• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2019

Heavy metals resulted from the increase of human industrial activity are introduced into the environment through rainfall and wastewater, and have harmful effects on inhabitants. In this study, we investigated biological responses such as survival rate, growth rate, emergence rate and sex ratio, and morphological effects of mentum deformity in Chironomus plumosus, an indicator organism to evaluate pollutions on aquatic ecosystem. The survival rate of C. plumosus showed time- and dose-dependent decrease after chromium and copper exposures. Growth rate decreased at $4^{th}$ day after chromium exposure and significantly reduced at exposure to relatively high concentration (copper $1000mg\;L^{-1}$) for all exposure times. In addition, we observed that the emergence rate by exposure to copper $1000mg\;L^{-1}$ was significantly lower than that of the control group. The imbalance of sex ratios showed at relatively low concentrations (chromium 10 and $50mg\;L^{-1}$) with the high proportion of female and at the relative high concentration (copper $1000mg\;L^{-1}$) with the high proportion of male. Furthermore, the morphological mentum deformities of C. plumosus observed in the exposed group according to chromium and copper exposure. These results suggest that the heavy metal exposure in environment may influence biosynthetic and morphological stresses of benthic invertebrate C. plumosus, and aquatic midge C. plumosus are potential indicators for toxicity assessment of heavy metals such as chromium and copper.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.384-389
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• 2011

We made suspension of fumed silica in polyethylene glycol (PEG), studied rheological behavior as functions of contents of silica, dispersion condition, PEG molecular weight, temperature and contents of humidity. Rheological behavior of suspension was determined critical shear rate and rise of viscosity using rheometer AR2000. Suspension were PEGs of molecular weight 200, 400, and 600. Fumed silica suspensions of which silica contents are 5, 7, 9, 13, and 18% were prepared by normal mixing, homogenization and bead milling process. We observed their rheological behaviors at 10, 20, 30, and $40^{\circ}C$. As the PEG molecular weight and contents of silica increase, the critical shear rate was lowered. As the temperature increased, the critical shear rate was increased. Humidity contents of dispersion don't influence on the critical shear rate, but dispersion processes greatly affect the critical shear rate. The critical shear rate of suspensions prepared by the mixing process was the lowest, and that of suspensions prepared by the bead milling process was the highest. The rise in the shear viscosity of suspensions prepared by the mixing process is higher than that of suspensions prepared by the bead milling process. This was dependent on the dispersion condition of silica particle by dispersion process.

• Journal of Korean Port Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.3-33
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• 1989

The amount of the Korean export & import in 1987 reached $88.3 billion which was 1.75% of the total world trade and the proportion of foreign dependence to G.N.P was 74.5%. From these facts, we can infer that the development of national economy is largely dependent upon trade. Therefore the role of transportation, especially Ocean transportation, as a basis of economic development through trade is one of the main factors that can not be passed over. Here, We can define that a port as a subsystem of transportation determines the efficiency of the total transportation system. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to contribute in improvement of the efficiency in port, reinforcement of the international competitiveness for exporting goods by the analysis of the cargo handling charges. In order to do this, this paper deals the case of B.C.T.O.C. Furthermore, this study gives some important informations related to the level of tariffs for establishing an autonomous port administration. The Summary of the conclusions of this paper is as follows ; 1) The object of port administration in Korea has been emphasized on the maximization of efficiency in using the port facilities. Nowadays, however, it should be moved to a direction that port is operated under the compound aims considering the public interests and economy. 2) For a criterian of tariff calculation, A tariff system based on the cost accounting is desirable. In general it is recommended that the cost for construction, management, and operation of port is compensated by the revenue from port operation. Therefore, it is necessary for the administration bodies of each port to establish a tariff system on the basis of the independent profit system. 3) For the investigation of actors of tariff adjustment by the Break-even point analysis, (1) When we conducted the B.E.P analysis using total cost as cost term, we got 3.8% discount in tariff at 12% of target profit rate and 1.5% discount at 15% of rate. when we set the target profit rate as 17% we could have the proper tariff level. (2) When using operating cost as cost term, we got 13.1% discount in tariff at 12% of target profit rate and 10.9% discount at 15% of rate. When setting the target profit rat as 28%, we could have the proper tariff level. 4) Comparing with the tariffs of foreign ports for the basic terminal rate, The tariff level of B.C.T.O.C showed 33% of stevedoring charge and 80% of marshalling charge incurred at Kobe port. The comparison with Singapore port gave 50% of transhipment charge and 17% - 20 % of stevedoring charge. 5) We found that the financial structure of B.C.T.O.C was better than those of other companies and the worth fixed assets ratio was too low. The fact of low worth fixed assets ratio implies that the cargo handling facilities should be increased. Moreover, The return of assets for B.T.T.O.C was good but non-operating expenses were still contained too much in. Therefore, we think that it is necessary for B.C.T.O.C. to rationalize business management. Although the present cargo handing charge for B.C.T.O.C is a proper level in terms of a public corporation, for the final recommendation in connection to the results, It is required to take the rationalization process for business management.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.445-452
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• 2016

