• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of Self-foot reflexology (SFR) on the hypertension of workers. The purpose of the research was to evaluate: levels of knowledge, physical and emotional condition, work stress and fatigue on the hypertension of employees in the workplace. Quasi-experimental study was designed in the setting of a nonequivalent control and experimental Group applied by the pre and post test. The total subjects undertaken in the study were total of 34 employees working in three companies in Seoul. The SFR program was consisted of 6 phases. There were 2 minutes for preparation, 4 minutes for slow down, 26 minutes for base reflex, symptoms of a disease reflex and excretion reflex stimulation. Finally, there was 20 minutes relaxation in a comfortable posture and drinking hot water after blood pressure was checked in the order. This program was running 55 minutes a day everyday three times a week during the entire 8 week course. The finding showed blood pressure was reduced significantly. Moreover, the level of total cholesterol. high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, depression, work stress, and fatigue were decreased in the study. But, they were not statistically significant except as it related to Group comparisons in time. The level of state anxiety was statistically significant between 2 Groups, but not in the time comparison of both Groups. As a summary of the study results, the SFR program was regarded as contributing to the physical and emotional promotion of employees. It had partially increased body circulations of functional organ related to the SFR sites. And, it improved relaxation of physical and mental condition through energy movement 'Chi'. Therefore, the SFR technique should be considered as an effective skill of a nursing program. Furthermore, it can be newly adopted as a nursing curriculum as a part of alternative treatment. However, it still needed to testify its effects through the review study.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.233-241
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• 1995

The nonapeptide bradykinin has been shown to exhibit an array of biological activities including relaxation/contraction of various smooth muscles. In order to investigate the effects of bradykinin on the contractility and the electrical activity of antral circular muscle of guinea-pig stomach, the isometric contraction and membrane potential were recorded. Also, using standard patch clamp technique, the $Ca^{2+}-activated$ K currents were recorded to observe the change in cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$ concentration. $0.4 {\mu}M$ bradykinin induced a triphasic contractile response (transient contraction-transient relaxation-sustained contraction) and this response was unaffected by pretreatment with neural blockers (tetrodotoxin, atropine and guanethidine) or with apamin. Bradykinin induced hyperpolarization of resting membrane potential and enhanced the amplitude of slow waves and spike potentials. The enhancement of spike potentials was blocked by neural blockers. Both the bradykinin-induced contractions and changes in membrane potential were reversed by the selective $B_2$-receptor antagonist $(N{\alpha}-adamantaneacetyl-_{D}-Arg-[Hyp, Thy,_{D}-Phe]-bradykinin)$. In whole-cell patch clamp experiment, we held the membrane potential at -20 mV and spontaneous and transient changes of Ca-activated K currents were recorded. Bradykinin induced a large transient outward current, consistent with a calcium-releasing action of bradykinin front the intracellular calcium pool, because such change was blocked by pretreatment with caffeine. Bradykinin-induced contraction was also blocked by pretreatment with caffeine. From these results, it is suggested that bradykinin induces a calciumrelease and contraction through the $B_{2}$ receptor of guinea-pig gastric smooth muscle. Enhancement of slow wave activity is an indirect action of bradykinin through enteric nerve cells embedded in muscle strip.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2005

In the heart, $Na^{+}-Ca^{2+}$ exchange (NCX) is the major $Ca^{2+}$ extrusion mechanism. NCX has been considered as a relaxation mechanism, as it reduces global $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ raised during activation. However, if NCX locates in the close proximity to the ryanodine receptor, then NCX would curtail $Ca^{2+}$ before its diffusion to global $Ca^{2+}_i$ This will result in a global $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ decrease especially during its ascending phase rather than descending phase. Therefore, NCX would decrease the myocardial contractility rather than inducing relaxation in the heart. This possibility was examined in this study by comparing NCX-induced extrusion of $Ca^{2+}$ after its release from SR in the presence and absence of global $Ca^{2+}_i$ transient in the isolated single rat ventricular myocytes by using patch-clamp technique in a whole-cell configuration. Global $Ca^{2+}_i$ transient was controlled by an internal dialysis with different concentrations of BAPTA added in the pipette. During stimulation with a ramp pulse from +100 mV to -100 mV for 200 ms, global $Ca^{2+}_i$ transient was suppressed only mildly, and completely at 1 mmol/L, and 10 mmol/L BAPTA, respectively. In these situations, ryanodine-sensitive inward NCX current was compared using $100{\mu}mol/L$ ryanodine, $Na^+$ depletion, 5 mmol/L $NaCl_2$ and $1{\mu}mol/L$ nifedipine. Surprisingly, the result showed that the ryanodine-sensitive inward NCX current was well preserved after 10 mmol/L BAPTA to 91 % of that obtained after 1 mmol/L BAPTA. From this result, it is concluded that most of the NCX-induced $Ca^{2+}$ extrusion occurs before the $Ca^{2+}$ diffuses to global $Ca^{2+})i$ in the rat ventricular myocyte.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.284-294
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• 2012

