• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.253-262
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• 2016

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is one of the most important bacteria in the formation of dental plaque and dental caries. S. mutans adheres to an acquired pellicle formed on the tooth surface, and aggregates with many oral bacteria. It initiates plaque formation by synthesizing glucan from sucrose, which is catalyzed by glucosyltransferases. Propolis is a resinous mixture produced by honeybees, by mixing saliva and beeswax with secretions gathered from wood sap and flower pollen. Bees prevent pathogenic invasions by coating the propolis to the outer and inner surface of the honeycomb. Propolis has traditionally been used for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, asthma and dermatitis. We investigated the inhibitory effects of propolis ethanol extract on biofilm formation and gene expression of S. mutans. The biofilm formation of S. mutans was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and safranin staining. We observed that the extract of propolis had an inhibitory effect on the formation of S. mutans biofilms at concentrations higher than 0.2 mg/ml. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the gene expression of biofilm formation, such as gbpB, spaP, brpA, relA and vicR of S. mutans, was significantly decreased in a dose dependent manner. The ethanol extract of propolis showed concentration dependent growth inhibition of S. mutans, and significant inhibition of acid production at concentrations of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/ml, compared to the control group. These results suggest that the ethanol extract of propolis inhibits gene expression related to biofilm formation in S. mutans.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.28-31
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• 2002

Filmless full-PACS in korea has rapidly been growing, since government had supported collaborative PACS project between industry and university hospital in late of 1995. At the same time, a small company had started PACS business, while the Korea PACS society was being formed. In the beginning, PACS societies had focused on developing peripheral solutions such as DICOM gateway for image acquisition, x-ray film digitizer, and viewing software for research or management of personal image data, while Samsung Medical Center had started installing an imported partial PACS system which had recently upgraded with a new system. In similar time frame, a few hospitals had started developing and installing domestic large scale full-PACS system. Several years later, many hospitals have installed full-PACS system with national policy of reimbursement for PACS exams in November 1999. It is believed that Korea is the first country that adopted PACS reimbursement for filmless full-PACS as a national policy. Both experiences of full-PACS installation and national policy generated tremendous intellectual and technological expertise about PACS at all levels, clinical, hospital management, education, and industrial sectors. There are currently three types of PACS system which includes domestic, imported, and hybrid PACS system with imported solution for core system and domestic solution for peripheral system. There are more than 20 domestic PACS companies and they have now enough experiences so that they are capable of installing a truly full-PACS system for large-scale teaching hospitals. PACS societies in Korea understand how to design, implement, install, manage, sustain, and provide good services for large-scale full-PACS. PACS society has also strength for the highest integration technology of the Hospital Information. However, further understanding and timely implementation of continuously evolving international standard and integrated healthcare enterprise concepts may be necessary for international leading of PACS technologies for the future.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.233-242
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between perceived oral health, medical service satisfaction, and oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) and the factors affecting OHIP for orthodontic patients, and to provide basic data to improve the quality of life of orthodontic patients in accordance with oral health. Methods: The study explained the purpose and purport of this study to orthodontic patients who visit dental clinics located in Daejeon and Chungcheong province for about two months from July 01, 2019, and conducted a self‐reported questionnaire survey for 220 participants who agreed to participate in this study. of the collected questionnaires, data of 197 subjects were used for the final analysis except 23 that were inadequate. Results: As for orthodontic treatment satisfaction according to perceived oral health and OHIP, there was statistically significant difference between respondents who were 'very healthy' and 'not healthy' (p<0.05). The higher the supplementary service satisfaction, the higher the orthodontic treatment satisfaction, and the higher the perceived oral health, the OHIP was found to be the higher. The factors affecting OHIP were found to be significantly associated with orthodontic treatment satisfaction and perceived oral health. The explanatory power was 15.6%. Conclusions: Active and ongoing oral health education should be provided to dental hygienists to ensure that the patient's oral cavity is healthy, and although additional services need to be improved, it is more important to have management strategies for patients to improve orthodontic treatment satisfaction.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.294-301
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• 2013

Sustainable fashion & textile is more than eco fashion & textile with the concepts for the next generation's happiness, prosumer value, and community responsibility. This study considers methods to enhance fashion and textile industry sustainability in accordance to clothing types (material, product life and washing properties) and to investigate company strategies. Company strategies are of redesign with stock, volunteering & measuring trash amount, participation by evaluation stores, clerk environment education, hiring QC specialist and reinforcing partnerships. For the case of daily innerwear, throwing away and recycling is more efficient for the environment than laundering in the consumer use stage; subsequently, we recommend the use of polypropylene fiber (a cheap and an eco-friendly material) for this item that can be recycled and reformed after use. For the case of single layer clothing (such as sportswear, blouse or pants) we recommend the use of thermoplastic materials with welding or fuse assembling technology instead of a sewing method of seams as well as the recycle design that is simply melted and reformed into new clothing without an after use dissembling process. Secondhand use or resale is suitable for denim/jean items if the clothing has a storytelling or private history tag. Lastly, module-type jacket or coat shows the variety of styles with one clothing worn w/o collar or sleeve details and changed into vest/coat; in addition, it is possible to add or partly tear off some jacket/coat fibers of the felt material to reform it into a new design.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.121-131
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• 2018

