaying 1,211 specific genes), and muscle tissues in native Korean cattle (displaying 1,346 specific genes). A bovine cDNA chip was constructed with 1,680 specific genes, consisting of 760 genes from muscle tissues and 920 genes from fat tissues. The microarray analysis in this experiment showed a number of differentially expressed genes, which compared the longissimus dorsi muscle (Cy5) with back fat tissue (Cy3). Among many specific differentially expressed genes, 12-lipoxygenase (oxidizing esterified fatty acids) and prostaglandin D synthase (differentiation of fibroblasts to adipocytes) are the key candidate enzymes that should be involved in controlling the accumulation of intramuscular fat. In this study, differentially and commonly expressed genes in the muscle and fat tissues of native Korean cattle were found in large numbers, using the hybridization assay. The expression levels of the selected genes were confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and the results were similar to those of the cDNA microarray.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.582-590
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• 2018

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and outgrowth endothelial cells (OECs) play a pivotal role in vascular regeneration in ischemic tissues; however, their therapeutic application in clinical settings is limited due to the low quality and quantity of patient-derived circulating EPCs. To solve this problem, we evaluated whether three priming small molecules (tauroursodeoxycholic acid, fucoidan, and oleuropein) could enhance the angiogenic potential of EPCs. Such enhancement would promote the cellular bioactivities and help to develop functionally improved EPC therapeutics for ischemic diseases by accelerating the priming effect of the defined physiological molecules. We found that preconditioning of each of the three small molecules significantly induced the differentiation potential of $CD34^+$ stem cells into EPC lineage cells. Notably, long-term priming of OECs with the three chemical cocktail (OEC-3C) increased the proliferation potential of EPCs via ERK activation. The migration, invasion, and tube-forming capacities were also significantly enhanced in OEC-3Cs compared with unprimed OECs. Further, the cell survival ratio was dramatically increased in OEC-3Cs against $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress via the augmented expression of Bcl-2, a pro-survival protein. In conclusion, we identified three small molecules for enhancing the bioactivities of ex vivo-expanded OECs for vascular repair. Long-term 3C priming might be a promising methodology for EPC-based therapy against ischemic diseases.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.57-101
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• 2002

