• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.905-913
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• 2014

Lj-RGD3, an RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) toxin protein from the salivary gland of Lampetra japonica, exhibits antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Lj-RGD3 has three RGD motifs and shows homology to histidine-rich glycoprotein. We synthesised two mutant derivatives of Lj-RGD3: Lj-26, which lacks all three RGD motifs and contains no His residues; and Lj-112, which lacks only the three RGD motifs. We investigated the effects of the wild-type and mutated toxins on a gram-positive bacterium (Escherichia coli), a gram-negative bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus), and a fungus (C. albicans). rLj-RGD3 and its mutants exhibited antifungal but not antibacterial activity, as measured by a radial diffusion assay. The C. albicans inhibition zone induced by rLj-112 was larger than that induced by the other proteins, and its inhibitory effect on C. albicans was dose-dependent. In viable-count assays, the rLj-112 MIC was $7.7{\mu}M$, whereas the MIC of the positive control (ketoconazole) was $15{\mu}M$. Time-kill kinetics demonstrated that rLj-112 effectively killed C. albicans at $1{\times}$ and $2{\times}$ MIC within 12 and 6 h, respectively. Electron microscopy analysis showed that rLj-RGD3 and rLj-112 induced C. albicans lysis. Our results demonstrate a novel anticandidal activity for rLj-RGD3 and its mutant derivatives.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2011

The accuracy of MR sensor-based electronic compass is influenced by the temperature drift and DC offset of the MR sensor and the OP-amp, the magnetic distortion of nearby magnetic materials, and the compass tilt We design the 3-axis MR sensor and accelerometers-based electronic compass which is compensated by the set/reset pulse switching method on the temperature drift and DC offset, by the execution of hard-iron calibration routine on the magnetic distortion, and by the execution of the Euler rotational equation on the compass tilt. We qualitatively analyze the measured azimuth error on the execution of sensitivity calibration routine which is the normalization process on the different sensitivity of each MR sensor and the different gain of each op-amps. This compensation and analytic result make us design the one degree accuracy electronic compass.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1305-1309
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• 2020

Insects possess biological defense systems that can effectively combat the invasion of external microorganisms and viruses, thereby supporting their survival in diverse environments. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a fast-acting weapon against invading pathogens, including various bacterial or fungal strains. A 37-residue antimicrobial peptide, papiliocin, derived from the swallowtail butterfly Papilio xuthus larvae, showed significant antimicrobial activities against several human pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains. Jelleines, isolated as novel antibacterial peptides from the Royal Jelly (RJ) of bees, exhibit broad-spectrum protection against microbial infections. In this study, we developed a novel antimicrobial peptide, PAJE (RWKIFKKPFKISIHL-NH₂), which is a hybrid peptide prepared by combining 1-7 amino acid residues (RWKIFKK-NH₂) of papiliocin and 1-8 amino acid residues (PFKISIHL-NH₂) of Jelleine-1 to alter length, charge distribution, net charge, volume, amphipaticity, and improve bacterial membrane interactions. This novel peptide exhibited increased hydrophobicity and net positive charge for binding effectively to the negatively charged membrane. PAJE demonstrated antimicrobial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, with very low toxicity to eukaryotic cells and an inexpensive process of synthesis. Collectively, these findings suggest that this novel peptide possesses great potential as an antimicrobial agent.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.25-30
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• 2018

The larvae of Hermetia. illucens have a high probability of coming into contact with microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. Therefore, the survival of H. illucens is primarily the protection of their own against microbial infection. This effect depends on the development of the innate immune system. Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) exhibit antimicrobial activity against other bacterial strains and can provide important data to understand the basis of the innate immunity of H. illucens. In this study, we injected larvae with Enterococcus. faecalis (gram-positive bacteria) and Serratia. marcescens as (gram-negative bacteria) to test the hypothesis that H. illucens is protected from infection by its immune-related gene expression repertoire. To identify the inducible immune-related genes, we performed and cataloged the transcriptomes by RNA-Seq analysis. We compared the transcriptomes of whole larvae and obtained a DNA fragment of 465 bp including the poly (A) tail by RACE as a novel H. illucens immune-related gene against bacteria. A novel target mRNA expression was higher in immunized larvae with E. faecalis and S. marcescens groups than non-immunized group. We expect our study to provide evidence that the global RNA-Seq approach allowed for the identification of a gene of interest which was further analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR, together with genes chosen from the available literature.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.10
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• pp.1420-1430
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• 2018

