• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.200-206
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• 2019

This study was performed to assess the anti-inflammatory and cartilage regenerative effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on canine chondrocytes. Proliferation and migration assays under both normal and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory conditions were performed with various concentrations of PRP (1% to 10%). The expression levels of genes related to osteoarthritis were evaluated in the following groups: PRP group, LPS group and LPS + PRP group. mRNA expression levels were detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Proliferation assays showed significantly enhanced proliferation in all PRP-treated groups compared with the no serum group. Compared with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), PRP concentrations above 3% in the normal condition and 1% to 7% PRP in the LPS-induced inflammatory condition were found to significantly promote chondrocyte proliferation. In the normal condition, all PRP-treated groups showed significantly increased cell migration compared with the no serum group. Chondrocyte migration was decreased with LPS-induced inflammation, but PRP treatment resulted in significantly enhanced migration compared with the other groups in this condition. According to RT-PCR, the LPS + PRP group showed significantly higher levels of COL1A1, IL-6, aggrecan and lower levels of $TNF-{\alpha}$, MMP-1, MMP-3 mRNA expression compared to the LPS group. The results of this study suggest that PRP application can enhance the proliferation and migration of canine chondrocytes and improve canine articular cartilage regeneration.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.61-69
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical outcomes of the control group and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) group among the patients who failed to respond to conservative treatment as outpatient-based therapy for rotator cuff tendinopathy, and to compare the clinical results of leukocyte-poor (LP) PRP and leukocyte-rich (LR) PRP. Methods: Inclusion criteria are (1) over 18-year-old, (2) patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy, no rotator cuff tear by radiologic diagnosis (ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging) within the last 3 months, and (3) not effective to conservative treatment for more than 1 month. Of the final 60 subjects, 33 patients in the exercise treatment group and 27 patients in the PRP injection group (LP-PRP, 13; LR-PRP, 14) were included. Clinical evaluation was carried out by assessing the outcomes of treatment using the Numeric Rating Scale pain score, the American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) score, and the Constant score at baseline and at 3 and 6 months after the procedure. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in ${\Delta}ASES_{3months}$ ($ASES_{3months}-ASES_{first}$) score between the control and PRP groups (p=0.006). However, there was no statistical significance between LP-PRP and LR-PRP groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that PRP injection was more effective than exercise therapy for the first 3 months. However, there was no difference between the LP-PRP group and the LR-PRP group. Regardless of the type of PRP, clinical application of PRP injection in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy seems to be effective in early treatment.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2010

This study investigated how the surface of Al-12wt.%Si alloy modified by the plasma electrolytic oxidation process (PEO). The PEO process was performed in an electrolyte with sodium hexametaphsphate as a conducting salt, and the effect of ammonium metavanadate on variations in the morphology of electrochemically generated oxide layers on the alloy surface was investigated. It is difficult to form a uniform passive oxide layer on Al alloys with a high Si content due to the differences in the oxidation behavior of the silicon-rich phase and the aluminum-rich phase. The oxide layer covered the entire surface of the Al-12WT.%Si alloy uniformly when ammonium metavanadate was added to the electrolyte. The oxide layer was confirmed as a mixture of $V_2O_3$ and $V_2O_5$ by XPS analysis. In addition, the oxide layer obtained by the PEO process with ammonium metavanadate exhibited a black color. Application of this surface modification method is expected to solve the problem of the lack of uniformity in the coloring of oxide layeres caused by different oxidation behaviors during a surface treatment.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.646-651
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• 2008

The electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuel involves the liberation of oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which results in a chemically aggressive environment that is too corrosive for typical structural materials. It is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment handling molten salt. IN713LC is one of the candidate materials proposed for application in electrolytic reduction process. In this study, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coat was applied to a surface of IN713LC with an aluminized metallic bond coat by an optimized plasma spray process, and were investigated the corrosion behavior at $675^{\circ}C$ for 216 hours in the molten salt $LiCl-Li_2O$ under an oxidizing atmosphere. The as-coated and tested specimens were examined by OM, SEM/EDS and XRD, respectively. The bare superalloy reveals obvious weight loss, and the corrosion layer formed on the surface of the bare superalloy was spalled due to the rapid scale growth and thermal stress. The top coatings showed a much better hot-corrosion resistance in the presence of $LiCl-Li_2O$ molten salt when compared to those of the uncoated superalloy and the aluminized bond coatings. These coatings have been found to be beneficial for increasing to the hot-corrosion resistance of the structural materials for handling high temperature lithium molten salts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.392-396
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• 2021

