• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.202-210
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• 2017

The nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) encoded by the human hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA genome is a multifunctional phosphoprotein. To analyse the influence of NS5A on apoptosis, we established an Hep-NS5A cell line (HepG2 cells that stably express NS5A) and induced apoptosis using tumour necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$. We utilised the MTT assay to detect cell viability, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot to analyse gene and protein expression, and a luciferase reporter gene experiment to investigate the targeted regulatory relationship. Chromatin immunoprecipitation was used to identify the combination of $NF-{\kappa}B$ and miR-503. We found that overexpression of NS5A inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced hepatocellular apoptosis via regulating miR-503 expression. The cell viability of the $TNF-{\alpha}$ induced Hep-mock cells was significantly less than the viability of the $TNF-{\alpha}$ induced Hep-NS5A cells, which demonstrates that NS5A inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced HepG2 cell apoptosis. Under $TNF-{\alpha}$ treatment, miR-503 expression was decreased and cell viability and B-cell lymphoma 2 (bcl-2) expression were increased in the Hep-NS5A cells. Moreover, the luciferase reporter gene experiment verified that bcl-2 was a direct target of miR-503, NS5A inhibited $TNF{\alpha}$-induced $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation and $NF-{\kappa}B$ regulated miR-503 transcription by combining with the miR-503 promoter. After the Hep-NS5A cells were transfected with miR-503 mimics, the data indicated that the mimics could reverse $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced cell apoptosis and blc-2 expression. Collectively, our findings suggest a possible molecular mechanism that may contribute to HCV treatment in which NS5A inhibits $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation to decrease miR-503 expression and increase bcl-2 expression, which leads to a decrease in hepatocellular apoptosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 2011

Background: It is well-known that cell-free nucleic acids rise in patients with many types of malignancies. Several recent experimental studies using cancer cell lines have shown that changes in cell-free RNA are predictive of the response to chemotherapy. The objective of this study was to determine whether quantification of free RNA can be used as a biomarker for clinical responses to chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer. Methods: Thirty-two patients with lung cancer (non-small cell lung cancer, n=24; small cell lung cancer, n=8) were divided into 2 groups according to their responses to chemotherapy (response group, n=19; non-response group, n=13). Blood samples were collected before and after two cycles of chemotherapy. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used for transcript quantification of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene. Results: The pre chemotherapy values (Response group $41.36{\pm}1.72$ vs. Non-response group $41.33{\pm}1.54$, p=0.78) and post chemotherapy values (Response group $39.92{\pm}1.81$ vs. Non-response group $40.41{\pm}1.47$, p=0.40) for cell free RNA concentrations, expressed as Ct GAPDH (threshold cycle glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene) levels, was not different between the two groups. There was no significant relationship between changes in the cell free RNA level clinical responses after chemotherapy (p=0.43). Conclusion: We did not find a correlation between quantification of serum cell free RNA levels and clinical responses to chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer. Further investigations are needed to determine whether the cell free RNA level is a useful predictor of responses to chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

Recently, translational research (TR) in health technology (HT) has been considered as an emerging alternative research system for the improvement of human health. TR from bench to bedside involves a strong bidirectional relationship between basic science discovery and clinical practice. To support R&D planning and policy in HT effectively, the performance of TR programs was analyzed and evaluated in a R&D project on health and medical technology. TR programs were classified into three parts: unilateral TR, bilateral TR and multilateral TR. Bibliometrics and citation analysis were performed to assess research papers and gather information for the performance analysis of TR programs. In addition, both quantitative and qualitative analysis were successfully carried out using ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar Citations, SCOPUS and Knowledgematrix. In conclusion, the performance analysis of TR programs could significantly improve the efficiency of R&D plans, R&D management and evaluation for a safe and healthy life.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2008

In an uniaxial compressive test of a concrete standard specimen (150$\times$300 mm) the crack initiation and extension with the stress increase are the major reason of the failure, which is similar to the breakage of the particle bonding in the simulation by using particle bonded model, especially particle flow code in 3 dimensions (PFC3D) developed by Itasca Consulting Group Inc. That is the main motive to study the possibility of an uniaxial compressive strength test simulation. It is important to investigate the relationship between the micro-parameters and the macro-properties because the 3-dimensional particle bonded model uses the spherical particles to analyze the physical phenomena. Contact bonded model used herein has eight micro-parameters and there are five macro-properties; Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, uniaxial compressive strength and the crack initiation stress and the ratio concerning the crack propagation with the stress. To simulate the compressive test we made quantitative relationships between the micro-parameters and the macro-properties by using the fractional factorial design and various sensitivity analyses including regression analysis, which result in the good agreement with the previous studies. Also, the stress-stain curve and the crack distribution over the specimen given by PFC3D showed the mechanical behavior of the concrete standard specimen under the uniaxial compression. It is concluded that the particle bonded model can be a good tool for the analyzing the mechanical behavior of concrete under the uniaxial compressive load.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.182-193
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• 2012