These days, the environment of hospital marketing is changing rapidly. The level of expectation and demand of patients have become greater and more diversified, and patients have more alternatives in selecting hospitals. The standard of hospital selection and the type of using hospital have been changed, and competition among hospitals has been accelerated due to the opening of the medical market through globalization. Accordingly, differentiation strategies are critical in hospital marketing. The quality of medical service oriented toward patient satisfaction becomes a strong strategic weapon to secure a hospital's competitive advantage. Therefore, marketing and communication strategies should be focused on patient-oriented, rather than hospital-oriented. Considering the changes in the hospital environment and the increase in the patients' expectation level, this study categorizes doctors' communication styles into four different ones: trust-type, professional-type, cooperation-type, and control-type. The effects of these communication styles on patient satisfaction were empirically examined. The moderating roles of the patient's characteristics and clinical characteristics between the doctors' communication styles and patient satisfaction were also investigated to find out managerial implications for hospital management. To achieve such goals, data were collected from patients of 12 general hospitals in Busan. The data were analyzed to test research hypotheses that examine 1) the relationships between doctors' communication styles and patient satisfaction, 2) the moderating roles of the patient characteristics and clinical characteristics in the research model, and 3) the impact of patient satisfaction on positive word-of-mouth and repurchase. The following summarizes the major results of this research. First, the data showed that patient satisfaction varied across doctors' communication styles. Trust-type style had the strongest impact on patient satisfaction while control-type style had the weakest influence on patient satisfaction. Professional-type style and cooperation-type style also had positive effects on patient satisfaction but the impact of the two are not statistically different. Second, significant differences in terms of patient satisfaction were found depending upon demographic variables such as gender, marital status, age, occupation, and education. Patient satisfaction, however, was consistent across varying income groups. Third, patients' medical insurance types were also related to patient satisfaction. It implies that a doctor may need to use different communication styles depending on a patient's medical insurance type. Fourth, out-patient and in-patient showed a different level of satisfaction with varying communication styles. Fifth, highly professional knowledge and strong control can influence patient satisfaction depending on the characteristics of the patient treatment field. Sixth, patient satisfaction were proved to have significantly positive effects on word-of-mouth and repurchase. The implications drawn from this study must be tempered by its limitations. First of all, the subjects used in this study were patients in Busan and small- and medium-size hospitals were excluded from the research. Therefore, future research should examine the research model by using a variety of hospitals and clinics throughout Korea. Another research agenda has to do with finding more determinant and moderating variables which will increase an explanatory power of the model. In short, this study may be the first empirical research that investigates the effects of doctors' communication styles on patient satisfaction. Interestingly enough, the results showed that each communication style had a unique impact on patient satisfaction. The findings from this research can be very useful in developing hospital marketing strategies.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.135-154
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to clarify the reason of the change of production-and-marketing system and of the regional division. The data for this study were collected by administering interviews with people engaging in hemp fabric industry: namely, craftsmen and managers in the production and marketing of "hemp fabric" handcraft. The summary of this study is as follows: First, the hemp fabric industry is a main subsidiary business of agriculture in Andong. The process of making hemp fabric heavily depends on manual labor. The process is divided into five stages: namely, cultivating hemp, pre-reeling, reeling, weaving, and colouring. Second, Andong "hemp fabric" handicrafts industry had been continuously growth until the late 1960s. During the period of Japan colonization, it was under boom condition: while the other traditional fabric industries were declined. In the 1970s, the decrease of the demand of hemp fabric was the result of mass production of substitute goods on factory system: while, in the 1980s, the growth of per capital income play an important role in bringing about the increased demand of hemp fabric. Third, in the 1980s. production-and-marketing system was changed as the result of the effort to improve the quality and the process, the advanced age of craftsmen, and the weak function of existing marketing systems. The social division of labor within the district is well developed between cultivating hemp, reeling and weaving. The social division of labor is also found in the partly process of handcratfs, and between the production and marketing. The social division of labor between production and marketing is not strongly developed to establish a reliable enterprise that develops a new product and opens a new market. Fourth, the spatial boundary of the production of hemp fabric handcrafts becomes limited into a special region based on the regional specialization of hemp cultivating and the differentiation of utilization of labor.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.1373-1382
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• 2018

Hanwoo and Chikso are classified as Korean native cattle breeds that are currently registered with the Food and Agriculture Organization. However, there is still a lack of genomic studies to compare Hanwoo to Chikso populations. The objective of this study was to perform genome-wide analysis of Hanwoo and Chikso populations, investigating the genetic relationships between these two populations. We genotyped a total of 319 cattle including 214 Hanwoo and 105 Chikso sampled from Gangwon Province Livestock Technology Research Institute, using the Illumina Bovine SNP50K Beadchip. After performing quality control on the initially generated datasets, we assessed linkage disequilibrium patterns for all the possible SNP pairs within 1 Mb apart. Overall, average $r^2$ values in Hanwoo (0.048) were lower than Chikso (0.074) population. The genetic relationship between the populations was further assured by the principal component analysis, exhibiting clear clusters in each of the Hanwoo and Chikso populations, respectively. Overall heterozygosity for Hanwoo (0.359) was slightly higher than Chikso (0.345) and inbreeding coefficient was also a bit higher in Hanwoo (-0.015) than Chikso (-0.035). The average $F_{ST}$ value was 0.036 between Hanwoo and Chikso, indicating little genetic differentiation between those two breeds. Furthermore, we found potential selection signatures including LRP1B and NTRK2 genes that might be implicated with meat and reproductive traits in cattle. In this study, the results showed that both Hanwoo and Chikso populations were not under severe level of inbreeding. Although the principal component analysis exhibited clear clusters in each of the populations, we did not see any clear evidence that those two populations are highly differentiated each other.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.508-516
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenosides are not only the principal bioactive components but also the important indexes to the quality assessment of Panax ginseng Meyer. Their contents in cultivated ginseng vary with the growth environment and age. The present study aimed at evaluating the significant difference between 36 cultivated ginseng of different cultivation areas and ages based on the simultaneously determined contents of 14 ginsenosides. Methods: A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS) method was developed and used in the multiple reaction-monitoring (MRM) mode (HPLC-MRM/MS) for the quantitative analysis of ginsenosides. Multivariate statistical analysis, such as principal component analysis and partial least squares-discriminant analysis, was applied to discriminate ginseng samples of various cultivation areas and ages and to discover the differentially accumulated ginsenoside markers. Results: The developed HPLC-MRM/MS method was validated to be precise, accurate, stable, sensitive, and repeatable for the simultaneous determination of 14 ginsenosides. It was found that the 3- and 5-yr-old ginseng samples were differentiated distinctly by all means of multivariate statistical analysis, whereas the 4-yr-old samples exhibited similarity to either 3- or 5-yr-old samples in the contents of ginsenosides. Among the 14 detected ginsenosides, Rg1, Rb1, Rb2, Rc, 20(S)-Rf, 20(S)-Rh1, and Rb3 were identified as potential markers for the differentiation of cultivation ages. In addition, the 5-yr-old samples were able to be classified in cultivation area based on the contents of ginsenosides, whereas the 3- and 4-yr-old samples showed little differences in cultivation area. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the HPLC-MRM/MS method combined with multivariate statistical analysis provides deep insight into the accumulation characteristics of ginsenosides and could be used to differentiate ginseng that are cultivated in different areas and ages.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.115-125
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• 2022

