Earticle

우리나라에서는 홍수기 유량조사에 전자파를 이용한 표면유속 측정이 일반적이다. 상대적으로 안전한 비접촉식 유량조사의 확대를 위해, 본 연구에서는 하천과 수로 등에서 표면유속을 평균유속으로 환산 하는 계수의 신뢰성을 조사하였다. 표면유속과 평균유속을 조사한 대상은 농업용 저수지 방수로, 자갈 하천 및 관개수로이고, 농업용 저수지를 대상으로는 용적량을 확인하였다. 조사 결과, 하상경사나 하상 재료에 따른 평균유속 환산계수는 0.61, 0.90, 0.52, 0.88 등으로 매우 다양하게 나타났다. 상기 결과는 하상재료의 특성에 따라, 조사지점마다 고유의 환산계수를 가지고 있음을 명확히 한다. 다시 말해, 정확한 유량조사는, 각 지점 고유의 환산계수를 알아야 가능하다는 것이다. 기후변화로 인한 물 관리의 중요성은 하루가 다르게 증가하고 있다. 하천 및 수로에 대한 정확한 유량은 향후 정량적인 수자원 관리의 필수 인자로 사용될 것이다.

Surface velocity measurement using electromagnetic waves is common in flood season discharge surveys in Korea. In order to expand the relatively safe non-contact discharge survey, this study investigated the reliability of the coefficient that converts surface velocity to mean velocity in rivers and waterways. Surface and mean velocity were investigated for agricultural reservoir spillways, gravel rivers, and irrigation canals, and the volumetric capacity of agricultural reservoirs was confirmed. As a result of the investigation, the mean velocity conversion coefficients according to the riverbed slope or riverbed material were very diverse, such as 0.61, 0.90, 0.52, and 0.88. The above result makes it clear that each investigation point has a unique conversion coefficient according to the characteristics of the bed material. In other words, accurate discharge investigation is possible by knowing the unique conversion factor to each point. The importance of water management due to climate change is increasing day by day. Accurate flow rate for rivers and waterways will be used as an essential factor for quantitative water resource management in the future.

Zygotic embryo culture was performed to propagate evergreen oak, Quercus myrsinifolia, which has recalcitrant seeds and is difficult to propagate by cuttings. Zygotic embryos appeared in WPM medium after 14 days, and after 56 days, they developed into complete plants with cotyledons and roots. The medium suitable for zygotic embryo culture was 1/4 WPM medium, showing a shoot growth of 2.43 cm and root growth of 8.7 cm after 8 weeks of culture. As a result of investigating the effect of GA3 on the growth of plants germinated from zygotic embryos through GA3 treatment, the best growth was shown in 0.5 mg/l GA3 treatment. The in vitro rooting and growth of IBA-treated zygotic embryo-derived plants were good in the 0.5 mg/l IBA treatment and rooting and shoot growth were not observed at higher concentrations. And the callus induction rate also increased as the concentration of IBA increased. Plants grown in vitro were transferred to a plastic pot containing artificial soil and acclimatized in a greenhouse for about 4 weeks, resulting in more than 90% survival. As a result of this study, the zygotic embryo culture method was confirmed to be effective for mass propagation of Q. myrsinifolia. The results of this study are expected to contribute significantly to the mass propagation of elite Q. myrsinifolia.

This paper proposes a motion planning method for connected autonomous vehicles approaching an intersection where there is no traffic light. Crossing an intersection poses a new set of challenges due to the various interaction with opposing vehicles. By exploiting the position, velocity, heading, and trajectory of vehicles through V2X communication, the future motion of vehicles in the vicinity of the intersection can be predicted. The predicted motion is translated into an SLcoordinate frame where the likelihood of a path conflict can be predetermined. This information is fed into the motion planner, where it calculates the optimal trajectory of the vehicle using a search-based method. The proposed motion planner is validated using two identical CAVs in a no-traffic-light within the Incheon Songdo Technopark testbed.

