• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.614-623
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• 2020

The objective of this study was to produce a nutrient delivery system (NDS) using sialic acid extracted from edible bird's nest (EBN), which improves brain function in patients with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, by affinity bead technology (ABT). The inhibitory activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and pyramidal cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus were analyzed to investigate the effect of a sialic acid NDS on Alzheimer's disease. Also, the effect of a sialic acid NDS on Parkinson's disease was evaluated by rota-rod test and pole test in an animal model. Among the groups treated with donepezil, EBN, and sialic acid NDS, the AChE activity was the lowest in the sialic acid NDS-treated group. The results of the hippocampus analysis of the rat model confirmed that the sialic acid NDS inhibited amyloid-beta accumulation depending upon the concentration. Also, the sialic acid NDS group showed more improvement in motor deterioration than the1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced group in both the rota-rod test and pole test. Therefore, the sialic acid NDS had an effect of protecting not only Alzheimer's disease by inhibiting AChE and amyloid-beta accumulation, but Parkinson's disease by preventing neurotoxicity induced by MPTP.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1.1-1.5
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• 2009

Many organisms control their physiology and behavior in response to the local light environment, which is first perceived by photoreceptors that undergo light-dependent conformational changes. Phytochromes are one of the major photoreceptors in plants, controlling wide aspects of plant physiology by recognizing the light in red (R) and far-red (FR) spectra. Higher plants have two types of phytochromes; the photo-labile type I (phyA in Arabidopsis) and photo-stable type II (phyB-E in Arabidopsis). Phytochrome B (phyB), a member of the type II phytochromes in Arabidopsis, shows classical R and FR reversibility between the inter-convertible photoisomers, Pr and Pfr. Interestingly, the Pr and Pfr isomers show partitioning in the cytosol and nucleus, respectively. In the over 50 years since its discovery, it has been thought that the type II phytochromes only function to mediate R light. As described in the text, we have now discovered phyB has an active function in FR light. Even striking is that the R and FR light exert an opposite effect. Thus, FR light is not simply nullifying the R effect but has an opposing effect to R light. What is more interesting is that the phyB-mediated actions of FR and R light occur at different cellular compartment of the plant cell, cytosol and nucleus, respectively, which was proven through utilization of the cytosolic and nuclear-localized mutant versions of phyB. Our observations thus shoot down a major dogma in plant physiology and will be considered highly provocative in phytochrome function. We argue that it would make much more sense that plants utilize the two isoforms rather than only one form, to effectively monitor the changing environmental light information and to incorporate the information into their developmental programs.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.232-237
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• 2017

Dentists often place post and core buildups on endodontically treated abutments for crown and bridge restorations. This article analyzes the bio-mechanical purposes, advantages and disadvantages of placing a core or a post and core in an endodontically treated tooth and reviews literature on post and core biomechanics. The author assesses the scientific rationale of the claim that the main purpose of a post is to retain a core, or the claim that posts weaken teeth. More likely, the main function of a post is to help prevent the abutment, on which a crown is cemented, from fracturing such that the abutment separates from the tooth root, at a fracture plane that is located approximately and theoretically at the level of the crown (or ferrule) margin. A post essentially improves the ferrule effect that is provided by the partial fixed denture prosthesis. This paper also explores the difference between bio-mechanical failures of crowns caused by lack of retention or excess taper, versus failures due to a sub-optimal ferrule effect in crown and bridge prostheses.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.E2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2008

This work investigated the methodology to simultaneously optimize the ozone and relative humidity composition for the $NO_x$ degradation using soil biofilter. Experiments were made as a function of inlet ozone concentration ($0{\sim}1,770\;ppb$) and relative humidity ($38{\sim}81%$). Factorial design ($2^2+3$) and response surface methodology by central composite designs were used to examine the role of two factors and optimal response condition on $NO_x$ degradation. It was found that a second-order response surface model can properly interpret the experimental data with an $R^2$-value of 0.9730 and F-value of 71.83, based on which the maximum $NO_x$ degradation was predicted up to 92.8% within our experimental conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.491-494
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• 2009