Objectives: The anterior open bite with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is one of the most challenging cases both orthodontically and surgically. We introduce an intermaxillary traction treatment for patients with anterior open bite and TMD using a skeletal anchorage system (SAS). Materials and Methods: This study was comprised of 52 patients with anterior open bite and TMD. A total of four mini-screws were inserted, two screws each into the maxilla and mandible, to obtain a class II pattern of elastic application with 120-200 g force. Adjunctive muscle relaxation treatments, such as splint therapy, medication, and botulinum toxin injection were applied during or before intermaxillary traction. At least one treatment among adjunctive muscle relaxation treatment, mentioned above, was applied to 96.2% of patients. We evaluated the clinical characteristics of patients, TMD symptom changes, amount of open bite improved. The degree of open bite improvement was compared between the open bite-reduced group (21 patients) and not-reduced group (5 patients). Results: TMD symptoms (muscle/joint pain, joint sound, mouth opening) remained or improved in most patients, and worsened in about 10% of patients for each items. Anterior open bite was improved by a mean of 1.75 mm (P<0.01) during treatment. The open bite-reduced group exhibited a significant open bite improvement compared to the not-reduced group (P<0.05), with 37% of open bite improvement occurring during the first 3 months of treatment. Conclusion: The intermaxillary traction technique using SAS is a valid modality for correction of anterior open bite and improvement of TMD symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics D
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• v.36D no.6
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• pp.44-51
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• 1999

The electrical conduction mechanism of high dielectric $(Ba,Sr)TiO_3$ (BST) thin film capacitor, which is the promising cell capacitor for high density DRAM, was investigated in low field region (<0.2MV/cm). It is known that the current in the low field region consists of dielectric relaxation current and leakage current. The current-time (I-t) measurement technique under the constant voltage was used for extracting successfully each current component. The conduction mechanism of the BST capacitor was deduced from the dependency of the current on the measurement temperature, strength of electric field, the polarity of applied electric field and post annealing process. From these results, it was suggested that the dielectric relaxation current and the leakage current are originated from the redistribution of internally trapped electron by hopping process and Pool-Frenkel conduction mechanism, respectively. It was also concluded that traps causing these two current components are due to oxygen vacancies within the BST film.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.97-105
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• 2013

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging has become an important technique for formation evaluation, detecting interaction signals between H protons and applied magnetic fields. Measured decay signals called relaxation, contain important information about density of H protons and different decay rate due to its fluid type in the sensitive area. Thus, petrophysical information such as porosity, permeability and wettability can be estimated through the interpretation of the decay signals. Many researches on random walk simulation have been published, since a simulation method based on random walk for solving exponential decays was adapted in the early of 1950. This study first makes a review on NMR simulation researches, explains two most important methods: simulation with or without considering magnetic field gradient. Lastly, the study makes a comparison between NMR simulation responses with and without magnetic field gradient to show the importance to consider magnetic gradient to analyze the effects of magnetic gradients on NMR responses.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.282-289
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• 2004