Time-temperature integrators (TTIs) based on aqueous enzyme solutions produce transparent colors which lead to difficulty in distinguishing its color change by naked eye. In this present study, this issue has been solved by increasing the opacity of laccase-based TTI without changes in the kinetics (same zero-order reaction) and temperature dependency (similar Arrhenius activation energy values) of the color change. The opacity was increased by introducing TiO2, latex, BaSO4, or ZnO, in combination with a hydrocolloid (xanthan gum, acacia gum, pectin, and CMC) into the TTI system. The combination of TiO2 and xanthan gum was the best. This finding broadened the advantages of laccasebased TTI to more practical uses for consumer convenience.

The apoptotic effects of shikonin (5,8-dihydroxy-2-[(1R)-1-hydroxy-4-methylpent-3-enyl]naphthalene-1,4-dione) on the human colon cancer cell line SNU-407 were investigated in this study. Shikonin showed dose-dependent cytotoxic activity against SNU-407 cells, with an estimated $IC_{50}$ value of $3{\mu}M$ after 48 h of treatment. Shikonin induced apoptosis, as evidenced by apoptotic body formation, sub-G_1$ phase cells, and DNA fragmentation. Shikonin induced apoptotic cell death by activating mitogen-activated protein kinase family members, and the apoptotic process was mediated by the activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, leading to activation of the $PERK/elF2{\alpha}/CHOP$ apoptotic pathway, and mitochondrial $Ca^{2+}$ accumulation. Shikonin increased mitochondrial membrane depolarization and altered the levels of apoptosis-related proteins, with a decrease in B cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 and an increase in Bcl-2-associated X protein, and subsequently, increased expression of cleaved forms of caspase-9 and -3. Taken together, we suggest that these mechanisms, including MAPK signaling and the ER- and mitochondria-mediated pathways, may underlie shikonin-induced apoptosis related to its anticancer effect.

Encapsulation capacities $(V_{gas})$ of, $H_2,\;N_2,\;CO,\;CH_4$ and CO, for $Cs_{2.5}Na_{9.5}-A (C_s-A)$ and $Na_{12}$-A (Na-A) zeolites have been measured in order to understand the effect of molecular properties on the $V_{gas}$. With appropriate number of large blocking cations on the main windows of cavities in zeolite A, gas molecules can be encapsulated in both the ${\alpha}$ -and ${\beta}$-cages, resulting in much large $V_{gas}.\;V_{gas}$ is proportional to the encapsulation pressure (Pe) and is also dependent on the molecular properties of encapsulated gases themselves, especially on intermolecular forces originated from the quadrupole moments of molecules in the molecular-dimensioned cavities of zeolite A. At the low range of Pe, molecules with larger $V_{gas}$ and intermolecular forces apparently have smaller increasing tendencies of $V_{gas}$ upon increases in Pe, showing a linear relationship between the tendencies and intermolecular forces rather than their sizes. Interactions between encapsulated molecules of $CH_4$ and framework of Cs-A have been estimated and they seem to depend on the number of encapsulated molecules per unit cell. On the basis of calculated density of $CO_2$, presence of liquid-like phase for the encapsulated molecules in the molecular dimensioned cavities of zeolite A is postulated.

Osteoporosis is a worldwide disease leading to significant economic and societal burdens globally. Osteoporosis is caused by unbalanced bone remodeling between the rate of osteoclast bone resorption and osteoblast bone formation. Acer tegmentosum Maxim (AT) is a traditional herbal medicine containing multiple biological activities such as anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory purposes. However, its role in osteoporosis has not been fully studied. Therefore, we investigated whether AT has a potent inhibitory effect on osteoporosis and its mechanism through a systemic evaluation in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. OVX mice were orally administrated with the AT at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg for 10 weeks. Histological images and histomorphometry analyses were performed by H&E and Toluidine blue satin, and the expression levels of receptor activator for nuclear factor-kB ligand (RANKL), nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasm 1 (NFATc1), c-Fos, and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) related to the osteoclast differentiation were investigated using immunohistochemical analysis. Administration of AT prevented bone loss and the alternations of osteoporotic bone parameters at the distinct regions of the distal femur and spongiosa region in OVX mice. Further, administration of AT increased periosteal bone formation in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, AT inhibited not only the expression of NFATc1 and c-Fos, which are two major regulators of osteoclastogenesis but also reduced bone resorbed encoding expression of MMP9 and RANKL. Our results indicated that administration of AT prevented bone loss and the alternations of osteoporotic bone parameters at the distinct regions of the distal femur and spongiosa region in OVX mice. Also AT has the bone protective effect through the suppression of osteoclast and promotion of osteoblast, suggesting that it could be a preventive and therapeutic candidate for anti-osteoporosis.

