• Honam Mathematical Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.109-124
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• 2009

Based on the observed data for Clarithromycin released, three commonly used inflow models: the power, the exponential, and the logarithmic models are considered. Among them, the power model is used most in practice for simplicity. Using the numerical parameter estimation techniques, the parameters appeared in the model equations are estimated. Through the numerical estimation results using the several experimental data sets, the exponential model turns out to be best among the three models. More specifically, the sum of squares of absolute errors and the sum of squares of relative errors for the exponential model are reduced by 80-95 % for the experimental data sets and 60-90 % for the noise added data sets compared with those for the power and logarithmic models. A typical experimental data set is used in this paper to show the estimation method and its numerical results. The proposed numerical method and its algorithm are designed for estimating the parameters appeared in the model differential equations for which the exact form of the solution is unknown in general. The methodology developed can be applied to more general cases such as the nonlinear ordinary differential equations or the partial differential equations.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.262-266
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• 2013

Certain phenolic compounds are known to exhibit laxative properties. Seed sprouts, such as those of peanut, are known to promote de novo biosynthesis of phenolic compounds. This study was conducted to examine the potential laxative properties of 80% (v/v) ethanolic extract of peanut sprout (PSE), which contains a high concentration of phenolic compounds such as resveratrol. For this, SD rats were orally administered PSE while a control group was incubated with saline. Laxative effects were examined in both groups of rats. Constipation induced by loperamide in SD rats was improved by administration of PSE. Constipated rats showed increased intestinal movement of $BaSO_4$ upon administration of PSE compared to the control, and the groups administered 100 or 1,000 mg PSE/kg bw were not significantly different in transit time of the indicator. However, colon length was not statistically different among the experimental groups, although it was longer in the group incubated with 1 g PSE/kg bw compared to other groups. Further, there was no significant difference in stool number among the experimental groups. Taken together, these findings show that PSE has a laxative effect in a rat model of loperamide-induced constipation.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) knowledge and performance among Vietnamese nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a questionnaire pertaining to the nurses' knowledge of GCS and a structured evaluation tool to measure the accuracy of their GCS scores. A total of 94 Vietnamese nurses participated in this study, all from a general hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Data were analyzed by conducting a t-test, a $x^2$ test, and ANOVA. Results: This study found that the vast majority of the nurses (>90%) responded correctly to questions regarding their GCS basic knowledge; however, 52.1% of the nurses answered incorrectly questions related to clinical scenarios requiring the application of the basic knowledge. Regarding the GCS performance, the nurses demonstrated acceptable accuracy rates for each component of GCS, but those who scored well in all three components accounted for only 42.6% of the subject group. These findings indicate that the Vietnamese nurses are not able to integrate their GCS knowledge into actual practice as measured by the accuracy of GCS scoring. Conclusion: This study suggests that new educational strategies should be developed for the Vietnamese nurses to improve their performance on accurate GCS scoring based on theoretical knowledge.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7071-7076
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• 2015

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the targeted molecular markers in many cancers including lung malignancies. Gefitinib and erlotinib are two available therapeutics that act as specific inhibitors of tyrosine kinase (TK) domains. We performed a case-control study with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks (FFPE) from tissue biopsies of 167 non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients and 167 healthy controls. The tissue biopsies were studied for mutations in exons 18-21 of the EGFR gene. This study was performed using PCR followed by DNA sequencing. We identified 63 mutations in 33 men and 30 women. Mutations were detected in exon 19 (delE746-A750, delE746-T751, delL747-E749, delL747-P753, delL747-T751) in 32 patients, exon 20 (S786I, T790M) in 16, and exon 21 (L858R) in 15. No mutations were observed in exon 18. The 63 patients with EFGR mutations were considered for upfront therapy with oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) drugs and have responded well to therapy over the last 15 months. The control patients had no mutations in any of the exons studied. The advent of EGFR TKI therapy has provided a powerful new treatment modality for patients diagnosed with NSCLC. The study emphasizes the frequency of EGFR mutations in NSCLC patients and its role as an important predictive marker for response to oral TKI in the south Indian population.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.276-286
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• 2020

