Traditional Korean medicine in the modernization process: institutional and attitudinal changes

The objective of the research is to contribute to the sociological understanding of East Asian medicine in Korea. Specifically, at the institutional level, this study describes changes in the structure and organization of the traditional East Asian medical system, looks for some major reasons for these changes, examines the system\u27s developmental process as a social system, and inquires about the system\u27s dynamic relationship with Western medicine. At the individual level, this research examines the Korean people\u27s attitudes and behaviors concerning East Asian medicine in relation to Western medicine; the effects of sociodemographic variables and nationalistic sentiment on attitudes and use of East Asian medicine are examined;From May to August of 1988, the data were gathered from 191 randomly selected residents of Bong-Dug 2 Dong in Taegu city, Korea. Observations of medical facilities and library research were also conducted in Korea;Along with general social changes, the East Asian medical system has been substantially modernized in recent years. Health policies have clearly affected the status of the traditional medical system. The influences of professionalization on the status of the traditional medical system are generally upheld. At the individual level, the popularity of East Asian medicine has been maintained among the people, regardless of their age, gender, level of education, rural residence experience, and income. Nationalistic sentiment is significantly related to the attitude scale of East Asian medicine but is not significantly related to the two behavior indexes. Attitudes and behaviors concerning East Asian medicine are significantly correlated, but the relationships are not as strong as was anticipated

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase-β acts upstream of AMP-activated protein kinase in mammalian cells

SummaryAMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is the downstream component of a kinase cascade that plays a pivotal role in energy homeostasis. Activation of AMPK requires phosphorylation of threonine 172 (T172) within the T loop region of the catalytic α subunit. Recently, LKB1 was shown to activate AMPK. Here we show that AMPK is also activated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK). Overexpression of CaMKKβ in mammalian cells increases AMPK activity, whereas pharmacological inhibition of CaMKK, or downregulation of CaMKKβ using RNA interference, almost completely abolishes AMPK activation. CaMKKβ isolated from rat brain or expressed in E. coli phosphorylates and activates AMPK in vitro. In yeast, CaMKKβ expression rescues a mutant strain lacking the three kinases upstream of Snf1, the yeast homolog of AMPK. These results demonstrate that AMPK is regulated by at least two upstream kinases and suggest that AMPK may play a role in Ca2+-mediated signal transduction pathways

An ultra-wideband transmit/receive module using 10 to 35 GHz six-channel microstrip multiplexers and its applications to phased-array antenna transceiver systems

This dissertation introduces new and simple techniques for suppression of multispurious passbands, which are inherent to the conventional microstrip parallel coupleline bandpass filters. In addition, the operation of harmonic suppression is analyzed using a simple model. Special emphasis is placed on the applications of several new filter designs for microstrip diplexers and multiplexers. Compact, full-duplex beam scanning antenna transceiver systems with extremely broad bandwidth have also been developed. Recent advances in broadband monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers make the realization of extremely broadband phased-array transceiver systems possible. The ultra-wideband phased-array transceiver systems can be used in multi-band mobile satellite communication systems and wideband radars. This dissertation presents a multi-band, compact, full-duplex, beam scanning antenna transceiver system for satellite communications and two designs of ultra-wideband, low-cost radar systems as applications of the MMIC amplifiers. In addition, a multi-frequency antenna has been developed. A single-feed triple frequency microstrip patch antenna is presented as an answer to the recent demand for multi-function systems in the wireless communications. In summary, the research presented in this dissertation covers every component required to build an ultra-wideband, full-duplex beam scanning phased-array antenna transceiver. The work done in this dissertation should have many applications in the wireless communication systems and wideband radar technologies

Production of Transgenic Cloned Miniature Pigs with Membrane-bound Human Fas Ligand (FasL) by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Cell-mediated xenograft rejection, including NK cells and CD8+ CTL, is a major obstacle in successful pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Human CD8+ CTL and NK cells display high cytotoxicity for pig cells, mediated at least in part by the Fas/FasL pathway. To prevent cell-mediated xenocytotoxicity, a membrane-bound form of human FasL (mFasL) was generated as an inhibitor for CTL and NK cell cytotoxicity that could not be cleaved by metalloproteinase to produce putative soluble FasL. We produced two healthy transgenic pigs harboring the mFasL gene via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In a cytotoxicity assay using transgenic clonal cell lines and transgenic pig ear cells, the rate of CD8+ CTL-mediated cytotoxicity was significantly reduced in transgenic pig's ear cells compared with that in normal minipig fetal fibroblasts. Our data indicate that grafts of transgenic pigs expressing membrane-bound human FasL control the cellular immune response to xenografts, creating a window of opportunity to facilitate xenograft survival