The percentage of senior citizens is increasing in Korea and it is expected to become an "aging society". Problems with the elderly are becoming a big concern, such as physical and mental illness, losing their jobs and having difficulties at home. But, the silver generation, as they are being known, has changed a lot these days. With the aid of medical developments, the elderly's lifespan has become longer, making them more independent and active. Senior Welfare Center's are places where the elderly can spend their golden years in comfort, meaningfully. Senior Welfare Center's these days provide many different programs, which naturally lead to an increase in elderly users. With the rise in welfare centers and users, research on the subject also grew. As this topic has only recently become an issue, there were not many spatial structure studies considering elderly movement. Therefore, there should be spatial structure research that considers older users space awareness and how it can be managed effectively. The goal of this study is to present basic resources for providing a comfortable senior welfare center for elders. This will be based on quantitative analysis derived from spatial structure research along with special construction characteristics based on the institution's general plan. As a research method, Senior Welfare Center's will be categorized into corridor type, hall type, and hybrid types which then be reproduced into a j-graph. Based on this, special structure characteristics and connection links will be comprehended. Then the connection link will be analyzed based on the space syntax result calculated from each type's integration, connectivity, control value, and intelligibility. The analysis result shows that Senior Welfare Center j-graph's average arrangement is hybrid>corridor>hall types. Those elders lacking awareness need easily perceivable spatial structure's and hall type's would be the best choice to increase their awareness as it has high articulation. However, hall type's would be difficult to construct with the size increase, so hybrid type would be the next logical solution. Space with relatively high articulation will need to be planned in hybrid type's where rest areas can be created within the halls in the Welfare Center in connection to its corridors.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.197-205
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• 2020

Korean language has the characteristics that the pronunciation of phoneme units such as vowels and consonants are fixed and the pronunciation associated with a notation does not change, so that foreign learners can approach rather easily Korean language. However, when one pronounces words, phrases, or sentences, the pronunciation changes in a manner of a wide variation and complexity at the boundaries of syllables, and the association of notation and pronunciation does not hold any more. Consequently, it is very difficult for foreign learners to study Korean standard pronunciations. Despite these difficulties, it is believed that systematic analysis of pronunciation errors for Korean words is possible according to the advantageous observations that the relationship between Korean notations and pronunciations can be described as a set of firm rules without exceptions unlike other languages including English. In this paper, we propose a visualization framework which shows the differences between standard pronunciations and erratic ones as quantitative measures on the computer screen. Previous researches only show color representation and 3D graphics of speech properties, or an animated view of changing shapes of lips and mouth cavity. Moreover, the features used in the analysis are only point data such as the average of a speech range. In this study, we propose a method which can directly use the time-series data instead of using summary or distorted data. This was realized by using the deep learning-based technique which combines Self-organizing map, variational autoencoder model, and Markov model, and we achieved a superior performance enhancement compared to the method using the point-based data.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.69-80
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• 1986

In order to analyse the color preference quantitatively, specially with reference to the subjects in the age of twenties, 100 subjects(M=50, F=50) that unconsidered other factors were adopted and responded to 4 items of the questionaire. The item no. 1 was to investigate the most prefered color on the white background, no. 2 was to most preferred stimulation -level of lightness in the same hues, no. 3 was to most prefered color on 5 different backgrounds -grey, blue, pink, yellow, and yellow green-, and no. 4 was same as no. 3 but with different color-arrangement Materials for item 1 and 3 were made with transparent acryl-boards(30cm$\times$30cm), on which 16 color chips arranged on circle, for item 4 on lattice, and for item 2 with 16 white boards(8cm$\times$21cm), on which 7 color chips of different lightness-level arranged. Reflectance(Y) and color coordinate(x, y) of all color chips measured with color difference meter were transfered into wavelength(nm), exitation purity(%), and Munsell's value. The results may be summarized as follows: 1) Most prefered color was bluish green with wave1ength about 500nm. As increasing of exitation purity of color, more prefered. 2) When there were 7 different levels of lightness in the same hues, the relationship between the number of preference and the stimulation was inverted U-shaped. 3) With changing the background -color, the prefered colors were contrasting when backgrounds were low or high intensity-stimulation and familiar colors when backgrounds were medium intensity.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.193-203
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• 1999