We have extensively characterized the fluorescence behavior of unsaturated polyester (UP) resin in the absence and presence of a 1,3-bis-(l-pyrenyl)propane (BPP) fluorescent probe at various dynamic and isothermal cure histories by means of a steady-state fluorescence technique using a front-face illumination equipment. In addition, we explored the effect of the fluorescence intensity on the relaxation of the fluorescent probe in the UP resin by resting the dynamically and isothermally cured resin at ambient temperature and pressure for 24 h. The monomer fluorescence intensity, which has two characteristic peaks at 376 and 396nm, changed noticeably depending on the cure temperature and time and provided important information with respect to the molecular and photophysical responses upon curing. The result of the fluorescence study indicates that the increased local viscosity and restricted molecular mobility of the UP resin surrounding the BPP probe after curing are both responsible for the enhancement of the monomer fluorescence intensity. Our results also demonstrate that once the BPP probe has enough time to rearrange and become isolated prior to fluorescence, a sufficient amount of fluorescence is emitted. Therefore, we note that the fluorescence behavior of this UP resin system is influenced strongly by the relaxation process of the fluorescent probe in the resin as well as process used to cure the resin.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2006

Objective : Tyrosine kinase inhibitors may be useful in the management of cerebral vasospasm. It has not yet been reported whether L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels playa role in tyrosine kinase inhibitors-induced vascular relaxation of cerebral artery. This study was undertaken to clarify the role of L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels in tyrosine kinase inhibitors-induced vascular relaxation, and to investigate the effect of tyrosine kinase inhibitors on L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels currents in freshly isolated smooth muscle cells from rat basilar artery. Methods : The isolation of rat basilar smooth muscle cells was performed by special techniques. The whole cell currents were recorded by whole cell patch clamp technique in freshly isolated smooth muscle cells from rat basilar artery. Results : Patch clamp studies revealed a whole-cell current which resembles the L-type $Ca^{2+}$ current reported by others. The amplitude of this current was decreased by nimodipine and increased by Bay K 8644. Genistein[n=5], tyrphostin A-23[n=3]. A-25[n=6] $30{\mu}M$ reduced the amplitude of the L -type $Ca^{2+}$ channel current in whole cell mode. In contrast, diadzein $30{\mu}M$ [n=3]. inactive analogue of genistein, did not decrease the amplitude of the L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channels current. Conclusion : These results suggest that tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as genistein, tyrphostin A-23, A-25 may relax cerebral vessel through decreasing level of intracellular calcium, [$Ca^{2+}$]i, by inhibition of L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.135-143
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) relaxation technique (hold relax; HR, contract relax; CR) and static stretch (SS) on hamstring flexibility and vertical jump performance in healthy adults over a four-week period. Methods: Twenty-four healthy adults volunteered to participate in PNF and static stretch sessions. The subjects were divided into three groups as follows: 8 subjects in the SS group, 8 subjects in the HR group, and 8 subjects in the CR group. In the HR and CR groups, contractions lasted 15 seconds per trial and consisted of 5 sets of 15 seconds of hamstring contraction immediately followed by 15 seconds of passive static hamstring stretching. For the static group, the participants were asked to stretch by hanging a leg over a table for 30 seconds. Subjects in all groups performed the exercises three days per week for 4 weeks. The active straight leg raising (ASLR) test, active knee extension (AKE) test, and vertical jump test were performed before the intervention and after 1, 2, and 4 weeks. Results: The SS, HR, and CR techniques effected positive improvement in hamstring flexibility and vertical jump performances but neither of the stretching methods had any statistically significant different effects according to group, although there were interactions (between group and time) in the ALSR group from 1 week to 2 week and in the AKE test from pretest to 1 week. Conclusion: Based on the results of the current study, SS, HR, and CR were shown to affect hamstring flexibility and vertical jump performance in healthy adults. In particular, it was determined that within a short period, hamstring flexibility could be attributed more to CR than to SS.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.123-130
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• 2019

As a cold-weather-concrete construction technique for enhancing the sustainability and improving efficiency of cold-weather construction, the cracking timing, the starting point of deterioration for concrete, due to the shrinkage of the blast furnace slag cement concrete including accelerator was evaluated. As a result, by using blast furnace slag and accelerator, the cracking was developed faster with higher cracking potential under the restrained conditions at constant age and free-shrinkage strain. It can be considered that the results of decreased stress relaxation by creep or increased restraint with increased free-shrinkage strain causes the increased cracking development speed. Hence, it should be considered the necessary of cracking due to the shrinkage when blast furnace slag or accelerator was used for cold-weather construction.