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease associated with multiple metabolic disorders. The medicinal plant Curcuma longa L. is widely distributed in Asia and has been used to treat a spectrum diseases in clinical practice. To date, there are inadequate reports of the effects of C. longa 50% EtOH extract (CE) on NAFLD. Therefore, in this study, we evaluate the CE on an NAFLD animal and elucidate the mechanism of action. Methods and Results: C57BL/6J mice fed a methionine-choline deficient diet (MCD) were treated with CE or milk thistle, and changes in inflammation and stetosis were assessed. Experimental animals were divided into six group (n = 10); Normal, MCD, MCD + CE 50 mg/kg/day (CE 50), MCD + CE 100 mg/kg/day (CE 100), MCD + CE 150 mg/kg/day (CE 150), and the Control, MCD + Milk thistle 150 mg/kg/day (MT 150). Body weight, liver weight, liver function, and histological changes were assessed in experimental animals. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses were performed on samples collected after 4 weeks of treatment. We observed that CE administration improved MCD-diet-induced lipid accumulation, and triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels in serum. Treatment with CE also decreased hepatic lipogenesis through modulation of the sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1), CCAAT-enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) expresion. In addition, the use of CE increased adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and inhibited the up-regulation of toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and TLR-4 signaling and the production of inflammatory mediators. Conclusions: In this report, we observed that CE regulated lipid accumulation in an MCD dietinduced NAFLD model by decreasing lipogenesis. These data suggeste that CE could effectively protect mice against MCD-induced NAFLD, by inhibiting the TLR-2 and TLR-4 signaling cascades.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.494-502
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Reducing the number of adipocytes by inducing apoptosis of mature adipocytes as well as suppressing differentiation of preadipocytes plays an important role in preventing obesity. This study examines the anti-adipogenic and pro-apoptotic effect of red pepper seed water extract (RPS) prepared at $4^{\circ}C$ (RPS4) in 3T3-L1 cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: Effect of RPS4 or its fractions on lipid accumulation was determined in 3T3-L1 cells using oil red O (ORO) staining. The expressions of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and adipogenic associated proteins [peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-${\gamma}$ ($PPAR-{\gamma}$), CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins ${\alpha}$ (C/EBP ${\alpha}$), sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC)] were measured in 3T3-L1 cells treated with RPS4. Apoptosis and the expression of Akt and Bcl-2 family proteins [B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated death promoter (Bad), Bcl-2 like protein 4 (Bax), Bal-2 homologous antagonist/killer (Bak)] were measured in mature 3T3-L1 cells treated with RPS4. RESULTS: Treatment of RPS4 ($0-75{\mu}g/mL$) or its fractions ($0-50{\mu}g/mL$) for 24 h did not have an apparent cytotoxicity on pre and mature 3T3-L1 cells. RPS4 significantly suppressed differentiation and cellular lipid accumulation by increasing the phosphorylation of AMPK and reducing the expression of $PPAR-{\gamma}$, C/EBP ${\alpha}$, SREBP-1c, FAS, and ACC. In addition, all fractions except ethyl acetate fraction significantly suppressed cellular lipid accumulation. RPS4 induced the apoptosis of mature adipocytes by hypophosphorylating Akt, increasing the expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins, Bak, Bax, and Bad, and reducing the expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins, Bcl-2 and p-Bad. CONCLUSIONS: These finding suggest that RPS4 can reduce the numbers as well as the size of adipocytes and might useful for preventing and treating obesity.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.159-184
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• 2021

The significance of the enactment of the 「Act On The Safety Of And Support For Advanced Regenerative Medicine And Advanced Biological Products」 is to break away from the regulation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and expand patient treatment opportunities through a medical technology approach to regenerative medicine, which is essentially a medical practice called 'transplantation'. However, more than a year after the law was enacted, clinical study has not been activated, with not a single high-risk study approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety being approved. The reason is that despite the legal purpose of expanding patient treatment opportunities, the data requirements for clinical study approval are set in connection with drug development despite the insufficient legal basis, making it difficult for many researchers to meet the data requirements. Prior to the enactment of the Act, submitted data for clinical study on cell therapy products within the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act were cosiderably exempted from quality and non-clinical test data, but with the enforcement of the Advanced Regenerative Bio Act, quality and non-clinical test data are required in accordance with pharmaceuticals when applying for approval of a clinical study plan. To rectify this, when considering the identity of clinical study on advanced regenerative medicine to expand treatment opportunities, recognize that there are limitations in connection with drug development. And it is necessary to preserve the identity of clinical study on advanced regenerative medicine, and on the other hand, in the case of drug product approval, clinical study results should be utilized while specifying usage requirements. Therefore, with the power of the market and the voluntary motive of the clinical researcher, it is necessary to prepare the necessary data by themselves rather than the basic requirements for clinical study approval.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.293-302
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• 2016