In order to investigate systematically the steady shear flow properties of aqueous po1y(ethylene oxide) (PEO) solutions having various molecular weights and concentrations, the steady flow viscosity has been measured with a Rheometrics Fluids Spectrometer (RFS II) over a wide range of shear rates. The effects of shear rate, concentration, and molecular weight on the steady shear flow properties were reported in detail from the experimentally measured data, and then the results were interpreted using the concept of a material characteristic time. In addition, some flow models describing the non-Newtonian behavior (shear-thinning characteristics) of polymeric liquids were employed to make a quantitative evaluation of the steady flow behavior, and the applicability of these models was examined by calculating the various material parameters. Main results obtained from this study can be summarized as follows: (1) At low shear rates, aqueous PEO solutions show a Newtonian viscous behavior which is independent of shear rate. At shear rate region higher than a critical shear rate, however, they exhibit a shear-thinning behavior, demonstrating a decrease in steady flow viscosity with increasing shear rate. (2) As an increase in concentration and/or molecular weight, the zero-shear viscosity is increased while the Newtonian viscous region becomes narrower. Moreover, the critical shear rate at which the transition from the Newtonian to shear-thinning behavior occurs is decreased, and the shear-thinning nature becomes more remarkable. (3) Aqueous PEO solutions show a Newtonian viscous behavior at shear rate range lower than the inverse value of a characteristic time $1/{\lambda}_E$, while they exhibit a shear-thinning behavior at shear rate range higher than $1/{\lambda}_E$. For aqueous PEO solutions having a broad molecular weight distribution, the inverse value of a characteristic time is not quantitatively equivalent to the critical shear rate, but the power-law relationship holds between the two quantities. (4) The Cross, Carreau, and Carreau-Yasuda models are all applicable to describe the steady flow behavior of aqueous PEO solutions. Among these models, the Carreau-Yasuda model has the best validity.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.2 s.48
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• pp.145-152
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• 2006

Industry development caused numerical and quantitative increase of noxious chemical substances that contain risk assessment in water resources. For use of efficient water resources a pre-treatment of contaminant source which is flowed in water resources is recognized in essential process. Therefore, the discharged water quality from discharged company began to control contaminant by total amount of pollutant in domestic. However, to estimate closely chemical substances it is not proved up to now, monitoring is very important. This study achieved a monitoring of micro noxious chemical substance by fiber and chemistry industrial wastewater inflow to examine risk assessment of the water system of Nakdong river. Chloroform was measured highest among volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that the results of water quality of influent and effluent are detected from 7 companies of study area. The other side, because measured value of detected chloroform is indefinite detection level in the same company, it is difficulty in management of water quality. However it may not be much effects of the water system of Nakdong river because these company's effluent is high treatment efficiency of chloroform (more than 88%) in sewage treatment plant. On the other hand, in the investigated results for the European Union specified priority substance that is detected to relationship influent and effluent from fiber/chemistry associated industries, these substances were not detected and domestic data was hardly referred. Therefore, data construction of continuous monitoring about this water quality may have to be achieved certainly to utilize as country policy.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2004

The failure of cut slopes frequently occurs particularly during the thawing season and the rain season in summer. This study interpreted data collected from site to which a real-monitoring system was applied in order to analyze the causes of ground behaviors and to forecast future slope failure. As for research methods, this study analyzed the size and mechanism of failure by integrating the results of field surveys and measurements. Furthermore, it analyzed data transmitted by the monitoring system installed in the a result, three times of ground displacement occurred as well as a number of partial tension cracks. The cut slope composed of sandstone and siltstone started its initial behavior as a result of torrential downpour and the loss of support of the substructure. For quantitative analysis of the characteristics of ground behavior, this study measured 5 lateral lines. According to the result of the measurement, displacement happened little in the section to which countermeasure had been applied, but displacement of maximum 400mm happened in the section to which countermeasure had not bee applied. The analysis of data on displacement and rainfall suggested a close relationship between ground behavior and rainfall. According to the result of stability interpretation along with the change of ground saturation, stability rate appeared to be less than 1.0 when ground saturation is over 55%. Although the current trend of ground behavior is at a stable stage falling within the range of tolerance, it is considered necessary to continue monitoring and data analysis because ground displacement is highly possible with the change of temperature during the winter.