• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.485-493
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• 2018

Purpose: This study provides a treatment for central nervous system development in patients with chronic stroke by investigating changes in the upper limb function over time. The correlations among the activities, participation, and environmental factors of the international classification of functioning (ICF), disability and health are also examined. Methods: The subjects of this study are 18 patients with chronic stroke who were hospitalized and treated at 00 hospital in the Chungcheongbuk-do province. Their upper extremity functions are evaluated using the manual function test (MFT). The activities, participation, and environmental factors are evaluated using the ICF generic form. The correlations between the total scores of the affected and unaffected sides and the ICF items are analyzed using the Pearson correlation analysis. The significance level is p<0.05. Results: When the correlations between the activities and participation areas of ICF and the total score of the affected side of MFT were examined, significant correlations (p<0.05) were found in the following items: changing basic body position (D410), lifting and carrying objects (D430), moving around using equipment (D465), using transportation (D470), washing oneself (D510), caring for body parts (D520), and dressing (D540). When the correlations between the activities and participation areas of ICF and the total score of the unaffected side of MFT were examined, significant correlations (p<0.05) were found among writing (D170), speaking (D330), eating (D550), and drinking (D560). In addition, when the correlation between the environment area of ICF and the total score of the unaffected side of the MFT were examined, significant correlations (p<0.05) were found between products and technology for personal use in daily living (E115) and immediate family (E310). Conclusion: The MFT of patients with chronic stroke is closely correlated with the activities, participation, and environmental factors of ICF. This result suggests that ICF can be used as a useful tool to comprehensively evaluate the abilities of the patient, including the upper extremity function.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.1-16
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• 2018

The decline in the construction industry has led to a decrease the profitability of small and medium-sized landscape contractors. To relieve this situation, small and medium-sized landscape contractors have continued to proactively find ways to enter global construction markets. However, many small and medium-sized landscape contractors face risks due to their lack of capacity and insufficient preparations to extend the business abroad. Thus, this study aims to analyze the current condition of the Vietnamese construction market and the related risk factors. It then suggests strategies to improve the small and medium-sized landscape contractors' competitiveness in that market. We investigated the business climate and analyzed risk factors. Finally, we developed expansion strategies and conducted in-depth interviews with six overseas construction professionals. The study results first showed that efforts to improve infrastructure and the increased demand for housing in Vietnam will lead to more opportunities for small and medium-sized landscape contractors entering the Vietnamese construction market. However, changes in the Vietnamese business climate may act as a variable. Second, we found that small and medium-sized landscape contractors' risk factors are mainly related to laws and regulations, government finance, market fluctuations, public administration system, minimum wage increases, financing and bonds, contracting, trees and materials, and design errors. Finally, small and medium-sized landscape contractors are required to consider the following when seeking to enter the Vietnamese construction market: short-term strategy and mid-to-long-term strategy. This study will be used as the basis for small and medium-sized landscape contractors to plan to enter the Vietnamese construction market and to contribute to the expansion of the global construction market in the landscape industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2019

This study aimed to investigate the performance of the S-detect method in breast ultrasonography and to determine how to reduce unnecessary biopsy by comparing the results of the S-detect method and biopsy. Thirty patients who had undergone breast ultrasonography between August and October 2018 and were scheduled to undergo biopsy because of the presence of breast nodules were retrospectively analyzed. The McNemar test was performed to determine whether detection of a malignant breast mass significantly differed between the S-detect method and biopsy. The following results were obtained from the analysis of the S-detect method: sensitivity, 90.9%; specificity, 84.21%; validity, 86.66%; positive predictive value, 76.92%; and negative predictive value, 94.11%. Analysis of the degree of agreement between the S-detect method and biopsy revealed a kappa value as high as 0.724 (p < 0.05), exhibiting good agreement between the two methods. The S-detect method in breast ultrasonography is diagnostically valuable in terms of distinguishing between malignant and benign breast masses, and if used properly before breast biopsy, unnecessary biopsy can be reduced.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.571-577
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• 2019