We investigate an entangled system, which is analogous to a composite system of a black hole and Hawking radiation. If Hawking radiation is well approximated by an outgoing particle generated from pair creation around the black hole, such a pair creation increases the total number of states. There should be a unitary mechanism to reduce the number of states inside the horizon for black hole evaporation. Because the infalling antiparticle has negative energy, as long as the infalling antiparticle finds its partner such that the two particles form a separable state, one can trace out such a zero energy system by maintaining unitarity. In this paper, based on some toy model calculations, we show that such a unitary tracing-out process is only possible before the Page time while it is impossible after the Page time. Hence, after the Page time, if we assume that the process is unitary and the Hawking pair forms a separable state, the internal number of states will monotonically increase, which is supported by the Almheiri-Marolf-Polchinski-Sully (AMPS) argument. In addition, the Hawking particles cannot generate randomness of the entire system; hence, the entanglement entropy cannot reach its maximum. Based on these results, we modify the correct form of the Page curve for the remnant picture. The most important conclusion is this: if we assume unitarity, semi-classical quantum field theory, and general relativity, then the black hole should violate the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy bound around the Page time at the latest; hence, the infinite production arguments for remnants might be applied for semi-classical black holes, which seems very problematic.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.59.1-59.13
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• 2021

Background: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been identified as promising compounds for consideration as novel antimicrobial agents. Objectives: This study analyzed the efficacy of cecropin B against Haemophilus parasuis isolates through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments. Results: Cecropin B exhibited broad inhibition activity against 15 standard Haemophilus parasuis (HPS) strains and 5 of the clinical isolates had minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) ranging from 2 to 16 ㎍/mL. Microelectrophoresis and hexadecane adsorption assays indicated that the more hydrophobic and the higher the isoelectric point (IEP) of the strain, the more sensitive it was to cecropin B. Through SEM, multiple blisters of various shapes and dents on the cell surface were observed. Protrusions and leakage were detected by AFM. Conclusions: Based on the results, cecropin B could inhibit HPS via a pore-forming mechanism by interacting with the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria. Moreover, as cecropin B concentration increased, the bacteria membrane was more seriously damaged. Thus, cecropin B could be developed as an effective anti-HPS agent for use in clinical applications.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Medicine & Therapy Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.59-71
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of the CO-OP program using cognitive strategy on the satisfaction and high-level cognitive function of chronic stroke patients with cognitive impairment with the existing task-oriented approach training method. Method: The group randomly selects the experimental group and control group from 30 patients who suffer cognitive damage due to brain damage, and then randomly presents the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupative Performance (CO-OP) Results: The results of the study showed a significant increase in patient performance and satisfaction, task performance, and high-level cognitive functions in comparison to those before training (p<).05) There was no significant difference in CNT testing in controls; Although there were no significant differences in overall CNT testing between the two groups, the COPM, AMPS tests showed a significant increase in the experimental group compared to the comparators (p <.05). Conclusion: The Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupative Performance (CO-OP) Intervention Act, which uses meta-in strategies, was previously used. We were able to confirm that it could be a more effective intervention in task performance and high-level cognitive function than in the Meaningful Task-Specific Training Program (MTST).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.999-1006
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• 2020

The suppression of neuroinflammatory responses in microglial cells, well known as the main immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS), are considered a key target for improving the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. Teleogryllus emma is widely consumed around the world for its broad-spectrum therapeutic effect. In a previous work, we performed transcriptome analysis on T. emma in order to obtain the diversity and activity of its antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs are found in a variety of species, from microorganisms to mammals. They have received much attention as candidates oftherapeutic drugs for the treatment of inflammation-associated diseases. In this study, we investigated the anti-neuroinflammatory effect of Teleogryllusine (VKWKRLNNNKVLQKIYFVKI-NH₂) derived from T. emma on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced BV-2 microglia cells. Teleogryllusine significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production without cytotoxicity, and reducing pro-inflammatory enzymes expression such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). In addition, Telegryllusine also inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) through down-regulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. These results suggest that T. emma-derived Teleogryllusine could be a good source of functional substances that prevent neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.129-141
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• 2011

