• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1041-1054
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• 2004

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been reported to increase pain threshold, and to enhance the NK cell activity by up-regulation of IFN-γ and endogenous β-endolphin. For the purpose of understanding the molecular mechanism of EA stimulation, we analyzed the gene expression profile of rat hypothalamus, treated on Zusanli (ST36) with EA, in comparison with control group by oligonucleotide chip microarray (Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Neurobiology U34 Array) and real-time RT-PCR. Sprague-Dawley (S-D) male rats were stimulated at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint in restriction holder. Simultaneously the control group was given only holder stress without EA stimulation. In order to prove the appropriateness of EA treatment, we measured spleen NK cell activity with standard 51Cr release assay. NK cell activity of EA group was significantly increased comparing to control group. The microarray and PCR results show that EA treatment up-regulates expression of genes associated with 1) nerve growth such as NGF induced factor A and VGF, 2) signal transduction such as 5HT3 receptor subunit, AMPA receptor binding protein and Na-dependent neurotransmitter transporter, and 3) anti-oxidation such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase. In addition, the activity of the anti-oxidative enzyme, SOD of hypothalamus, liver and RBC was enhanced compared to that of control. The list of differentially expressed genes may implicate further insight on the mechanism of acupuncture effects.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2006

Understanding characteristics of claypan soils has long been an issue for researchers and farmers because the high-clay subsoil has a pronounced effect on grain crop productivity. The claypan restricts water infiltration and storage within the crop root zone, but these effects are not uniform within fields. Conventional techniques of identifying claypan soil characteristics require manual probing and analysis which can be quite expensive; an expense most farmers are unwilling to pay. On the other hand, farmers would be very interested if this information could be obtained with easy-to-use field sensors. Two examples of sensors that show promise for helping in claypan soil characterization are soil profile strength sensing and bulk soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). Little has been reported on claypan soils relating the combined information from these two sensors with grain crop yield. The objective of this research was to identify the relationships of sensed profile soil strength and soil EC with nine years of crop yield (maize and soybean) from a claypan soil field in central Missouri. A multiple-probe (five probes on 19-cm spacing) cone penetrometer was used to measure soil strength and an electromagnetic induction sensor was used to measure soil EC at 55 grid site locations within a 4-ha research field. Crop yields were obtained using a combine equipped with a yield monitoring system. Soil strength at the 15 to 45 cm soil depth were significantly correlated to crop yield and ECa. Estimated crop yields from apparent electrical conductivity and soil strength were validated with an independent data set. Using measurements from these two sensors, standard error rates for estimating yield ranged from 9 to 16%. In conclusion, these results showed that the sensed profile soil strength and soil EC could be used as a measure of the soil productivity for grain crop production.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.967-972
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• 2003

The inner-diameter 5 cm cold hollow cathode ion source was designed for the high current density and the homogeneous beam profile of ion beam. The ion source consisted of a cylindrical cathode, a generation part of magnetic field, a plasma chamber, convex type ion optic system with two grid electrode, and DC power supply system. The cold hollow cathode ion sources were classified into standard type (I), electron output electrode modified type (II). The operation of the ion source was done with discharge current, ion beam potential and argon gas flow rate. The modification of electron output electrode resulted in uniform plasma generation and uniform area of ion beam was extended from 5 cm to 20 cm. Improved ion source was evaluated with beam uniformity, ion current, team extraction efficiency, and ionization efficiency.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.751-757
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• 2022