This study examined the usability of express buses for wheelchair users to identify the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of wheelchair boarding systems. The usability of 11 manual wheelchair users and nine powered wheelchair users was evaluated using the following three scenarios: boarding the wheelchair accessible bus, moving inside, and alighting the bus. The results showed that 20 wheelchair users completed three scenarios, which was distributed between 0.33 and 1.36 in the difficulty rating scale of the efficiency. The task effort of the efficiency was measured from 8.36 to 11.78. The acceptability of the satisfaction was distributed between 1.00 and 2.00, and the system usability scale was measured in an acceptable boundary of the C grade at 70.7 points with manual wheelchair users and a B grade at 73.1 points with powered wheelchair users. This study has academic significance because it provides basic evidence for accessibility, securing the right to movement and research methods of public transportation for people with disabilities. To improve the quality level of usability in the future, more study with a larger number of research participants and various wheelchair types should be studied.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.176-184
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• 2018

In this study, we observed chronological changes in the immunoreactivity and expression level of myelin basic protein (MBP), one of the most abundant proteins in the central nervous system, in the hippocampus of Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats and their control littermates (Zucker lean control; ZLC). In the ZLC group, body weight steadily increased with age; the body weight of the ZDF group, however, peaked at 30 weeks of age, and subsequently decreased. Based on the changes of body weight, animals were divided into the following six groups: early (12-week), middle (30-week), and chronic (52-week) diabetic groups and their controls. MBP immunoreactivity was found in the alveus, strata pyramidale, and lacunosum-moleculare of the CA1 region, strata pyramidale and radiatum of the CA3 region, and subgranular zone, polymorphic layer, and molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. MBP immunoreactivity was lowest in the hippocampus of 12-week-old rats in the ZLC group, and highest in 12-week-old rats in the ZDF group. Diabetes increased MBP levels in the 12-week-old group, while MBP immunoreactivity decreased in the 30-week-old group. In the 52-week-old ZLC and ZDF groups, MBP immunoreactivity was detected in the hippocampus, similar to the 30-week-old ZDF group. Western blot results corroborated with immunohistochemical results. These results suggested that changes in the immunoreactivity and expression of MBP in the hippocampus might be a compensatory response to aging, while the sustained levels of MBP in diabetic animals could be attributed to a loss of compensatory responses in oligodendrocytes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.236-245
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• 2021

In this study, a drifting test using a experimental vessel (2,966 tons) in the northern waters of Jeju was carried out for the first time in order to obtain the fundamental data for drift. During the test, it was shown that the average leeway speed and direction by GPS position were 0.362 m/s and 155.54° respectively and the leeway rate for wind speed was 8.80%. The analysis of linear regression modes about leeway speed and direction of the experimental vessel indicated that wind or current (i.e. explanatory variable) had a greater influence upon response variable (e.g. leeway speed or direction) with the speed of the wind and current rather than their directions. On the other hand, the result of multiple regression model analysis was able to predict that the direction was negative, and it was demonstrated that predicted values of leeway speed and direction using an experimental vessel is to be more influential by current than wind while the leeway speed through variance and covariance was positive. In terms of the leeway direction of the experimental vessel, the same result of the leeway speed appeared except for a possibility of the existence of multi-collinearity. Then, it can be interpreted that the explanatory variables were less descriptive in the predicted values of the leeway direction. As a result, the prediction of leeway speed and direction can be demonstrated as following equations. Ŷ₁= 0.4031-0.0032X₁+0.0631X₂-0.0010X₃+0.4110X₄ Ŷ₂= 0.4031-0.6662X₁+27.1955X₂-0.6787X₃-420.4833X₄ However, many drift tests using actual vessels and various drifting objects will provide reasonable estimations, so that they can help search and rescue fishing gears as well.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.681-692
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• 2021

Vegetation processes have a significant impact on rainfall runoff processes through evapotranspiration control, but are rarely considered in the conceptual lumped hydrological model. This study evaluated the model performance of the Hapcheon Dam watershed by integrating the ecological module expressing the leaf area index data sensed remotely from the satellite into the hydrological partition module. The proposed eco-hydrological model has three main features to better represent the eco-hydrological process in humid regions. 1) The growth rate of vegetation is constrained by water shortage stress in the watershed. 2) The maximum growth of vegetation is limited by the energy of the watershed climate. 3) The interaction of vegetation and aquifers is reflected. The proposed model simultaneously simulates hydrologic components and vegetation dynamics of watershed scale. The following findings were found from the validation results using the model parameters estimated by the SCEM algorithm. 1) Estimating the parameters of the eco-hydrological model using the leaf area index and streamflow data can predict the streamflow with similar accuracy and robustness to the hydrological model without the ecological module. 2) Using the remotely sensed leaf area index without filtering as input data is not helpful in estimating streamflow. 3) The integrated eco-hydrological model can provide an excellent estimate of the seasonal variability of the leaf area index.