This study aims to find out effects of a tailored occupational activity program(TOAP) on the activities of daily living(ADL), cognitive function, depressive mood, and caregiver burden, who live in the community. Method : From October 2009 to May 2010, the TOAP was applied to 15 dementia patients and 15 of their caregivers, who was visitors of the Y-city Center for Managing Dementia in Gyunggi-do. The TOAP was designed for habituating patients and caregivers to the techniques acquired through goal activities and task and making it capable of being routinized regularly. The TOAP was applied to dementia patients and their cvaregivers twice a week for 7 weeks(one-time home visit, one-time phone inspection), a total of 14 times. Results: Significant differences among pre-test and post-test were found in the AMPS motor skills(1.10±1.14 and 1.34±1.2 respectively) scores, AMPS process skills(0.32±0.55 and 0.77±0.66 respectively) scores, ACL(3.86±0.65 and 4.17±0.64 respectively) scores, MMSE-KC(17.33±4.6 and 19.33±4.97 respectively) scores, GDS(11.73±6.87 and 8.53±7.09 respectively) scores, and caregiver burden(31.80±20.06 and 26.13±18.07 respectively) scores(p<0.05). A significant effect was confirmed from the TOAP which ADL, cognitive function, reduced patient's depression and caregiver burden(p<0.05). Conclusion: From the above results that a TOAP has an effect on the improvement of the ability to ADL, cognitive function and reduced depression and caregiver burden of dementia patients living in community. The present author hopes that, in the future, more diverse community based on tailored occupational activity programs will be developed to improve the functions of dementia patients living in community.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.105.2-105.2
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• 2011

화비정질 실리콘의 빛에 의한 노화현상 (light-induced degradation; LID)은 이미 1977년 보고된 Staebler-Wronski 효과에 의해서 확인된 바 있다. 이는 비정질 실리콘이 빛에 노출될 때, 이미 포함되어 있는 수소원자가 빛 에너지에 의해서 이동하게 되고, 이로 인해서 생성 또는 소멸되는 댕글링 본드 때문에 일어난다. 특히, 일상적인 태양광의 노출 하에서 태양전지의 장시간 성능을 예측하는데 물리적인 이해의 부족 및 기술 환경적인 어려움이 있고, 이러한 요인들은 안정된 태양전지를 개발하는데 장해요인으로 나타난다. 그러므로 비정질 실리콘 태양전지가 장시간 태양광에 노출되어 시간이 지남에 따라서 "성능이 어떻게 변하는지?" 그리고 "이에 대한 원인은 무엇인지?" 등은 여전히 과학적으로 풀어야할 숙제로 남아있다. 본 논문에서는 비정질 실리콘으로 구성된 태양전지가 태양광에 노출될 때 시간이 지남에 따라서 (1) 성능이 어떻게 변하는지, (2) LID의 변화는 언제 안정화되는지, 그리고 (3) 성능변화에 대한 원인은 무엇인지에 대해서 논의한다. 본 논문은 장시간 빛에 노출되는 비정질 실리콘 태양전지의 성능예측에 관해서 연구하였다. 결함밀도의 운동학적 모형을 통해서 태양광 노출에 대한 태양전지 성능변화를 예측하는데 초점을 맞추었고, 이를 위해서 태양전지에 조사되는 태양광 세기, 주변온도, 등이 고려되었다. 특히, 전하운반자의 수명이 결함밀도에 의해서 결정되기 때문에 비정질 실리콘 태양전지의 빛에 대한 노화현상 (LID)이 확장지수함수 (stretched-exponential) 완화법칙을 따르는 결함밀도에 의해서 물리적으로 설명된다. 한편 이와 같은 물리적 계산의 유용성을 확인하기 위해서 동일한 태양전지에 대해서 AMPS-1D 컴퓨터 프로그램을 사용하였고, 이를 통해서 비정질 실리콘 태양전지의 빛에 대한 노화현상을 물리적 및 정량적으로 이해하였다. 본 연구에 적용되는 태양전지는 비정질 실리콘으로 구성된 pin 구조 (glass/$SnO_2$/a-SiC:H:B/a-Si:H/a-Si:H:P/ITO)로서 다음과 같은 특성을 갖는다: 에너지 띠간격~1.72 eV, 두께~400 nm, 내부전위~1.05 V, 초기 fill factor~0.71, 초기 단락전류~16.4 mA/$cm^2$, 초기 개방전압 0.90 V, 초기 변환효율 10.6 %. 우리는 이와 같은 연구를 통해서 과학적으로 비정질 실리콘의 빛에 의한 노화현상을 이해하고, 기술적으로 효율 및 경제성이 높은 태양전지의 개발에 도전한다.