Objective : Tumours of the brain are a rare occurrence accounting for approximately 2% of all neoplasms in adults. Few studies have been done in Nigeria on the profile of brain tumours. The aim of this study is to determine the profile of brain tumours in general and determine the change in Kanofsky Performance Score (KPS) after treatment. Methods : This is a prospective hospital-based study in Kaduna. All consecutive patients over 18 years of age with diagnosis of brain tumours from January 2016 to December 2019 were included in the study. Demographic and clinical data was collected using a proforma during the study. Patients who received treatment were followed up for 12 months. The primary outcome data was the difference in the quality of life as measured by KPS at the point of first contact and at 1-month after treatment and at 12-month follow up. Data obtained was analysed with SPSS version 25.0 for Windows. Descriptive statistics was done to determine the profile. Paired t-test at 95% confidence interval was done to check for significant correlation between the mean KPS. Results : A total of 39 consecutive patients were included in the study. There was a slight male preponderance with a M : F of 1.17 : 1. Meningioma and metastasis were more common in females while gliomas and pituitary tumours were more common in males. The mean age of patients was 49.8 years and standard deviation of 11.8 years. Pituitary tumours were the most common tumours. The most common location of the tumour was frontal lobe followed by the pituitary gland. The mean duration of symptoms before neurosurgical consultation was 38 weeks. The most common presenting symptoms of patient with brain tumour was headache. The quality of life improve compare to the baseline in 81% of patient at discharge and at 1 year follow up. The overall mortality rate was 25.6%. Conclusion : The most common brain tumour in our study is pituitary tumour. Most patients present late. The most common presenting symptoms is headache. There is significant improvement in the KPS of patients following treatment. The overall mortality rate at 1-year post treatment is 25.6%.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.263-270
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Lycii fructus on the serum lipid in rats fed high fat diet. We compared the effects of L. fructus and L.fructus water extract both adminstered with high fat diets on rats that had previously been on high fat or standard diets. Two separate experiments were conducted for 6 weeks. respectively. In experiment I, 4 groups of rats were fed experimental diets consisting of either \circled1 6 weeks of a standard diet(control), \circled2 6 weeks of a high-fat diet(HHC), \circled3 3 weeks of a high-fat diet followed by 3 weeks of a high-fat diet containing L. fructus(HHL) or \circled4 6 weeks of a high-fat diet with L. fructus extract in place of water for the last 3 weeks (HHT). In the second set of experiments, a high-fat diet (SHC), high-fat diet containing L.fructus(SHL) or high-fat diet with L. fructus extract in place of water (SHT) were fed for 3 weeks after 3 weeks of standard diet feeding. Rats fed L. fructus diet consumed more diets than high-fat diets. THe results of experiment I showed significant decreases(p<0.05) in serum triglyceride(TB) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels with L. fructus feedings, but did not show andy changes in total cholesterol (TC) level. High density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) level was increased significantly(p<0.05) with L. fructus feedings. Therefore, the ration of LDL-C to HDL-C(LDL-C/HDL-C) which is used as an atherosclerosis index was significantly (p<0.05) low, while the HDL-c/TC ration was significantly(p<0.05) high with L.fructus intake. However, no significant were found in serum cholesterols and TG levels in experimentII. The results of these experiments indicate that , regardless of the feeding from, L. fructus can be beneficial in lowering serum TG and LDL-C levels for habitual high-fat diet intakers. L.fructus also seems to be effective in elevating serum HDL-C level, theregy having beneficial effects on atherosclerosis by influencing the serum lipoprotein profile.

• Journal of Korea Spatial Information System Society
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• v.2 no.1 s.3
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• pp.91-107
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• 2000

Geographic Information Systems(GISs) generally use a very large amount of spatial data. and are implemented on various software and hardware system. If it is impossible to exchange the spatial data efficiently among the different hardware, software, and operation systems, data sharing will be very difficult and duplicated storage & management of the spatial data will result in a great economic loss. To solve such problems, a national organization established a national standard for GIS and constructed spatial databases at the national level. In Korea, SDTS(Spatial Data Transfer Standard) is selected as a national standard for the common data transfer format. In this paper, we design and implement a SDTS Data Management System which can support display, insertion, update, deletion of SDTS data, extraction and creation of a specified area, error checking and reporting, setting and verification of a SDTS profile through the GUI (Graphic User Interface) environment. Hereafter, as GIS industry is continually activated and a demand for the SDTS data increases, a requirement for analysis and trust of the SDTS data will grow bigger, so the necessity of the SDTS Data Management System developed in this paper will also grow rapidly.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2003