The use of folk medicine has been widely embraced in many developed countries under the name of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) and is now becoming the mainstream in the UK and the rest of Europe, as well as in North America and Australia. Diversity, easy accessibility, broad continuity, relatively low cost, base levels of technological inputs, fewer side effects, and growing economic importance are some of the positive features of folk medicine. In this framework, a critical need exists to introduce the practice of folk medicine into public healthcare if the goal of reformed access to healthcare facilities is to be achieved. The amount of information available to public health practitioners about traditional medicine concepts and the utilization of that information are inadequate and pose many problems for the delivery of primary healthcare globally. Different societies have evolved various forms of indigenous perceptions that are captured under the broad concept of folk medicine, e.g., Persian, Chinese, Grecian, and African folk medicines, which explain the lack of universally accepted definitions of terms. Thus, the exchange of information on the diverse forms of folk medicine needs to be facilitated. Various concepts of Wind are found in books on traditional medicine, and many of those go beyond the boundaries established in old manuscripts and are not easily understood. This study intends to provide information, context, and guidance for the collection of all important information on the different concepts of Wind and for their simplification. This new vision for understanding earlier Chinese medicine will benefit public health specialists, traditional and complementary medicine practitioners, and those who are interested in historical medicine by providing a theoretical basis for the traditional medicines and the acupuncture that is used to eliminate Wind in order to treat various diseases.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.343-348
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• 2008

The bioequivalence of two cyclosporine A (CyA) 100 mg soft capsules (Chong Kun Dang's $Cipol-N^{(R)}$ as the test drug; Korea Novartis' Sandimmun $Neoral^{(R)}$ as the reference drug) was assessed in healthy male Korean volunteers after oral administration of 200 mg CyA according to a randomized crossover design. The whole blood samples were analyzed for the determination of parent CyA in the blood by using a validated HPLC/diode array detector method. The mean $AUC_t$ values for reference and test products were $4095.3{\pm}1397.2$ and $3958.3{\pm}1138.2\;ng{\cdot}hr/mL$, respectively. The mean $C_{max}$ values were $1135.9{\pm}293.2\;ng/mL$ for the reference product, and $985.0{\pm}207.9\;ng/mL$ for the test product. $T_{max}$ was $1.6{\pm}0.4\;hr$ for the reference and $1.8{\pm}0.5\;hr$ for the test product. The differences of $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ were -3.35, -13.28 and +10.63%, respectively. The point estimates and 90% confidence intervals for $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$ were 0.981 (0.9171 to 1.0514) and 0.876 (0.8229 to 0.9336), respectively. Based on the pharmacokinetic and statistical data, we conclude that these two products are bioequivalent and can be considered interchangeable in the medical practice.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.350-357
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has increased worldwide in parallel with overnutrition characterized by high-fat and high-carbohydrate intake. Our objective was to establish, in 16 weeks, a model of NAFLD in Wistar pathogen-free rats following four dietary types. MATERIALS/METHODS: Forty (6 weeks old) healthy Wistar male rats, weighing an average of 150 g were randomly divided into four groups of ten and assigned a diet with the same quantity (15 g/rat/day), but with different composition. The moderate-fat (MF) group was fed a moderate-fat diet (31.5% fat and 50% carbohydrates), the high-fat (HF) group was fed a fat-rich diet (51% fat), the high-sucrose (HS) group and the high-fructose (HFr) group were fed a carbohydrate-rich diet (61%). The carbohydrate contents of the HS group was composed of 60.3% sucrose while that of the HFr group was composed of 59.3% fructose. RESULTS: At week 16, the HF group had the highest percentage of cells enriched in fat (40%) and the highest weight and liver weight (P < 0.05). The HFr group showed significantly higher levels of serum triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase and adiponectin at week 16 as compared to week 1 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The 15 g/rat/day diet composed of 51% fat or 61% carbohydrates enriched mainly in fructose may induce characteristics of NAFLD in rats.