Exorista japonica is one of the major natural enemies of noctuid larvae, Mythimna separata and Spodoptera litura. The examined parasitoid was obtained from host species M. separata, collected at Gimje city and identified by DNA sequences (partial cytochrome oxidase I, 16S, 18S, and 28S). For purposed of this study, laboratory reared S. litura served as the host species for the development of the E. japonica. The developmental period of E. japonica immature stages were investigated at seven constant temperatures (16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, $34{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, RH 20~30%). Temperature-dependent developmental rates and development completion models were developed. E. japonica was successfully developed from egg to adult in $16{\sim}31^{\circ}C$ temperature regimes. Developmental duration was the shortest at $34^{\circ}C$ (8.3 days) and the longest at $16^{\circ}C$ (23.4 days) from egg to pupa development. Pupal development duration was the shortest at $28^{\circ}C$ (7.3 days). Total immature-stage development duration decreased with increasing temperature, and was the shortest at $31^{\circ}C$ (16.3 days) and the longest at $16^{\circ}C$ (45.4 days). The lower developmental threshold was $7.8^{\circ}C$ and thermal constant required to complete total immature-stage development was 370.4 degree days. Among four non-linear temperature-dependent developmental rate models, Briere 1 model had the highest adjusted R-squared (0.96). The distribution model of development completion for total immature stage development of E. japonica was well described by all model ($r^2_{adj}=0.90$) based on the standardized development duration. These results of study would be necessary not only to develop population dynamics model but also to understand fundamental biology of E. japonica.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.52-61
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• 2006

Background: Korean ginseng (KG) has been used as a general tonic, and for voiding dysfunction for a long time in oriental society. However, scientific basic studies on the use of KG, have been rare, especially for voiding and erectile dysfunction. This study was performed to investigate the effects of KG on voiding and erectile function by examining the effects of total saponin (TS) on the bladder, urethral and penile cavernosal smooth muscle. Materials and methods: To examine the effects of TS, NewZeland white rabbits were used to obtain tissue strips from the smooth muscle of the bladder, proximal urethra and corpus cavernosum. Adult Sprague Dawley rats were used to examine the changes in urodynamic findings and penile erection after administration of TS. Results: In proximal urethral strips, the rate of relaxation of the proximal urethra was increased from $9.0{\pm}2.9$ to $33.7{\pm}4.8%$ in a dose-dependent manner when the concentration of TS was added accumulatively from 0.25 mg/ml to 4.0 mg/ml (p<0.05). However, no significant response was observed in the bladder strips within these concentration ranges. For the corpus cavernosal strips, the rate of relaxation ranged from $5.8{\pm}2.1$ to $36.7{\pm}5.8%$, increasing in a dose-dependent manner when TS was increased from 1.0 mg/ml to 4.0 mg/ml (p<0.05). After administration of 0.1 ml of TS (32 mg/ml) in the rat, the bladder pressure was $37.5{\pm}8.5$ mmHg at $52.1{\pm}7.0$ sec. during isovolumetric bladder contraction, showing no significant differences from $35.7{\pm}7.8mmHg$ and $50.7{\pm}7.2$ sec, respectively, before treatment. However, when 0.1 ml of TS (32 mg/ml) was administered, the relative reduction of urethral pressure was $6.9{\pm}0.5mmHg$ at $62{\pm}7.5$ sec, which was significantly higher compared to $4.6{\pm}1.1mmHg$ at $45{\pm}10$ sec before treatment (p<0.05). For the cavernosal injection study, the change in intracavernosal pressure (${\Delta}ICP$) was examined after administering 0.1 ml of TS. The cumulative additions of TS at concentrations from 0.5 mg/ml to 32 mg/ml increased ${\Delta}ICP$ from $1.3{\pm}0.5$ to $21.3{\pm}7.8mmHg$ in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). The duration of tumescence was from $0.3{\pm}0.1$ to $5.2{\pm}0.2$ min, showing dose-dependent increase (p<0.05). Furthermore, the cumulative addition of TS at concentrations from 0.5 mg/ml upto 32 mg/ml did not cause any significant change in systemic blood pressure. Conclusion: These results suggest that ginseng improves voiding functions, which is mainly achieved by TS relaxing the proximal urethra, the most important part of the bladder outlet function. In addition, ginseng safely induced a penile erection hemodynamically by relaxing the corpus cavernosum.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2001

