• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.287-293
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• 2005

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two glimepiride tablets, Amaryl tablet (Handok & Aventis Korea, reference drug) and Mepiril tablet (Myungmoon Pharm. Co., Ltd., Korea, test drug), according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). After adding an internal standard (glibenclamide) to human plasma, plasma samples were extracted using 1mL of methyl tertiary butyl ether. Compounds extracted were analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode analyte detection. This method for determination glimepiride proved accurate and reproducible, with a limit of quantitation of 2 ng/mL in human plasma. Twenty-four healthy male Korean volunteers received each medicine at the glimepiride dose of 2 mg in a $2{\times}2$ crossover study. There was a one-week washout period between the doses. Plasma concentrations of glimepiride were monitored by a LC-MS/MS for over a period of 12 hr after the administration. $AUC_t$ (the area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to 12 hr) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule method. $C_{max}$ (maximum plasma drug concentration) and $T_{max}$ (time to reach $C_{max}$) were compiled from the plasma concentration-time data. Analysis of variance was carried out using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$. No significant sequence effect was found for all of the bioavailability parameters indicating that the crossover design was properly performed. The 90% confidence intervals of the $AUC_t$ ratio and the $C_{max}$ ratio for Amaryl/Mepiril were log 0.9583-log 1.1357 and log 1.0570-log 1.2376, respectively. These values were within the acceptable bioequivalence intervals of log 0.80-log 1.25. Taken together, our study demonstrated the bioequivalence of Amaryl and Mepiril with respect to the rate and extent of absorption.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 1993

In vitro dissolution test and pharmacokinetic study in human volunteers were conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of 150 mg furbiprofen sustained-release capsule (FPSR-150). As a reference product, 50 mg flurbiprofen conventional-release capsule (FPCR-50) was used. Dissolution tests of two products were run using the paddle method in 450 : 540 (v/v %) mixture of simulated gastric and intestinal fluids (K.P. VI) by adjusting medium pH according to time. FPCR-50 was dissolved very rapidly, and it took about 1.5 hr for FPCR-50 to be dissolved over 90%, whereas 15 hr for FPSR-150. Also, in pharmacokinetic study, ten healthy male volunteers were administered one capsule of FPSR-150 or two capsules of FPCR-50 (FPCR-l00) with randomized two period cross-over study. Significant differences between FPCR-l00 and FPSR-150 were found in mean times to reach peak concentration, mean resident times and mean terminal phase halflives, while not in AUC/Dose (Student's t-test). In ANOVA for AUC/Dose to compare the bioavailabilities of two FP products, there was no significant difference. From the comparison of the simulated steady-state plasma concentration-time curves following multiple medications of FPCR-50 (3 capsules a day, dosing interval=8 hrs) and FPSR-150 (1 capsule a day) based on the above results obtained from single doses of two FP products, it was noted that the medication of FPSR-150 is more useful in clinical application rather than FPCR-50.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.79-89
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• 2020

The current study explored if users' self-relevance of the comparison domain with creative AI robot in music composition affected their envy toward the robot, cognitive assessment toward the music and intention toward working with robot in future. This study conducted a 2 (degree of self-relevance: high(college students majoring in music) vs. low(those not majoring in music) × 2 (working type: robot-only vs. robot-human collaboration) between-subjects factorial design experiment. The findings revealed that those majoring in music did not feel envious of the robot as much as those not majoring in music. However, compared to those not majoring in music, those majoring in music evaluated the robot's creativity lower, had more negative attitude toward the music, showed less intention to use the music and work with the robots in future. No interaction between the degree of self-relevance and the working type was found.