Biomaterials are frequently functionalized with Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptides to provide cell adhesion sites. In this study, RGD peptides were enzymatically coupled on to the surface of fibroin microspheres. Papain exhibited a strong preference for dansyl phenylalanine for the peptide formation with fibroin microspheres. Thus, RGD1 peptide was designed to carry cysteine to both sides of the sequence, glycine as a spacer and two residues of phenylalanine at the C-terminal (CRGDCGFF). The enzymatic modification facilitated by an increasing amount of substrate and by the presence of organic solvent, dimethylsulfoxide at 25% (v/v). Microspheres coupled with RGD1, showed a significantly different precipitation property and an increased apparent volume, possibly due to the steric hindrance of RGD peptides on the surface. Transmission electron microscopy also confirmed the presence of cysteine residues in RGD1 coupled on the surface of microspheres stained with gold nanoparticles. RGD1-microspheres significantly facilitated the growth of murine fibroblast 3T3 cells even under non-adhesion culture conditions.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a debilitating condition characterized by recurrent obsessive thoughts and compulsive reactions. A great portion of the obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients are managed successfully with psychiatric treatment such as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, but more than 10% of patients are remained as non-responder who needs neurosurgical treatments. These patients are potential candidates for the neurosurgical management. There had been various kind of operation, lesioning such as leucotomy or cingulotomy or capsulotomy or limbic leucotomy, and with advent of stereotaxic approach and technical advances, deep brain stimulation was more chosen by neurosurgeon due to its characteristic of reversibility and adjustability. Gamma knife radiosurgery are also applied to make lesion targeting based on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, but the complication of adverse radiation effect is not predictable. In the neurosurgical field, MR guided focused ultrasound has advantage of less invasiveness, real-time monitored procedure which is now growing to attempt to apply for various brain disorder. In this review, the neurosurgical treatment modalities for the treatment of OCD will be briefly reviewed and the current state of MR guided focused ultrasound for OCD will be suggested.

Purpose: Pulmonary toxicities, including infectious pneumonia (IP) and idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS), are serious side effects of total body irradiation (TBI) used for myeloablative conditioning. This study aimed to evaluate clinical factors associated with IP and IPS following TBI. Materials and Methods: Fifty-eight patients with hematologic malignancies who underwent TBI before allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation between 2005 and 2014 were reviewed. Most patients (91%) received 12 Gy in 1.5 Gy fractions twice a day. Pulmonary toxicities were diagnosed based on either radiographic evidence or reduced pulmonary function, and were subdivided into IP and IPS based on the presence or absence of concurrent infection. Results: Pulmonary toxicities developed in 36 patients (62%); 16 (28%) had IP and 20 (34%) had IPS. IP was significantly associated with increased treatment-related mortality (p = 0.028) and decreased survival (p = 0.039). Multivariate analysis revealed that the risk of developing IPS was significantly higher in patients who received stem cells from a matched unrelated donor than from a matched sibling donor (p = 0.021; hazard ratio [HR] = 12.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-110.30). Combining other conditioning agents with cyclophosphamide produced a higher tendency to develop IP (p = 0.064; HR = 6.19; 95% CI, 0.90-42.56). Conclusion: IP and IPS involve different risk factors and distinct pathogeneses that should be considered when planning treatments before and after TBI.