In the biological world, there are a number of ecological fights for survival between each organism such as plants, animals and microorganism In such events, an organism can use its natural bioactive products as defence agent against other organisms. Furthermore, natural bioactive products can be utilized for medicine or functional food. Recently, we investigate the effect of Monascus pigment extracted from a fungus, Monascus anke, on the alcohol metabolism and blood lipid profile. In the present study, it is observed that Monascus pigment supplemented dietary may have a hepatoprotective effect on rat's liver damage induced with $CCl_4$ . By treatment with $CCl_4$(3 times, I.P), liver damage was reduced more in the rats fed 2% Monascus pigment extract supplemented diet than those fed standard diet, based on the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, microsomal glucose-6-phosphatse activity and hepaic malondialdehyde content. On the other hand, oxygen free radical generating enzymes, hepatic P-450 dependent aniline hydroxylase, xanthine oxidase, and oxygen free radical scavenging enzymes, hepatic glutathione S-transferase, catalase, superoxide dismutase activities were generally higher both in $CCl_4$ treated group and control fed 2% Monascus pigment extract supplemented diet than those fed standard diet. In conclusion, the rats fed 2% Monascus pigment extract supplemented diet showed more reduced liver damage than those fed standard diet, which may be due to the acceleration of oxygen free radical metabolism.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.100-105
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• 2009

The high-temperature isothermal aging is studied in ultra-supercritical steel, which is attractive to the next generation of power plants. The effects of microstructure on reversible permeability are discussed. Isothermal aging was observed to coarsen the tempered carbide ($Cr_{23}C_6$), generate the intermetallic ($Fe_2W$) phase and grow rapidly during aging. The dislocation density also decreases steeply within lath interior. The dynamic coercivity, measured from the peak position of the reversible permeability profile decreased drastically during the initial 500 h aging period, and was thereafter observed to decrease only slightly. The variation in dynamic coercivity is closely related to the decrease in the number of pinning sites, such as dislocations, fine precipitates and the martensite lath.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.125-131
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• 2019

Through the 4th Industrial Revolution, various digital equipments are being distributed, and accordingly, the importance of data processing is increasing. As data processing has a great effect on the reliability of equipment, its importance is increasing, and various studies are being conducted. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to remove AWGN in consideration of the noise in the image. The proposed algorithm is used in the filtering process by inferring the standard deviation of the image noise. The noise is removed by dividing the filter for the high frequency component and the filter for the low frequency component compared with the standard deviation of the filtering mask. The proposed algorithm is simulated with the existing methods for evaluation and compared and analyzed by difference image, PSNR and profile. The proposed algorithm minimizes the effect of noise and preserves the important characteristics of the image and shows the performance of efficient noise removal.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.339-342
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• 2006

A simple high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of tolperisone in human plasma. Tolperisone and internal standard (chlorphenesin) were isolated from 1 mL of plasma using 8 mL of dichlormethane. The organic phase was collected and evaporated under nitrogen gas. The residue was then reconstituted with 300 mL aliquot of mobile phase and a 100 mL aliquot was injected onto the $C_{18}$ reverse-phased column. The mobile phase, $45\%$ methanol containing $1\%$ glacial acetic acid and $0.05\%$ 1-hexanesulfonic acid was run at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The column effluent was monitored using UV detector at 260 nm. The retention times for tolperisone and the internal standard were approximately 7.1 and 8.4 min, respectively. The standard curve was linear with minimal intra-day and inter-day variability. The quantification limit of tolperisone in human plasma was 10 ng/ mL. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of pharmacokinetic profile of tolperisone in Koreans. The T max of tolperisone in Koreans $(0.94{\pm}0.42\;h)$ was not significantly differ from that reported in Europeans (0.5-1 h), but the mean half-life in Koreans $(1.14{\pm}0.27\;h)$ was shorter than that in Europeans $(2.56{\pm}0.2\;h)$. The proposed HPLC method is simple, accurate, reproducible and suitable for pharmacokinetic study of tolperisone.