• KIISE Transactions on Computing Practices
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.122-127
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• 2017

The data link layer operates reliable internode communication in the OSI reference model. Generally, the forward error correction (FEC) method is used in the data link layer of the wireless sensor network (WSN) environment that has a high frequency of errors. However, the FEC method consumes a significant amount of energy due to its high error correction rate, which negatively affects the networks' lifespan. In contrast with battery-based technology, energy is regularly recharged in the solar-powered WSN to meet higher energy needs than required for basic operation of existing nodes. By efficiently utilizing this surplus energy, the proposed energy-aware FEC method can reduce the data loss rate with no decrement of the network lifetime. The method employs a trade-off relationship between the energy and data loss rate by adjusting the parity length in the FEC method to the energy state in each node. The performance of the proposed scheme was verified through a simulation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.318-326
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• 2009

We evaluated the vitamin A and E status of type 2 diabetic patients and normal adults living in Daegu area. Dietary intakes for two non-consecutive days were measured by 24-hour recall method for 76 diabetic patients and 72 normal adults. Plasma levels of retinol and ${\alpha}$-tocopherol were measured using HPLC method. Dietary intakes of vitamin A were not significantly different between the diabetic and the normal adults. However, the diabetic patients had significantly lower vitamin E intakes than the normal adults. Major food sources for vitamin A intake were red pepper powder and carrot. Half of the subjects from diabetic as well as normal adults consumed less than estimated average requirement of vitamin A. Plasma levels of retinol and tocopherol were maintained within normal ranges for most of the subjects regardless of diabetic status. Dietary intake of vitamin A was associated with vitamin E intake, however, there was no significant correlations between vitamin E intake and plasma ${\alpha}$-tocopherol levels. It seems that diabetic patients should try to increase dietary intake of vitamin E, as prolonged lower-level intake of vitamin E could eventually lead to vitamin E depletion. Further studies are needed to identify the magnitude of dietary variance at individual and seasonal levels, and to understand the discrepancies in dietary intake and plasma levels before establishing the dietary reference intake based on Korean dietary pattern.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: This study aims to measure the in vitro antioxidant capacity of Korean diet (KD) with American diet (AD) as a control group and to examine the ex vivo DNA damage reduction effect on human lymphocytes. MATERIALS/METHODS: The KD applied in this study is the standard one-week meals for Koreans (2,000 kcal/day) suggested by 2010 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans. The AD, which is the control group, is a one-week menu (2,000 kcal/day) that consists of foods that Americans would commonly take in according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The antioxidant capacity of each menu was measured by means of the total phenolic assay and 3 in vitro antioxidant activity assays (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), Oxygen radical absorbance capacity ($ORAC_{ROO{\cdot}}$)), while the extent of ex vivo lymphocyte DNA damage was measured by means of the comet assay. RESULTS: When measured by means of TEAC assay, the in vitro antioxidant capacity of the KD of the day was higher than that of the AD (P < 0.05) while there was no significant difference in total phenolic contents and DPPH and ORAC assays. The ex vivo lymphocyte DNA damage protective effect of the KD was significantly higher than that of the AD (P < 0.01). As for the one-week menu combining the menus for 7 days, the total phenolic assay (P < 0.05) and in vitro antioxidant capacity (P < 0.001, DPPH; P < 0.01, TEAC) of the KD menu were significantly higher than those of the AD menu. Likewise, the ex vivo DNA damage reduction rate of the Korean seven-day menu was significantly higher than that of the American menu (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the high antioxidant capacity and DNA damage protective effect of KD, which consists generally of various plant foods, are higher than those of typical AD.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.341-356
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• 2007

A good understanding of normal modal variability of civil structures due to varying environmental conditions such as temperature and wind is important for reliable performance of vibration-based damage detection methods. This paper addresses the quantification of wind-induced modal variability of a cable-stayed bridge making use of one-year monitoring data. In order to discriminate the wind-induced modal variability from the temperature-induced modal variability, the one-year monitoring data are divided into two sets: the first set includes the data obtained under weak wind conditions (hourly-average wind speed less than 2 m/s) during all four seasons, and the second set includes the data obtained under both weak and strong (typhoon) wind conditions during the summer only. The measured modal frequencies and temperatures of the bridge obtained from the first set of data are used to formulate temperature-frequency correlation models by means of artificial neural network technique. Before the second set of data is utilized to quantify the wind-induced modal variability, the effect of temperature on the measured modal frequencies is first eliminated by normalizing these modal frequencies to a reference temperature with the use of the temperature-frequency correlation models. Then the wind-induced modal variability is quantitatively evaluated by correlating the normalized modal frequencies for each mode with the wind speed measurement data. It is revealed that in contrast to the dependence of modal frequencies on temperature, there is no explicit correlation between the modal frequencies and wind intensity. For most of the measured modes, the modal frequencies exhibit a slightly increasing trend with the increase of wind speed in statistical sense. The relative variation of the modal frequencies arising from wind effect (with the maximum hourly-average wind speed up to 17.6 m/s) is estimated to range from 1.61% to 7.87% for the measured 8 modes of the bridge, being notably less than the modal variability caused by temperature effect.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.265-296
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• 2020

