• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.418-438
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to review the effects of herbal medicine on respiratory diseases induced by the treatment of particulate matter in in vivo animal models. Methods: Literature searches were performed in seven databases (Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, KISS, KTKP, OASIS, and ScienceON). After the searched studies were screened based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria, the publication date, origin, used animals, induction of particulate matter models, herbal medicine used for intervention, study design, outcome measure, and results of studies were analyzed. Results: Among a total of 972 studies primarily searched, 34 studies were finally included in our study. Of this number, 29 studies induced animal models by using only particulate matter, and 5 studies induced animal models with respiratory diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, by using particulate matter and other materials. In the selected studies, the treatments of herbal medicine in particulate matter models suppressed oxidative stress and inflammation in lung tissue, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and blood as well as lung injury in histological analysis. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that herbal medicine is effective in treating respiratory diseases induced by particulate matter. These results are also expected to be useful data for designing further studies. However, more systematically designed in vivo studies related to particulate matter are needed.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.55-77
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• 2024

Objectives This study aimed to analyze the registration status and characteristics of clinical trials on herbal medicine (HM) and medication interventions for simple obesity in children and adolescents. Methods All interventional clinical trials registered in the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform of the World Health Organization until December 12, 2024, were collected. The study design, interventions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and outcome measures were extracted. Results A total of 24 clinical trials (23 medications and 1 HM) were analyzed. The most common study designs were single-center, randomized controlled, parallel, and phase 2. Placebo controls were used in 87.5% of the studies, blinding was used in 79.1%, and quadruple blinding was the most common. Informed consent was obtained from 70.8% of the participants. Among the oral medications (66.6%), metformin was the most common (25%). Among the non-oral medications (29.1%), exenatide (Bydureon) was the most common intervention (42.8%). Body mass index was the most commonly reported primary outcome measure (79.1%), with most assessments performed at 6 months. Conclusions Based on the characteristics of the medication interventional clinical trial design analyzed in this study, additional high-quality multicenter traditional Korean medicine trials need to be designed in the future.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2024

Objectives This study aims to comprehensively review research utilizing ultrasonography for assessing manipulative treatment on spinal diseases, with the goal of promoting the wider integration of ultrasound imaging into clinical practice. Methods A systematic search was conducted on three international databases (Embase, PubMed, Cochrane) up to July 23, 2023. The search included key terms such as ultrasonography, manipulation, and skeletal muscle. The inclusion criteria narrowed down the selection to studies specifically related to lumbar and cervical vertebrae. Results Eleven studies were included in the review, with 10 focusing on lumbar vertebrae and one on cervical vertebrae, all employing spinal manipulation treatment. Among the 11 selected studies, nine primarily focused on ultrasound imaging to measure muscle thickness, while two utilized shear wave elastography to assess muscle stiffness. Also, rigorous measures were taken to ensure the reliability of the ultrasonography data. Conclusions This scoping review highlights the limited but growing evidence supporting the use of ultrasonography to assess manipulative treatment for spinal diseases. Despite a scarcity of studies in South Korea, it is crucial to recognize the potential of ultrasonography in becoming a widely used and practical tool for evaluating the effectiveness of manipulative treatments in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary bee venom on serum characteristics, antioxidant activity, and hepatic fatty acid composition in broiler chickens. A group of 875 one-day-old feather-sexed male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five treatments with seven replicates (25 birds/replicate) for three weeks. A corn-soybean meal-based diet was used as the basal diet. Five dietary treatments were compared: 1) basal diet, 2) basal diet containing $10{\mu}g/kg$ of bee venom powder, 3) basal diet containing $50{\mu}g/kg$ of bee venom powder, 4) basal diet containing $100{\mu}g/kg$ of bee venom powder, and 5) basal diet containing $500{\mu}g/kg$ of bee venom powder. At 21 days, one bird per pen was slaughtered by asphyxiation in $CO_2$ gas, and blood was collected to measure serum characteristics and antioxidant activity. In addition, the liver was excised to measure the concentration of malondialdehyde and determine fatty acid composition. Increasing dietary bee venom in the diet failed to affect most serum parameters except for triglyceride and non-esterified fatty acids. Dietary bee venom inclusion quadratically increased the concentration of stearic acid (P<0.05), but decreased palmitoleic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, mono-unsaturated fatty acids, and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Finally, dietary bee venom tended to lower hepatic malondialdehyde contents quadratically (P=0.054). In conclusion, our study revealed that dietary bee venom improved antioxidant capacity and affected fatty acid metabolism in broiler chickens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.706-716
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• 2014