Expensive PCBN or ceramic cutting tools are used for processing of difficult-to-cut materials such as Ti and Ni alloy materials. These tools have the problem of breaking easily due to their high hardness but low fracture toughness. To solve these problems, cutting tools that form various coating layers are used in low-cost WC-Co hard material tools, and research on various tool materials is being conducted. In this study, binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo₂C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo₂C hard materials are densified using horizontal ball milled WC-Co, WC-Co-Mo₂C powders, and spark plasma sintering process (SPS process). Each SPSed Binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo₂C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo₂C hard materials are almost completely dense, with relative density of up to 99.5 % after the simultaneous application of pressure of 60 MPa and almost no significant change in grain size. The average grain sizes of WC for Binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo₂C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo₂C hard materials are about 0.37, 0.6, 0.54, and 0.43 ㎛, respectively. Mechanical properties, microstructure, and phase analysis of SPSed Binderless-WC, WC-6 wt%Co-1 wt% Mo₂C, and WC-6 wt%Co-2.5 wt% Mo₂C hard materials are investigated.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2021

A pregnancy diagnosis is an important standard for control of livestock's reproduction in paricular dairy cattle. High reproductive performance in dairy animals is a essential condition to realize of high life-time production. Pregnancy diagnosis is crucial to shortening the calving interval by enabling the farmer to identify open animals so as to treat or re-breed them at the earliest opportunity. MicroRNAs are short RNA molecules which are critically involved in regulating gene expression during both health and disease. This study is sought to establish the feasible of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers of early pregnancy in cattle. We applied Illumina small-RNA sequencing to profile miRNAs in plasma samples collected from 12 non-pregnant cows ("open" cows: samples were collected before insemination (non-pregnant state) and after pregnancy check at the indicated time points) on weeks 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16. Using small RNA sequencing we identified a total of 115 miRNAs that were differentially expressed weeks 16 relative to non-pregnancy ("open" cows). Weeks 8, 12 and 16 of pregnancy commonly showed a distinct increase in circulating levels of miR-221 and miR-320a. Through genome-wide analyses we have successfully profiled plasma miRNA populations associated with pregnancy in cattle. Their application in the field of reproductive biology has opened up opportunities for research communities to look for pregnancy biomarker molecules in dairy cattle.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.210-214
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• 2022

Objective: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy has received a considerable attention as an adjunct to fertility treatments, especially in women with very low ovarian reserve and premature ovarian insufficiency. Although recent studies have demonstrated that PRP led to improvements in folliculogenesis and biomarkers of ovarian reserve, the effect of intraovarian PRP administration on embryo genetics has not been studied. Methods: We report a pilot study of patients who had preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) before and then within 3 months following PRP administration. Twelve infertile women with at least one prior failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle underwent ovarian stimulation (cycle 1) with a gentle stimulation protocol and PGT-A performed at the blastocyst stage. Following cycle 1, autologous intraovarian PRP administration was performed. Within 3 months following PRP administration, the patients underwent cycle 2 and produced blastocysts for PGT-A. The percentage of euploid embryos between both cycles was compared. Results: The mean age of all participants was 40.08±1.46 years, and their mean body mass index was 26.18±1.18 kg/m². The number of good-quality embryos formed at the blastocyst stage was similar between cycle 1 and cycle 2 (3.08±0.88 vs. 2.17±0.49, respectively; p=0.11). Among all patients in cycle 1, 3 of 37 embryos were euploid (8.11%) while in cycle 2, 11 out of 28 embryos were euploid (39.28%, p=0.002). Three clinical pregnancies were noted among this patient group. Conclusion: This novel study is the first to present an improvement in the embryo euploidy rate following intraovarian PRP application in infertile women with prior failed IVF cycles. The growth factors present in PRP may exhibit a local paracrine effect that could improve meiotic aberrations in human oocytes and thus improve euploidy rates. Whether PRP improves live birth rates and lowers miscarriage rates remains to be determined in large trials.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.73-89
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• 2022