Macao, a special administrative region of China, has been able to maintain the records of zero deaths and keep confirmed cases under 50 since the outbreak of COVID-19 for more than half a year as of July 2020, despite being the world's most densely populated city. The current paper utilizes the dialogic public relations theory to analyze the situation using both literature review on how the various government actions and strategies during the pandemic were corresponding to the theory, and a quantitative random digital dialing (RDD) telephone survey, with a sample of 502 Macao residents aged 18 or above, to study the public reactions towards the government pandemic prevention actions. Survey results show a high level of public satisfaction towards epidemic prevention performance, as well as some forms of collaborative information redissemination behavior in social media platforms. Literature review and analysis from dialogic theory found that spirit of mutual equality, collaboration with local community, immediacy of presence in crisis time, engagements with stakeholders through maximum media channels and networks, supportiveness to public with both useful information and practical social support like subsidy program, as well as commitment to transparent and genuine communication, are all the dialogic communications strategies that describe what the Macao government has done in the crisis of COVID-19. The dialogic strategies that could be learned from the Macao government may be used as a reference for similar urbanized and densely populated cities in other territories.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2361-2368
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• 2015

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differentiating between benign and malignant enlarged lymph nodes using meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Pubmed, Embase, SCI and Cochrane databases were searched for studies (up to September 1, 2014) reporting the diagnostic performance of CEUS in discriminating between benign and malignant lymph nodes. Inclusion criteria were: prospective study; histopathology as the reference standard; and sufficient data to construct $2{\times}2$ contingency tables. Methodological quality was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). Patient clinical characteristics, sensitivity and specificity were extracted. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve was used to examine the accuracy of CEUS. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the clinical utility in identification of benign and malignant lymph nodes. Sensitivity analysis was performed after omitting outliers identified in a bivariate boxplot and publication bias was assessed with Egger testing. Results: The pooled sensitivity, specificity and AUROC were 0.92 (95%CI, 0.85-0.96), 0.91 (95%CI, 0.82-0.95) and 0.97 (95%CI, 0.95-0.98), respectively. After omitting 3 outlier studies, heterogeneity decreased. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated no disproportionate influences of individual studies. Publication bias was not significant. Conclusions: CEUS is a promising diagnostic modality in differentiating between benign and malignant lymph nodes and can potentially reduce unnecessary fine-needle aspiration biopsies of benign nodes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2547-2556
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• 2012

Objectives: Smoking among university students represents a formidable and global public health challenge. We assessed the associations between socio-demographic, health and wellbeing variables as independent variables, with daily smoking, attempts to quit smoking, and agreement with smoking ban as dependent variables. Methods: A sample of 3258 undergraduate students from eleven faculties at Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, completed a general health questionnaire. Results: Overall daily or occasional smoking in last three months prior to the survey was about 9% (8% occasional and 1% daily smokers), and smoking was generally more prevalent among males (male=17%, female=0.6%, P < 0.001). After adjustment for confounders, not having normal BMI and having a mother who completed at least bachelor's degree education was positively associated with daily smoking, and conversely, no history of illicit drug use was a protective factor. About 76% of smokers had attempted to quit smoking within the last 12 months prior to the survey. Although a large proportion of students agreed/strongly agreed with the banning of smoking at university altogether (87%), such agreement was less likely among smokers. Conclusion: There is need for implementation of non-smoking policies on university premises, as well as regular up-to-date information on, and the periodic/yearly monitoring of tobacco use by university students employing standardised data collection instruments and reference periods. In addition, it would be valuable to develop campus-based educational/ awareness campaigns designed to counteract tobacco advertisement directed towards young people in Middle East countries. Otherwise, the danger could be that the current relatively low smoking prevalence among university students may escalate in the future.