Objective: Ovarian reserve tests are commonly used to predict ovarian response in infertile patients undergoing ovarian stimulation. Although serum markers such as basal follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or random $anti-M{\ddot{u}}llerian$ hormone (AMH) level and ultrasonographic markers (antral follicle count, AFC) are good predictors, no single test has proven to be the best predictor. In this study, we developed appropriate equations and novel nomograms to predict the number of oocytes that will be retrieved using patients' age, serum levels of basal FSH and AMH, and AFC. Methods: We analyzed a database containing clinical and laboratory information of 141 stimulated in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles performed at a university-based hospital between September 2009 and December 2013. We used generalized linear models for prediction of the number of oocytes. Results: Age, basal serum FSH level, serum AMH level, and AFC were significantly related to the number of oocytes retrieved according to the univariate and multivariate analyses. The equations that predicted the number of oocytes retrieved (log scale) were as follows: model (1) $3.21-0.036{\times}(age)+0.089{\times}(AMH)$, model (2) $3.422-0.03{\times}(age)-0.049{\times}(FSH)+0.08{\times}(AMH)$, model (3) $2.32-0.017{\times}(age)+0.039{\times}(AMH)+0.03{\times}(AFC)$, model (4) $2.584-0.015{\times}(age)-0.035{\times}(FSH)+0.038{\times}(AMH)+0.026{\times}(AFC)$. model 4 showed the best performance. On the basis of these variables, we developed nomograms to predict the number of oocytes that can be retrieved. Conclusion: Our nomograms helped predict the number of oocytes retrieved in stimulated IVF cycles.

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of the National Train-the-Trainers Program for Hospice and Palliative Care Experts (TTHPC) sponsored by the National Cancer Center of Korea between 2009 and 2012. This program was developed to improve the teaching skills of those in the field of hospice and palliative care (HPC). Materials and Methods: Training was offered in eight 1-day sessions between 2009 and 2012. The effect of the program was measured using Kirkpatrick's model of educational outcomes. First, levels 1 and 2 were evaluated immediately after the 1-day program (n=120). In 2012, the level-3 evaluation test was administered to trainers who offered at least one HPC training (n=78) as well as to their trainees (n=537). Results: The level-1 evaluation addressed participant reactions to and satisfaction with the program. Participants (n=120) were generally satisfied with the content, the method, and the overall course (mean range: 3.94-4.46 on a five-point Likert scale). The level-2 evaluation (learning) showed that participants gained knowledge and confidence related to teaching HPC (4.24 vs. 4.00). The level-3 evaluation (behavioral), which assessed trainers' application of teaching skills to HPC, showed that trainees rated the teaching methods of trainers (mean range: 4.03-4.08) more positively than did trainers (p<0.05). Female trainers were more likely than were male trainers to plan sessions in consideration of their trainees' characteristics (4.11 vs. 3.58; p<0.05), and nurse trainers were more likely than physician trainers to use a variety of instructional methods (4.05 vs. 3.36; p<0.05) Conclusions: We conducted systematic evaluations based on Kirkpatrick's model to assess the effectiveness of our train-the-trainers program. Our educational program was practical, effective, and followed by our HPC experts, who needed guidance to learn and improve their clinical teaching skills.

Arteriovenous fistula of the scalp is relatively rare disease. We report a traumatic arteriovenous fistula of the scalp treated with complete surgical excision and review the literature with regard to etiology, pathogenesis, and management of these unusual lesions.

Dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is very rare, acquired lesion that may present with intracranial hemorrhage or neurological deficits. The etiology is not completely understood but dural AVF often has been associated with thrombosis of the involved dural sinuses. To our knowledge, this is the first well documented intracranial hemorrhage case caused by dural AVF following microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm. A 49-year-old male patient had left microvascular decompression of anterior inferior cerebellar artery via retrosigmoid suboccipital craniotomy. The patient was in good condition without any residual spasm or surgery-related complications. However, after 10 months, he suffered sudden onset of amnesia and dysarthria. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed the presence of dural AVF around the left transverse-sigmoid sinus. The dural AVF was treated with Onyx$^{(R)}$ (ev3) embolization. At the one-year follow up visit, there were no evidence of recurrence and morbidity related to dural AVF and its treatment. This case confirms that the acquired etiology of dural AVF may be associated with retrosigmoid suboccipital craniotomy for hemifacial spasm, even though it is an extremely consequence of this procedure.