Purpose Long- term use of steroid, cyclophosphamide and cyclosporin, which are frequently used in the therapy of SDNS, might cause severe side effects. Recently, the immune-modulator levamisole has been tried as a substitute therapy and it has been reported as a method with less side effects and more effectiveness. We started this research in order to observe the effects of levamisole and compare it to other therapy results. Patients and Methods : We chose 16 steroid dependent nephrotic syndrome children, those who had shown frequent relapse during the immunocompromised therapy period. Mean age was $9.1{\pm}1.4$ years in children and the male to female ratio was 15:1. All of subjects were diagonized with MCNS and had received cyclophosphamide or cyclosporin before receiving levamisole. Levamisole at a dose of 2.5mg/kg was used every other day for 1 year and the relapse rate was observed. Results : On average of 14 days after treatment, complete remission was visible in all of the children, and the relapse percentage was $50\%$, which represents 8 children, while remaining 8 children representing $50\%$ of the cases showed no relapse during treatment. During the levamisole therapy period, tile average relapse rate was reduced significantly from $2.18{\pm}0.9/year\;to\;0.77{\pm}0.9/year$(P=0.027). Also the average relapse rate after the therapy was reduced to $1.34{\pm}1.1/year$, which was a significant level compared to the level before treatment(P=0.003). There was no significant difference in terms of duration of remission maintenance. Duration of remission maintenance showed an average of $12.2{\pm}9.1$ months before the use of levamisole, but it was also $10.1{\pm}6.9$ month after therapy. No other side effects such as leukopenia, skin disease and other clinically significant symptoms appeared at all during therapy. Conclusion : The long-term medication of levamisole for the therapy of SDNS children is thought to be able to maintain stable remission by reducing the relapse frequency without causing severe side effects. Further study with a broader range of subjects is required to eluccidate the long-term effects of this treatment. (J. Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2001;5 : 109-16)

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 1998

It was attempted to clarify the participation of $K^+-channels$ in the post-receptor mechanisms of the muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptor- mediated control of acetylcholine (ACh) release in the present study. Slices from the rat hippocampus were equilibrated with $[^3H]$choline and the release of the labelled products was evoked by electrical stimulation (3 Hz, 5 V/cm, 2 ms, rectangular pulses), and the influence of various agents on the evoked tritium-outflow was investigated. Oxotremorine (Oxo, $0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), a muscarinic agonist, and $N^6-cyclopentyladenosine$ (CPA, $1{\sim}30\;{\mu}M$), a specific $A_1-adenosine$ agonist, decreased the ACh release in a dose-dependent manner, without affecting the basal rate of release. 4-aminopyridine (4AP), a specific A-type $K^+-channel$ blocker ($1{\sim}100\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-related fashion, and the basal rate of release is increased by 3 and $100\;{\mu}M$. Tetraethylammonium (TEA), a non-specific $K^+-channel$ blocker ($0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-dependent manner without affecting the basal release. The effects of Oxo and CPA were not affected by $3\;{\mu}M$ 4AP co-treatment, but 10 mM TEA significantly inhibited the effects of Oxo and CPA. 4AP ($10\;{\mu}M$)- and TEA (10 mM)-induced increments of evoked ACh release were completely abolished in Ca^{2+}-free$ medium, but these were recoverd in low Ca^{2+}$ medium. And the effects of $K^+-channel$ blockers in low Ca^{2+}$ medium were inhibited by $Mg^{2+}$ (4 mM) and abolished by $0.3\;{\mu}M$ tetrodotoxin (TTX). These results suggest that the changes in TEA-sensitive potassium channel permeability and the consequent limitation of Ca^{2+}$ influx are partly involved in the presynaptic modulation of the evoked ACh-release by muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptors of the rat hippocampus.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1253-1258
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• 2016