A new strategy of co-inoculating Bacillus subtilis MA139 with Streptococcus thermophilus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used to produce fermented soybean meal (FSBM). Three experiments were conducted to determine the concentration of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) (Exp. 1), apparent ileal digestibility (AID) and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AA) (Exp. 2), and feeding value (Exp. 3) of FSBM produced by this new strategy (NFSB) compared with soybean meal (SBM) and conventionally available FSBM (Suprotein). In Exp. 1, twenty-four barrows (initial body weight [BW] of $32.2{\pm}1.7kg$) were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 diets with 6 replicates per diet. A corn basal diet and 3 diets based on a mixture of corn and 1 of 3 soybean products listed above were formulated and the DE and ME contents were determined by the difference method. The results showed that there were no differences in DE and ME between SBM and either FSBM product (p>0.05). In Exp. 2, eight barrows (initial BW of $26.8{\pm}1.5kg$) were fitted with ileal T-cannulaes and used in a replicated $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Three corn-starch-based diets were formulated using each of the 3 soybean products as the sole source of AA. A nitrogen-free diet was also formulated to measure endogenous losses of AA. The results showed that the SID of all AA except arginine and histidine was similar for NFSB and SBM (p>0.05), but Suprotein had greater (p<0.05) SID of most AA except lysine, aspartate, glycine and proline than NFSB. In Exp. 3, a total of 144 piglets (initial BW of $8.8{\pm}1.2$ kg) were blocked by weight and fed 1 of 4 diets including a control diet with 24% SBM as well as diets containing 6% and 12% NFSB or 12% Suprotein added at the expense of SBM. During d 15 to 28, replacing SBM with 6% NFSB significantly improved average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05) for nursery piglets. During the overall experiment, ADG of piglets fed diets containing 6% NFSB was significantly greater (p<0.05) than that of piglets fed SBM. In conclusion, fermentation with the new strategy did not affect the energy content or the AID and the SID of AA in SBM. However, inclusion of 6% NFSB in diets fed to nursery piglets improved performance after weaning likely as a result of better nutritional status and reduced immunological challenge.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.89-99
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• 1997

Although discontinuously reinforced metal matrix composite(MMC) is one of the most promising materials for applications of aerospace, automotive industries, the thermal residual stresses developed in the MMC due to the mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between the matrix and the fiber under a temperature change has been pointed out as one of the serious problem in practical applications. There are very limited nondestructive techniques to measure the residual stress of composite materials. However, many difficulties have been reported in their applications. Therefore it is important to establish analytical model to evaluate the thermal residual stress of MMC for practical engineering application. In this study, an elastic model is developed to predict the average thermal residual stresses in the matrix and fiber of a misoriented short fiber composite. The thermal residual stresses are induced by the mismatch in the coefficient of the thermal expansion of the matrix and fiber when the composite is subjected to a uniform temperature change. The model considers two-dimensional in-plane fiber misorientation. The analytical formulation of the model is based on Eshelby's equivalent inclusion method and is unique in that it is able to account for interactions among fibers. This model is more general than past models to investigate the effect of parameters which might influence thermal residual stress in composites. The present model is to investigate the effects of fiber volume fraction, distribution type, distribution cut-off angle, and aspect ratio on thermal residual stress for in-plane fiber misorientation. Fiber volume fraction, aspect ratio, and distribution cut-off angle are shown to have more significant effects on the magnitude of the thermal residual stresses than fiber distribution type for in-plane misorientation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.396-403
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• 2009

Male broiler chicks were fed graded levels of organic zinc (zinc-methionine) supplementation to investigate the effects of partial or complete substitution of the organic zinc source for inorganic ones on the development of lymphoid organs and immunological responses. A total of 450 day-old male broilers were distributed into groups of 10 chicks and randomly assigned to nine experimental diets during a 42-day feeding trial. Dietary treatments consisted of two basal diets supplemented with 40 mg/kg added zinc as feed-grade Zn sulfate or Zn oxide in which, Zn was replaced with that provided from zinc-methionine (ZnMet) complex at the levels of 25, 50, 75 or 100%. Two randomly-selected birds from each pen replicate were bled and then slaughtered by cervical cutting on the final day of the trial to measure leukocyte subpopulations and relative weights of lymphoid organs. Among lymphoid organs, only thymus weight was affected (p<0.05) by dietary treatments. The sulfate-supplemented birds were heavier (p<0.01) in relative weight of thymus than oxide-supplemented birds. The 10 days of age-assessed cutaneous hypersensivity reaction was stronger in chicks fed ZnMet-containing diets. Dietary ZnMet supplementation caused (p<0.05) an increase in proportion of lymphocytes and consequently a decrease in heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. Diet fortification by zinc-methionine complex increased (p<0.01) Newcastle antibody titer at 19 days of age. Also, a similar response was observed in antibody titers at 6 and 12 d after infectious bronchitis vaccine administration. There was no significant effect of replacement of dietary zinc on antibody titer against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) at the 6th d post-vaccine inoculation; however, at d 12 after vaccination, ZnMet-fortified diets improved antibody titer against IBDV. Although dietary inclusion of ZnMet had no marked effect on primary antibody titer against sheep erythrocytes, effective responses were observed during secondary reaction from the viewpoint of both total antibody and immunoglobulin Y (IgY) titers. From the present findings, it can be concluded that dietary supplementation with organic zinc improves both cellular and humoral immune responses. It is necessary to replace 75% of supplemental inorganic zinc with organic ZnMet complex to achieve the optimum immunological responses in broiler chicks.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2013

