• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was performed to achieve an acceptable piggyback fit utilizing each subject's own GP lenses, in subjects with regular low myopic astigmatism. Methods: A randomized, prospective study of 15 subjects with the diagnosis of low myopic astigmatism was conducted. Nine subjects were female and 6 were male, and mean age was: 23.73${\pm}$1.68 years. Subjects were evaluated before participate on this study and then also evaluated with period of at two hours and two weeks after obtaining their lenses. All subjects were submitted to the following tests: measurement of comfort level by means of the analogical visual scale, best corrected visual acuity and over-refraction at distance. contrast sensitivity and stereo acuity. After evaluating the fit of plano soft lens, we applied each subject's own GP lens on top. Results: Vision, visual performance and satisfaction of piggyback contact lens system were stable, if not improved, for the 15 subjects when the data was compared to the patients' wear of rigid gas permeable contact lenses. Fit with a piggyback system had the same or improved comfort, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity compared to previous GP lens wear alone. The visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and stereo acuity did not show differences in relation to the studied lens type. Conclusions: These results suggest that it is possible to achieve a successful piggyback lens fitting utilizing a patient's own GP lens. The piggyback lens system satisfied the visual performance and visual requirements of this subject with GP lens alone for the correction of low myopic astigmatism.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.433-452
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• 2018

The shield tunneling method can minimize surface settlements by preventing the deformation of tunnel face and tunnel intrados due to tunnel excavation. For this purpose, it is very important to control the operating conditions of shield TBM. The face pressure and backfill pressure for tail void grouting should be the most important and immediate measure not only to restrain surface settlement, but also to influence the effective stress and pore water pressure around the circumstance of tunnel during excavation. The reaction of the ground to the application of face pressure and backfill pressure relies on the stiffness and permeability of ground. Especially, the reaction of saturated clayey ground formations, which shows the time-dependent deformation, is different from the permeable ground. Hence, in this paper it was investigated how the TBM operating conditions, ground stiffness, and permeability impact on the surface settlement of saturated clayey ground. For this purpose, a series of parametric studies were carried out by means of the stress-pore water pressure coupled FE analysis. The results show that the settlement of soft clayey ground is divided into the immediate settlement and consolidation settlement. Especially, the consolidation settlement depends on the ground stiffness and permeability. In addition, the existence of critical face pressure and backfill pressure was identified. The face pressure and backfill pressure above the critical value may cause an unexpected increase in the ground settlement.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.212-223
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• 2008

The rainfall partitioning in a monogenetic volcano has been analysed using the hydrological data of a small catchment on Eoseungsaeng-oreum of Mount Halla and the meterological data of Eorimok Automated Weather System. The experimental catchment extends from 965 m to 1,169 m in altitude, and has an catchment area of $51,000\;m^2$ Eoseungsaeng-oreum is the scoria cone predominantly covered with Carpinus laxiflora and Quercus serrata. The analyzed periods are April 30 to September 12 and October 7 to November 19, 2007. The experimental catchment exhibits the total precipitation of 2,296.5 mm. Surface runoff amounts to 465 mm that is equivalent to 20.2% of the precipitation. By contrast, evapotranspiration accounts for 25.9% of the precipitation, and the remnant of 1,236.5 mm deep1y percolates underground through a basement. The rainy summer season, in particular, shows the highest deep percolation ratio of 62.2%. The deep percolation ratio of the experimental catchment is at 1east more two times than the ratio of a gneiss basin in Korea Peninsular. It has suggested that the experimental catchment is characterized by the higher portion of deep percolation in rainfall partitioning which reflects the highly permeable lithology in Jeju Island.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.419-425
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• 2010