Background: To evaluate the efficacy of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in the treatment of common shoulder diseases. Methods: The PubMed, Medline, and Central databases and trial registries were searched from their inception to October 2020 for randomized controlled trials of autologous PRP injections for shoulder diseases versus placebo or any control intervention. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed in the selection, analysis, and reporting of findings. The primary outcome was pain intensity (visual analog scale), and secondary outcomes were changes in function and quality of life (QoL). Results: A total of 17 randomized controlled trials of PRP versus control were analyzed. From 8-12 weeks to ≥1 year, PRP injections were associated with better pain relief and functional outcomes than control interventions. PRP injections were also associated with greater QoL, with an effect size of 2.61 (95% confidence interval, 2.01-14.17) at medium-term follow-up. Compared with placebo and corticosteroid injections, PRP injections provided better pain relief and functional improvement. In subgroup analyses, trials in which PRP was prepared by the double centrifugation technique, the platelet concentration in the PRP was enriched ≥5 times, leucocyte-rich PRP was used, or an activating agent was used before application reported the most effective pain relief at 6-7 months. Conclusions: PRP injections could provide better pain relief and functional outcomes than other treatments for persons presenting with common shoulder diseases. PRP injections have a greater capacity to improve shoulder-related QoL than other interventions.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 2023

Since seeds can be directly used as food resources as well as for crop cultivation or preservation of genetic resources, it is essential to develop high-quality seed processing technology to increase agricultural productivity. Seed treatment means processing technologies of seeds through physical or chemical treatment processes from after harvesting seeds to before sowing of seeds to improve germination and growth rate, durability, and immunity, etc. Since chemical seed treatment technology using pesticides or plant growth regulators has problems of environmental pollution and human toxicity, it is desired to develop an alternative technology. As a physical seed treatment method, various technologies such as ionizing radiation, plasma, microwave, and magnetic field are being developed, and some of them are being used practically. In this paper, I will summarize the mechanism of seed priming and disinfection, and the advantages and disadvantages of application, focusing on these physical seed treatment methods. Low dose or moderate intensity ionizing radiation, microwave, low-temperature plasma, and magnetic field treatments often promoted seed germination and seedling growth. However, effective removal of direct seed pathogens at these treatment intensities appears to be difficult. And it has been shown that relatively high-dose electron beam treatment using low-energy electron beams kills microorganisms on the seed surface and hull layer while not damaging the inner tissue of the seed, and is also effectively used for seed treatment on a commercial scale. In order to put the physical seed treatment technology to practical use in Korea, it is necessary to develop an economical scale treatment device along with the development of individual treatment technology to each crop.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2153-2162
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to develop a high-energy neutron shielding material applied in proton therapy environment. Composite shielding material consisting of 10.00 wt% boron carbide particles (B₄C), 13.64 wt% surface-modified cross-linked polyethylene (PE), and 76.36 wt% tungsten particles were fabricated by hot-pressure sintering method, where the optimal ratio of the composite is determined by the shielding effect under the neutron field generated in typical proton therapy environment. The results of Differential Scanning Calorimetry measurements (DSC) and tensile experiment show that the composite has good thermal and mechanical properties. In addition, the high energy-neutron shielding performance of the developed material was evaluated using cyclotron proton accelerator with 100 MeV proton. The simulation shows a 99.99% decrease in fast neutron injection after 44 cm shielding, and the experiment result show a 99.70% decrease. Finally, the shielding effect of replacing part of the shielding material of the proton therapy hall with the developed material was simulated, and the results showed that the total neutron injection decreased to 0.99‰ and the neutron dose reduced to 1.10‰ before the enhanced shielding. In summary, the developed material is expected to serve as a shielding enhancement material in the proton therapy environment.