In many cases, operation of regional trunk lines is not profitable to railway operators. Nevertheless, railway operators are under pressure to manage regional trunk lines running under deficits, to better serve public interests. Given this situation, railway operators need to optimize assets by adjusting train schedules or changing the number of trains running. When railway operators judge the operation of a regional trunk line, the B/C ratio is generally used as a management index. This ratio is not considered part of strategic operational policy over the long term, and excessively influenced by the aspects of supply and demand over the short term. Accordingly, this study focused on indices that might be used to prevent worsening deficits and provide long term strategic operation policies, main indices to better measure economic situations, and auxiliary indices to supplement the main index. The main indices were measured in conventional ways to target experts and employees. This study presents quantitative standards, which are intended to be used to create itemized criteria through an Analytic Hierarchy Process, for better decision-making.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.102-110
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• 2015

The purpose of this experiment was to determine and compare the digestibility of crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA) in full-oil (no oil extracted) and de-oiled (oil extracted) corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) with different condensed distillers solubles (CDS) ratios. Six barrows ($29.6{\pm}2.3kg$) fitted with ileal T-cannula were allotted into a $6{\times}6$ Latin square design. Each period was comprised of a 5-d adaption period followed by a 2-d collection of ileal digesta. The five test diets contained 62% DDGS as the sole source of AA. A nitrogen-free diet was used to measure the basal endogenous losses of CP and AA. Chromic oxide (0.3%) was used as an index in each diet. The results showed that CP and AA were very similar in 5 DDGS, but the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of lysine (from 56.16% to 71.15%) and tryptophan (from 54.90% to 68.38%) had the lowest values and largest variation within the essential AA, which suggests reduced availability of AA and different levels of Maillard reactions in the five DDGS. The apparent ileal digestibility and SID of CP and most of AA in full-oil DDGS (sources 1 and 2) were greater (p<0.05) than de-oiled DDGS (sources 3, 4, and 5). Comparing the AA SID in the 5 DDGS, full-oil with low CDS ratio DDGS (source 1) had non-significantly higher values (p>0.05) than full-oil with high CDS ratio DDGS (source 2); however, the SID of most AA of de-oiled with low CDS ratios DDGS (source 3) were non-significantly lower (p>0.05) than de-oiled with high CDS ratio DDGS (source 4); and the de-oiled DDGS with middle CDS ratio (source 5) but with different drying processing had the lowest SID AA values. In conclusion, de-oiled DDGS had lower SID of CP and AA than full-oil DDGS; a higher CDS ratio tended to decrease the SID of AA in full-oil DDGS but not in de-oiled DDGS; and compared with CDS ratio, processing, especially drying, may have more of an effect on AA digestibility of DDGS.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.73-83
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• 2011

The question answering system shows the answers that are input by other users for user's question. In spite of many researches to try to enhance the satisfaction level of answers for user question, there is a essential limitation. So, the question answering system provides users with the method of recommendation of another questions that can satisfy user's intention with high probability as an auxiliary function. The method using the fuzzy relational product operator was proposed for recommending the questions that can includes largely the contents of the user's question. The fuzzy relational product operator is composed of the Kleene-Dienes operator to measure the implication degree by contents between two questions. However, Kleene-Dienes operator is not fit to be the right operator for finding a question answers pair that semantically includes a user question, because it was not designed for the purpose of finding the degree of semantic inclusion between two documents. We present a novel fuzzy implication operator that is designed for the purpose of finding question answer pairs by considering implication relation. The new operator calculates a degree that the question semantically implies the other question. We show the experimental results that the probability that users are satisfied with the searched results is increased when the proposed operator is used for recommending of question answering system.