Mast cells are activated by specific allergens and also by various nonspecific stimuli, which might induce physical urticaria. This study investigated the functional expression of temperature sensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) subfamily in the human mast cell line (HMC-1) using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. The temperature of perfusate was raised from room temperature (RT, $23{\sim}25^{\circ}C$) to a moderately high temperature (MHT, $37{\sim}39^{\circ}C$) to activate TRPV3/4, a high temperature (HT, $44{\sim}46^{\circ}C$) to activate TRPV1, or a very high temperature (VHT, $53{\sim}55^{\circ}C$) to activate TRPV2. The membrane conductance of HMC-1 was increased by MHT and HT in about 50% (21 of 40) of the tested cells, and the I/V curves showed weak outward rectification. VHT-induced current was 10-fold larger than those induced by MHT and HT. The application of the TRPV 4 activator $3{\alpha}$-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate ($4{\alpha}$ PDD, $1\;{\mu}M$) induced weakly outward rectifying currents similar to those induced by MHT. However, the TRPV3 agonist camphor or TRPV1 agonist capsaicin had no effect. RT-PCR analysis of HMC-1 demonstrated the expression of TRPV4 as well as potent expression of TRPV2. The $[Ca^{2+}]_c$ of HMC-1 cells was also increased by MHT or by $4{\alpha}$ PDD. In summary, our present study indicates that HMC-1 cells express $Ca^{2+}$-permeable TRPV4 channels in addition to the previously reported expression of TRPV2 with a higher threshold of activating temperature.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2007

Trace mineral studies involving metal ion chelators have been conducted in investigating the response of gene and protein expressions of certain cell lines but a few had really focused on how these metal ion chelators could affect the availability of important trace minerals such as Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu. The aim of the present study was to investigate the availability of Zn for the treatment of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells and the availability of some trace minerals in the cell culture media components after using chelexing resin in the FBS and the addition of N,N,N',N'-tetrakis-(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (TPEN, membrane-permeable chelator) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA, membrane-impermeable chelator) in the treatment medium. Components for the preparation of cell culture medium and Zn-treated medium have been tested for Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu contents by atomic absorption spectrophotometer or inductively coupled plasma spectrophotometer. Also, the expression of bone-related genes (ALP, Runx2, PTH-R, ProCOL I, OPN and OC) was measured on the cellular Zn depletion such as chelexing or TPEN treatment. Results have shown that using the chelexing resin in FBS would significantly decrease the available Zn (p<0.05) $(39.4{\pm}1.5{\mu}M\;vs\;0.61{\pm}10.15{\mu}M)$ and Mn (p<0.05) $(0.74{\pm}0.01{\mu}M\;vs\;0.12{\pm}0.04{\mu}M)$. However, levels of Fe and Cu in FBS were not changed by chelexing FBS. The use of TPEN and DTPA as Zn-chelators did not show significant difference on the final concentration of Zn in the treatment medium (0, 3, 6, 9, $12{\mu}M$) except for in the addition of higher $15{\mu}M\;ZnCl_2$ which showed a significant increase of Zn level in DTPA-chelated treatment medium. Results have shown that both chelators gave the same pattern for the expression of the five bone-related genes between Zn and Zn+, and TPEN-treated experiments, compared to chelex-treated experiment, showed lower bone-related gene expression, which may imply that TPEN would be a stronger chelator than chelex resin. This study showed that TPEN would be a stronger chelator compared to DTPA or chelex resin and TPEN and chelex resin exerted cellular zinc depletion to be enough for cell study for Zn depletion.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2009