Objectives We analyzed the trends of government-funded research on Kampo medicine in Japan to provide advanced evidence to R&D support policy for Korean medicine, and to introduce new research fields and trends to the researchers. Methods We reviewed the researches on Kampo medicine through 'research-er.jp' and 'KAKEN' database which contain R&D status in Japan and scientific research funding project issued by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Results Since 1976, government-funded research on Kampo medicine has been continuously announced, and now 533 tasks have been completed or are in progress. The average duration of the study is 2.54 years, but it has been prolonged to 3.52 years in recent years. 4~5 million yen was supported per project for laboratory research, and an average of 44,342 thousand yen was supported per project for specialized laboratory research and clinical research. Conclusions Despite the absence of systematically supporting departments, the researches on Kampo medicine in Japan were qualitatively superior since they focused on providing the scientific basis for clinical application. As competition in the world's traditional medicine market becomes more intense, it is necessary to improve the competitiveness of Korean medicine. Therefore, a keen interest in Korean medicine and active support from the government is needed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2009

A B cell-specific growth substance (BGS) was isolated from the slime layer of Bacillus licheniformis E1. Unlike LPS, the BGS was not affected by polymixin B, an inhibitor of LPS, or by TLR4, and resulted in the growth of B cells. When BALB/c mice were treated with the BGS, the B cell population was found to increase in both the bone marrow and the spleen, with a marked increase after 24 h in the bone marrow and after 48 h in the spleen. When using antibodies to B cell lineage-restricted surface molecules to analyze the B cell population changes resulting from treatment with the BGS, an increase in immature B cells ($IgM^+$ and $AA4.1^+$) and mature B cells ($IgM^+$ and $IgD^+$) was found in the bone marrow 24 h after treatment with the BGS, whereas a decrease in mature B cells and increase in $IgG^+$ B cells were found in the spleen. When the BGS and OVA antigen were injected into the peritoneal cavity of BALB/c mice, this resulted in a high OVA-specific antibody titer in the sera, similar to that induced by aluminum hydroxide. Therefore, it is anticipated that the mass production of the BGS by B. licheniformis E1 could be used for studies of B cells in immunology, and contribute to the development of a new adjuvant for vaccine manufacture.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.48-58
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• 2014

Public libraries provide information to all persons and its users are the inhabitants of the community it serves. This may not be the reality in some cases as some category of persons may not be properly served by the public library. This study assesses the provision of information materials in alternative format, in terms of its availability, access and level of use by the visually impaired in public libraries in southwestern Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. Four (4) public libraries in four states were purposively selected because they are the ones that provide alternative format for the use of a sizable number of the visually impaired. Complete enumeration was used to capture all the 166 registered users of the libraries through the use of observations checklist and interview schedule. Data from 69.2% of the 166 visually impaired persons that were interviewed, and the observations made were analyzed. The result reveals that alternative formats availability were inadequate and, e-resources were not available while access to formats and information desired by the users were limited. Braille is the most utilized format; audio materials and large prints were seldom used. The demand for alternative formats is high but it is not related to level of use of materials. Provision of information materials in alternative formats for the visually impaired in public libraries cannot support the needs of the visually impaired; it requires intervention from all stakeholders. The study recommends improved investment and funding for public libraries and services to persons with disabilities.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.137-140
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• 2003

Anti-obesity effect of a new dietary supplement (3D-relax) in high-fat fed rats. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of 3D-relax; a proprietary formulation containing hydroxycitrate (233 mg/g), carnitine (150 mg/g) and red pepper (150 mg/g); on body weight, body fat, and serum lipids levels in rats fed a high-fat diet. Male SD 7-wk-old rats (n=8) were fed a high fat diet [52% total dietary energy (E%) from fat, 15.4 E% protein, 32.6E% carbohydrate] with or without 3D-relax administration (1 g/kg body weight/day) for 3 weeks. Administration of 3D-relax significantly reduced the increase in body weight compared to the group fed high fat without 3D-relax. Food efficiency ratio (FER) tended to be decreased with administration of 3D-relax, but was not significant. The perirenal and epididymal fat pad weights of vats administered 3D-relax were significantly lower than those of the high fat group that did not ingest 3D-relax during the 3 weeks. The oral administration of 3D-relax significantly increased HDL-cholesterol level and lowered total cholesterol level compared to those of high fat alone group. These results suggest that 3D-relax reduced body weight and fat gains, and those effects are presumably linked to its inhibitory effects on lipogenesis.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.38-40
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• 2009

The EST Knowledge Integrated System, EKIS (http://ekis.kribb.re.kr), was established as a part of Korea's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology initiative for genome sequencing and application research of the biological model organisms (GEAR) project. The goals of the EKIS are to collect EST information from GEAR projects and make an integrated database to provide transcriptomic and metabolomic information for biological scientists. The EKIS constitutes five independent categories and several retrieval systems in each category for incorporating massive EST data from high-throughput sequencing of 65 different species. Through the EKIS database, scientists can freely access information including BLAST functional annotation as well as Genechip and pathway information for KEGG. By integrating complex data into a framework of existing EST knowledge information, the EKIS provides new insights into specialized metabolic pathway information for an applied industrial material.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.157-161
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• 2019

Independent control of electronic and thermal transport behaviors is one of the most effective approaches to enhance the performance of thermoelectric materials. To address this, many researches on the relationship between defect structures and thermoelectric properties have been carried out since defects are intrinsic ingredients of polycrystalline materials. Recently, experimental results of simultaneously improved electronic and thermal transport properties have been reported via the formation of 0-dimensional point defects. Here, theoretical backgrounds to the engineering of electronic and thermal transport behaviors by the formation of point defects are discussed and related experimental considerations are also presented in order to provide a practical guide for the development of highperformance thermoelectric materials.