Although major advances have been achieved in our understanding and treatment of diseases in many areas of medicine, relatively few improvements have been made in the area of gastrointestinal (GI) motor function. The dried root of Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. (CP) has been used as a traditional folk medicine for improving poor GI function in East Asia, including China and Korea. In the present study, neither aqueous (CP-W) nor ethanolic (CP-E) extracts of CP showed significant toxicity, even at an oral dose of 5 g/kg to mice. The effects of CP-W and CP-E on GI motor function were investigated by measuring in vivo the gastric emptying rate (GER) and intestinal transit rate (ITR) in mice. In normal mice, the ITR was significantly increased by CP-W in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the GER was not significantly affected by any CP extracts. The ITR was significantly retarded in the mice with experimental GI motility dysfunction (i.e., peritoneal irritation by acetic acid) compared with that in normal mice. However, the retardation was significantly recovered by the pre-treatment of CP-W in a dose-dependent manner. The above results suggest that CP-W might be a potential prokinetic agent preventing or alleviating GI motility dysfunctions in human patients.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.423-429
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• 2001

Prediction of the variation in annual biomass was conducted for the white croaker. Argyrosomus argentatus in Korean waters using leslie Matrix, based upon fishery data for the past 21 years and biological data, We used density-independent and density-dependent Leslie Matrix models. Similar parameters were estimated from two models except that the density-dependent model was influenced by the density effect variable, q(i,t), The eigenvalue of the white croaker population for the $1984\~1995$ period was estimated to be 0.8, indicating a declining pattern of the population. The survival rate of 0-th year class was calculated to be 0.00005. Based on the schedule of the age-specific survival rate and fecundity, the future biomass and catch was predicted for various levels of fishing mortalities (F), If F was set at 0.252/yr ($F_{35x}$) or 0.368/yr ($F_{0.1}$), the biomass and catch increased, and if F was set at 0.922 ($F_{current}$), the biomass and catch decreased, The fishing mortality at equilibrium was estimated to be 0.7/yr. Finally, the management strategy of the white croaker was discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.165-174
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• 1993

$Ca^{2+}$ is an important regulator of neurite elongation and growth cone movements but the mechanism(s) mediating these $Ca^{2+}-dependent$ effects is unclear. Since cytoskeletal proteins are rapidly degraded by $Ca^{2+}-dependent $ proteinases (calpains) in vitro and in vivo, we investigated whether $Ca^{2+}-induced$ pruning or regression of neuronal processes is mediated by calpains. Isolated hippocampal pyramidal-like neurons were cultured and the ability of the membrane-permeable calpain inhibitors EST (etyl (+)-(2S,3S)-3-[(S)-methyl-1-(3-methlbutylcarbamoyl)-butylcarbamoyl]2-oxiranecarboxylate) and MDL28170 (carbobenzoxyl-Val-Phe-H) to block the $Ca^{2+}$ ionophore A23187-induced suppression in neurite outgrowth was investigated. Addition of 100 nM A23187 to the culture medium resulted in a retraction of dendrites without altering axonal elongation. The addition of 300 nM A23187 to the culture medium resulted in a signiciant decrease in the rate of axonal elongation as well as a retraction of dendritic processes. Administration of EST $(5\;or\;20{\mu}M)$ to the culture medium completely blocked the pruning effect of 100 nM A23187 on dendrites and of 300 nM A23187 on axons, while EST alone did not significantly affect neurite outgrowth rate. MDL 28170 $(20\;{\mu}M)$ showed the same effect as EST in preventing ionophore-induced pruning of dendrites and axons at 100 nM and 300 nM concentrations, respectively, of A23187. EST $(20\;{\mu}M)$ did not block the A23187-induced rise of $[Ca^{2+}]_{i}$ as measured with fura-2. These results show that $Ca^{2+}-induced$ pruning of neurites in isolated hippocampal pyramidal neurons is mediated by calpains.