Within the secondary metabolite class of flavonoids, which consist of more than 10,000 known structures, flavones define one of the largest subgroups. The diverse function of flavones in plants as well as their various roles in the interaction with other organisms offers many potential applications including in human nutrition and pharmacology. We used two genes, flavone synthase (PFNS-l) that converts naringenin into apigenin and flavone 7-O-methyltransferase (POMT-7) that converts apigenin into 7-O-methyl apigenin, to synthesize 7-O-methyl apigenenin from naringenin. The PFNS-l gene was subcloned into the E. coli expression vector pGEX and POMT-7 was subcloned into the pRSF vector. Since both constructs contain different replication origins and selection markers, they were cotransformed into E. coli. Using E. coli transformants harboring both PFNS-l and POMT-7, naringenin could be converted into 7-O-methyl apigenin, genkwanin.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1173-1178
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• 2005

This paper proposes an IPMC actuating system with a bio-mimetic function. EMG signals generated by an intended contraction of muscles in forearm are used for the actuation of the IPMC. To obtain higher actuation force of the IPMC, the single layered as thick as 800 [${\mu}$m] or multi-layered IPMC (Nafion) of which each layer can be as thick as 178 [${\mu}$m] are prepared. The experimental results using an implemented IPMC control system show a possibility and a usability of the bio-mimetic artificial muscle.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.423-433
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• 1996

This study was conducted to predict the drafts of various tillage tools with a model tool and a neural network. Drafts of tillage tools were measured and a time lagged recurrent neural network was developed. The neural network had a structure to predict dynamic draft, having a function of one step ahead prediction . The results showed the model tool draft had linear relations with high coefficient of determinations to the drafts of the tillage tools. Also, the drafts of tillage tools were successfully predicted by the developed neural network.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2010

Erythropoietin (EPO), a glycoprotein hormone produced from primarily cells of the peritubular capillary endothelium of the kidney, is responsible for the regulation of red blood cell production. We have been investigating the roles of glycosylation site added in the biosynthesis and function of recombinant protein. In this study, we analyzed by immunohistochemical methods adaptive mechanisms to excessive erythrocytosis in transgenic (tg) mice expressing dimeric human erythropoietin (dHuEPO) gene. Splenomegaly was observed over 11~21 times in the tg mice. The 2,672 candidate spleen-derived genes were identified through the microarray analysis method, and decreased genes were higher than increased genes in the spleen. The specific proteins in the increased and decreased genes were analyzed by immunohistochemical methods. Our results demonstrate that problems of abnormal splenomegaly would solve in tg mice overexpressing dHuEPO gene.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1059-1065
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• 2004

Bio sparging experiments were conducted in a laboratory column to investigate the potential removal of diesel contaminated groundwater. The objectives in this study were (a) to determine the extent of diesel degradation in laboratory columns under supplement of nutrient; (b) to determine the effect of variation of air flow in the removal of diesel and (c) to evaluate the potential enhancement of diesel degradation as a function of temperature. Our results showed that the nutrient supplement and higher air flow greatly enhanced diesel degradation. However, the variation of water temperature examined slightly increased degradation rate of diesel fuel.

• Advances in robotics research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2018

To monitor the environment and determine the source of a pollutant gradient using a multiple robot swarm, we propose a hybrid algorithm that combines two bio-inspired algorithms mimicking chemotaxis and pheromones of bacteria. The algorithm is implemented in virtual robot agents in a simulator to evaluate their feasibility and efficiency in gradient maps with different sizes. Simulation results show that the chemotaxis controller guided robot agents to the locations with higher pollutant concentrations, while the pheromone marked in a virtual field increased the efficiency of the search by reducing the visiting redundancy. The number of steps required to reach the target point did not increase proportionally as the map size increased, but were less than those in the linear whole-map search method. Furthermore, the robot agents could function with simple sensor composition, minimum information about the map, and low calculation capacity.