Objective: Intramuscular fat (IMF) is a critical economic indicator of pork quality. Studies on IMF among different pig breeds have been performed via high-throughput sequencing, but comparisons within the same pig breed remain unreported. Methods: This study was performed to explore the gene profile and identify candidate long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) and mRNAs associated with IMF deposition among Laiwu pigs with different IMF contents. Based on the longissimus dorsi muscle IMF content, eight pigs from the same breed and management were selected and divided into two groups: a high IMF (>12%, H) and low IMF group (<5%, L). Whole-transcriptome sequencing was performed to explore the differentially expressed (DE) genes between these two groups. Results: The IMF content varied greatly among Laiwu pig individuals (2.17% to 13.93%). Seventeen DE lncRNAs (11 upregulated and 6 downregulated) and 180 mRNAs (112 upregulated and 68 downregulated) were found. Gene Ontology analysis indicated that the following biological processes played an important role in IMF deposition: fatty acid and lipid biosynthetic processes; the extracellular signal-regulated kinase cascade; and white fat cell differentiation. In addition, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-protein kinase B, and mammalian target of rapamycin pathways were enriched in the pathway analysis. Intersection analysis of the target genes of DE lncRNAs and mRNAs revealed seven candidate genes associated with IMF accumulation. Five DE lncRNAs and 20 DE mRNAs based on the pig quantitative trait locus database were identified and shown to be related to fat deposition. The expression of five DE lncRNAs and mRNAs was verified by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The results of qRT-PCR and RNA-sequencing were consistent. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that the different IMF contents among pig individuals may be due to the DE lncRNAs and mRNAs associated with lipid droplets and fat deposition.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.581-590
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• 2022

It is important to create a decent pedestrian space in order to realize a public space that can ultimately improve the quality of life based on guaranteeing people's right to move while also enhancing urban activity. The goal of this study is to develop a pedestrian path evaluation system in order to lay the foundation for data construction leading to the creation of such elegant walking space. First, a basic system was established in keeping with factors and the space, and this system was used as the basic framework of the study. The trends identified in the literature can be divided into eight categories, denoted here as: Walking safety policy, Walking focused plan, Recognition transition, Transportaion system, Activity-linked walking, Facility utilization walking, Nature and history linked walking and Content convergence walking. The macro- and micro-indices and factors mentioned in related studies were synthesized and classified, and the basis for universality and differentiation was established by integrating them. Next, according to the basic composition of the walking system, Walking potential and slope safety in the Safety category, Basic walking connectivity and Traffic linkage in the Efficiency category, Walking arrangement and Rest convenience in the Health category, and Resource connectivity and Activity abundance in the Comfortability category macro evaluation system of the eight categories were established and a corresponding measurement method was developed.