Although lovastatin (LS) is widely used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, its bioavailability is known to be around 5%. This study was aimed to increase the solubility and dissolution-permeation rates of LS using solid dispersions (SDs) with bile salts. The solubilities of LS in water, aqueous bile salt solutions and non-aqueous vehicles were determined, and effects of bile salts on the cellulose or duodenal permeation of LS from SDs were evaluated using a horizontal permeation system. SDs were prepared at various ratios of LS to carriers, such as sodium deoxycholate (SDC), sodium glycocholate (SGC) and/or 2-hydroxypropyl-$\beta$-cyclodextrin (HPCD). The addition of bile salts (25 mM) in water increased markedly the solubility of LS by the micellar solubilization. Some non-aqueous vehicles were effective in solubilizing LS. From differential scanning calorimetric studies, it was found that the crystallinity of LS in SDs disappeared, indicating a formation of amorphous state. The SDs showed markedly enhanced dissolution compared with those of their physical mixtures (PMs) and drug alone. In the dissolution-permeation studies using a cellulose membrane, the donor and receptor solutions were maintained as a sink condition using pH 7.0 phosphate buffer containing 0.05% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). The flux of LS alone was nearly same as that of LS-SDC-HPCD (1:3:6) PM. However, the flux of LS-SDC-HPCD (1:3:6) SD slightly increased compared with drug alone and PM, suggesting that entrapment of LS in micelles does not significantly hinder the permeation across cellulose membrane. In the dissolution-duodenal permeation studies using a LS-HPCD-SDC (1:3:6) SD, the addition of various bile salts in donor solutions (25 mM) enhanced the permeation of LS markedly, and the fluxes were found to be $0.69{\pm}0.41$, $0.87{\pm}0.51$, $0.84{\pm}0.46$, $0.47{\pm}0.17$ and $0.68{\pm}0.32{\mu}g/cm^2/hr$ for sodium cholate (SC), SDC, SGC, sodium taurodeoxycholate (STDC) and sodium taurocholate (STC), respectively. The stepwise increase of donor SGC concentration increased the flux dose-dependently. From the relationship of donor SGC concentration and flux, the concentration of SGC initiating the permeation across the duodenal mucosa was calculated to be 11.1 mM, which is nearly same as the critical micelle concentration (CMC, 11.6 mM) of SGC. However, with no addition of bile salts and below CMC, the permeation was very limited and irratic, indicating that LS itself is very poor permeable. Higher protions of bile salt in SD such as LS-SDC or LS-SGC (1 : 49 and 1 : 69) showed highly promoted fluxes. In conclusion, SD systems with bile salts, which may form their micelles in intestinal fluids, might be a promising means for providing enhanced dissolution and intestinal permeation of practically insoluble and non-absorbable LS.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.329-337
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• 2010

Purpose: The surfaces and compositions of rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses were analyzed with the consistent methods, and the basic informations for the composition design of lens materials were suggested. Methods: The bulk structures were analyzed by using Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the compositions of surface components were observed by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the surface morphology and roughness were observed using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the wettabilities were estimated by the surface wetting angles. The relations and trends of those results were analyzed. Results: The high oxygen permeability RGP lenses showed the trend that the fluorine decreases and the silicon increases. As the silicon and fluorine contents increased, the carbon and oxygen contents of RGP lens materials decreased at a constant ratio. The decreasing ratio of the carbon contents was three times larger than the decreasing ratio of oxygen contents. The composition of the surface treated lens was far from these tendency line. When the silicon contents increased, the rough surface was formed with the cohered particles. When the fluorine contents increased, the rough surface was formed with the deep flaws. The surface roughness increased and then wettabilities decreased as the silicon and fluorine contents increased. For the surface roughness changes, the increasing ratio of the silicon contents was two times larger than the increasing ratio of fluorine contents. The surface of RGP lens materials appeared the hydrophobic character of which the wettabilities decreased when the roughnesses increased. Conclusions: The surfaces and compositions of RGP contact lenses were measured by the same methods. Those results and relationships were compared and analysed. It is considered that these research results will be applied with the basic data for the composition design of lens materials.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.341-346
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• 2005

The mechanism underlying oxidant-induced intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) increase was studied in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) using fura-2 AM. In the presence of 2 mM extracellular $Ca^{2+}$, the application of DTBNP ($20{\mu}M$), a membrane-permeable oxidant, caused an increase in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$, and DTT (2 mM) as a reductant completely reversed the effect of DTBNP. The $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase induced by DTBNP was also observed in an extracellular $Ca^{2+}$-free/2 mM EGTA solution, indicating the release of $Ca^{2+}$ from intracellular store(s). After endoplasmic reticulum was depleted by an $IP_3$-generating agonist, ATP ($30{\mu}M$) or an ER $Ca^{2+}$ pump inhibitor, thapsigargin ($1{\mu}M$), DTBNP-stressed BAECs showed an increase of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ in $Ca^{2+}$-free/2 mM EGTA solution. Ratio-differences before and after the application of DTBNP after pretreatment with ATP or thapsigargin were $0.42{\pm}0.15$ and $0.49{\pm}0.07$, respectively (n=7), which are significantly reduced, compared to the control value of $0.72{\pm}0.07$ in a $Ca^{2+}$-free/2 mM EGTA solution. After the protonophore CCCP ($10{\mu}M$) challenge to release mitochondrial $Ca^{2+}$, the similar result was obtained. Ratio-difference before and after the application of DTBNP after pretreatment with CCCP was $0.46{\pm}0.09$ (n=7). Simultaneous application of thapsigargin and CCCP completely abolished the DTBNP-induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase. The above results together indicate that the increase of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ by DTBNP resulted from the release of $Ca^{2+}$ from both endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2013