• Journal of Science Education
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.118-128
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• 2021

In this study, as the viewing characteristics of users of YouTube video content related to science education, 'Inflow and Access' is analyzed to find out the interaction between learners and the system, and 'Reaction and Subscription' to find out the interaction between learners and contents. To this end, the YouTube channel "Elementary Science TV," was selected as the subject of research. The channel is mainly focused on the contents of elementary science textbooks, STEAM, and gifted education. The channel's data of YouTube studio was analyzed. The following results were obtained through data analysis: first, as a result of 'Inflow and Access' analysis, YouTube video content related to science education was most often introduced through external links, and the access device was mainly a computer. Second, as a result of the analysis of 'Reaction and Subscription,' 'like' and commenting performed as a reaction to the video were less than 1% of the number of views. Most users watch without a subscription, and watch for longer when using self-directed. Although this study was analyzed through a limited channel called 'Elementary Science TV,' we were able to discover a little about the users' viewing characteristics of YouTube video contents related to science education. In the future, it is expected that it can be used as a basic material for creating videos related to science education for remote classes, establishing a science education video platform.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.933-941
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• 2021

Ginsenoside Rg4 is a rare ginsenoside that is naturally found in ginseng, and exhibits a wide range of biological activities including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in several cell types. The purpose of this study was to use an in vivo model of hair follicle (HF)-mimic based on a human dermal papilla (DP) spheroid system prepared by three-dimensional (3D) culture and to investigate the effect of Rg4 on the hair-inductive properties of DP cells. Treatment of the DP spheroids with Rg4 (20 to 50 ㎍/ml) significantly increased the viability and size of the DP spheres in a dose-dependent manner. Rg4 also increased the mRNA and protein expression of DP signature genes that are related to hair growth including ALP, BMP2, and VCAN in the DP spheres. Analysis of the signaling molecules and luciferase reporter assays further revealed that Rg4 induces the activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT and the inhibitory phosphorylation of GSK3β, which activates the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway. These results correlated with not only the increased nuclear translocation of β-catenin following the treatment of the DP spheres with Rg4 but also the significant elevation of mRNA expression of the downstream target genes of the WNT/β-catenin pathway including WNT5A, β-catenin, and LEF1. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg4 promotes the hair-inductive properties of DP cells by activating the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway in DP spheres, suggesting that Rg4 could be a potential natural therapy for hair growth.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2021

Monitoring fish movement is important to understand how physiology adapts to environmental change. To explore the applicability of a video tracking system for determining if chemical cues attract or repel aquatic animals, the movement patterns of rock bream, Oplegnathus fasciatus, were analyzed upon exposure to various materials, including extracts of sea urchin, rock worm, bait worm, krill, barley kernel, and commercial fish feed. Pellets were prepared by mixing freeze-dried tissues with a cellulose and corn flour mixture. Behavioral analysis was carried out with five fish that had been acclimated in the adaptation zone of a Y-shaped tank. Preference toward chemical cues was quantified by assessing the frequency rock bream were observed in a discrete zone around the test material located at the end of each arm and the duration each fish stayed in each zone. The analysis of fish movement upon exposure to commercial feed and barley kernel at each end, respectively, indicated a clear preference toward the feed relative to the barley kernel. Movement responses were further tested with pellets containing extracts of sea urchin, one of the species collected on a large scale, and other materials including krill and worms. A stronger preference toward sea urchin (100%) was observed based on the duration of stay in the test zone, compared to krill (90.1 ± 44.2%), bait worm (81.1 ± 39.1%), rock worm (73.7 ± 28.9%), and barley (63.9 ± 25.9%), under the conditions tested. A detailed comparison of rock bream movements toward each material revealed significant differences in frequency and duration, respectively, between pairs of test materials including krill (74 ± 29.8 and 375.6 ± 118.9) vs. rock worm (41.5 ± 18.7 and 160.2 ± 42.6), krill (86.3 ± 22.9 and 477.1 ± 84) vs. bait worm (36.2 ± 5.5 and 166.1 ± 50.7), and rock worm (45.9 ± 26.2 and 213.7 ± 100.1) vs. bait worm (34.6 ± 21.7 and 159.5 ± 98.5). Rock bream exhibited preference for the test materials in the following order: commercial fish feed > sea urchin > krill > rock worm > bait worm > barley. The results suggest a higher potency of sea urchin extract as a rock bream fishing bait compared to the other materials that are used as commercial bait.