The present study was performed to evaluate combination effect of 7$\beta$-hydroxycholesterol (7$\beta$-OHC) and $\gamma$-radiation in NCI-H460 human lung cancer cells. 7$\beta$-OHC in combination with $\gamma$-irradiation has an enhanced effect in decreasing clonogenic survival and increasing cellular DNA damage. Pretreatment of cells with 7$\beta$-OHC enhanced radiation-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis of the cells by combined treatment of 7$\beta$-OHC and $\gamma$-irradiation was associated with reactive oxygen species generation and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, resulting in the activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3. The combined treatment also resulted in an increased G1 cell cycle distribution. These results indicate that 7$\beta$-OHC shows the additive effect of radiation sensitivity in human lung carcinoma cells in vitro.

Background/Aims: Clinical data on the efficacy and safety of the dual delayed-release formulation of 10-mg esomeprazole (HIP2101) are currently limited. Therefore, this study compared the efficacy and safety of HIP2101 and 20-mg famotidine (RLD2101) in patients with gastric erosions. Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, active-control, phase III study, 326 patients with endoscopically proven gastric mucosal erosion were randomly assigned to receive either HIP2101 or RLD2101 once daily for 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was the rate of improvement of erosion. Secondary endpoints (rate of cure of erosion and edema, and rate of improvement of hematin and gastrointestinal symptoms) and treatment-emergent adverse events were compared between the groups. Results: Based on the per-protocol set (PPS) analysis, the improvement rates for erosion were 64.9% (98/151) and 63.7% (100/157) in the HIP2101 and RLD2101 groups, respectively (95% confidence interval, ?9.5 to 11.9). The lower bound of the 95% confidence interval was greater than the noninferiority margin of ?14%. These results were similar to those of the full analysis set (FAS) (HIP2101 group, 64.6%; RLD2101 group, 62.7%). Based on the PPS and FAS analyses, the cure rates for erosion and edema and the improvement rates for hematin and gastrointestinal symptoms were comparable between the groups. The number of adverse events did not differ significantly between the groups. Conclusions: The efficacy and safety of HIP2101 were comparable to those of RLD2101 in the treatment of gastric erosions and symptomatic improvement. These findings suggest that HIP2101 may be a novel treatment option for gastritis (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05024721).

Objective Numerous studies have identified various risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the experimental limitations of disease modeling make it challenging to directly interpret their effects. These limitations include constraints of postmortem samples, animal experiments, and challenges associated with brain tissue studies. Ex vivo experiments effectively address these issues by enabling patient-specific identification and highlighting potential biomarkers. This study aimed to characterize the transcriptional profile of fibroblasts derived from patients with AD in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and propose potential biomarkers.Methods We utilized an ex vivo platform to identify genes differentially responsive to ER stress. The transcriptional feature of fibroblasts in both healthy controls (n=22) and patients with AD (n=20) was analyzed using bulk RNA sequencing. The cytotoxicity of the selected target gene was evaluated through knockdown experiments.Results A total of 468 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analysis revealed that 210 DEGs, which were less responsive in AD, are involved in lipid-related terms and pathways. By narrowing down AD-related genes, we identified 49 highly reliable AD-associated genes. The most significant gene, <i>DCTN2</i>, exhibited a fold change that positively correlated with cognitive function and negatively correlated with blood-based biomarkers (pTau217, amyloid beta 42/40 ratio), aligning with the amyloid/Tau/neurodegeneration research criteria for AD. Additionally, the knockdown of <i>DCTN2</i> in glial cell lines resulted in increased cell toxicity and apoptosis.Conclusion Identifying differentially responsive genes in ex vivo experiments not only provides insights into the pathology of AD but also offers potential biomarkers for disease diagnosis.