Cells can resist and even recover from stress induced by acute hypoxia, whereas chronic hypoxia often leads to irreversible damage and eventually death. Although little is known about the response(s) to acute hypoxia in neuronal cells, alterations in ion channel activity could be preferential. This study aimed to elucidate which channel type is involved in the response to acute hypoxia in rat pheochromocytomal (PC12) cells as a neuronal cell model. Using perfusing solution saturated with 95% $N_2$ and 5% $CO_2$, induction of cell hypoxia was confirmed based on increased intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ with diminished oxygen content in the perfusate. During acute hypoxia, one channel type with a conductance of about 30 pS (2.5 pA at -80 mV) was activated within the first 2~3 min following onset of hypoxia and was long-lived for more than 300 ms with high open probability ($P_o$, up to 0.8). This channel was permeable to $Na^+$ ions, but not to $K^+$, $Ca^+$, and $Cl^-$ ions, and was sensitively blocked by amiloride (200 nM). These characteristics and behaviors were quite similar to those of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). RT-PCR and Western blot analyses confirmed that ENaC channel was endogenously expressed in PC12 cells. Taken together, a 30-pS ENaC-like channel was activated in response to acute hypoxia in PC12 cells. This is the first evidence of an acute hypoxia-activated $Na^+$ channel that can contribute to depolarization of the cell.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.1-17
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• 2004

The focus of this study is the promotion of green area volumes and their naturalness, water circulation system, decline of entropy, creation of biological habitats and linkage of separated urban green space. Re-presentative urban biotope survey sites were categorized as urban biotope, semi-natural biotope, and natural forest. In the urban biotope, a residential biotope was constructed near the Han river and in mountain areas. The green-area ratio at the housing complex was about 25%. GVZ(Grunvolumenzahl) was 0.35m$^3$/m$^2$ at the 5∼10-story housing complex, and 1.53m$^3$/m$^2$ over the 11-story. As for the green-area structure of the housing complex, canopy layer, understory layer, and shrub layer were not differentiated and the green-area volume was not high enough. The green-area ratio of school areas as a public area biotope was 5∼20%. GVZ was 1.12m$^3$/m$^2$ at Myungduk High School, and 1.78m$^3$/m$^2$ at Jeonggok Elementary School. In order to convert the urban biotope into an ecological area, green areas around the buildings should be connected to urban buffer green areas, and multi-layer structures should be established with natural plant species. In the semi-natural biotope, neighbor parks were created park in the vicinity of the natural forests. GVZ was 0.28m$^3$/m$^2$, and plantation was established with single layer structure and was definitely insufficient for the area. The urban buffer green areas have been established in strip corridors with the width of 20∼123m. In those areas, GVZ was 0.16∼0.27m$^3$/m$^2$ and had a deficient canopy layer, understory layer, and shrub layer. Soil conditions were not favorable for tree growth. In the natural biotope, GVZ of the plantation was 1.03∼1.5m$^3$/m$^2$ but the high crown closure of this area reduces the chance of species change and succession. GVZ of natural forest was 2.53∼2.57m$^3$/m$^2$. It is desirable to plant diverse plants and the natural forest should be succeeded by broad-leaf deciduous tree species. To improve the value of biotope at Kangseo-Gu, building height needs to be limited to reduce the environmental deterioration in the city. In order to maintain the water circulation system, water-permeable material is recommened when the urban surface areas are paved. The establishment of a water circulation system will improve ground water levels, soil moisture, water quality, and habitats. In order to improve biological diversity, it is desirable to have multi-layer structures in urban green areas with native species.