• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.26-30
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• 2008

This study was conducted to identify the effect of chilling temperature (-3 and $6^{\circ}C$) and aging (1- and 7-day) on objective meat quality, collagen solubility, and free amino acids in pork (longissimus muscle of Yorkshire). Warner-Bratzler (WB)-shear force indicated that variation in chilling temperature had no detectable effect on meat tenderness and tenderization during the 7-day aging period. Among the 13 detected free amino acids, only 3 amino acids (histidine, valine, leucine) were significantly affected by the temperature treatment (p<0.05). Collagen solubility was significantly increased at $6^{\circ}C$ treatment (p<0.05). There was a significant linear relationship (r=0.67, p<0.05) between changes in free amino acids and WB-shear force during the 7-day aging period. These results confirmed that chilling conditions had significantly affected collagen solubility, and meat tenderization occurred in direct proportion to an increase in free amino acids.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.40-49
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• 2015

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into multi-lineage cells, thus highlighting the feasibility of using umbilical cord blood-derived MSCs (UCB-MSCs) for cell-therapy and tissueengineering. However, the low numbers of UCB-MSC derived from clinical samples requires that an ex vivo expansion step be implemented. As most stem cells reside in low oxygen tension environments (i.e., hypoxia), we cultured the UCBMSCs under 3% $O_2$ or 21% $O_2$ and the following parameters were examined: proliferation, senescence, differentiation and stem cell specific gene expression. UCB-MSCs cultured under hypoxic conditions expanded to significantly higher levels and showed less senescence compared to UCB-MSCs cultured under normoxic conditions. In regards to differentiation potential, UCB-MSCs cultured under hypoxic and normoxic conditions both underwent similar levels of osteogenesis as determined by ALP and von Kossa assay. Furthermore, UCB-MSCs cultured under hypoxic conditions exhibited higher expression of OCT4, NANOG and SOX2 genes. Moreover, cells expanded under hypoxia maintained a stem cell immnunophenotype as determined by flow cytometry. These results demonstrate that the expansion of human UCB-MSCs under a low oxygen tension microenvironment significantly improved cell proliferation and differentiation. These results demonstrate that hypoxic culture can be rapidly and easily implemented into the clinical-scale expansion process in order to maximize UCB-MSCs yield for application in clinical settings and at the same time reduce culture time while maintaining cell product quality.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2024

Communication with others plays an important role in human social interaction and information exchange in modern society. However, some individuals have difficulty in communicating due to dysarthria. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective diagnostic techniques for early treatment of the dysarthria. In the present study, we propose a mobile device-based methodology that enables to automatically classify dysarthria type. The light-weight CNN model was trained by using the open audio dataset of Korean patients with dysarthria. The trained CNN model can successfully classify dysarthria into related subtype disease with 78.8%~96.6% accuracy. In addition, the user-friendly mobile application was also developed based on the trained CNN model. Users can easily record their voices according to the selected inspection type (e.g. word, sentence, paragraph, and semi-free speech) and evaluate the recorded voice data through their mobile device and the developed mobile application. This proposed technique would be helpful for personal management of dysarthria and decision making in clinic.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.225-235
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• 2015

Treatments for asthma are largely pharmaceutical, with some therapies also utilising alternative breathing techniques. The objective of both medical and alternative methods is to relax contracted airway smooth muscle (ASM). In normal subjects, tidal breathing- and deep inspiration-oscillations are believed to have a bronchodilatory effect. Similarly, application of length oscillations to isolated, contracted ASM also elicits muscle relaxation. As a means of investigating more-effective alternative treatment methods for contracted airways, we analyse the combined effects of bronchodilators and length oscillations on isolated, contracted ASM. The contractile state of the muscle tissue prior to treatment is of primary interest. Thereafter, the effect of applying a combination of small superimposed length oscillations with tidal breathing-like oscillations to ASM is studied alone and in combination with a common bronchodilator, isoproterenol (ISO). This work suggests that relaxation of isolated, contracted ASM following application of combined oscillations and ISO is larger than treatments of either combined oscillations or ISO alone. Further, the observed oscillation-associated relaxation is found to be amplitude- rather than frequency-dependent. This study gives additional insight into the role of oscillations and bronchodilators on contracted airways.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.603-608
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• 2009

Novel ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/zirconia composites were previously prepared by the in situ polymerization of ethylene using a Ti-based Ziegler-Natta catalyst supported on to the surface of zirconia, as a bearing material for artificial joints. Tribological tests revealed that a uniform dispersion of zirconia in UHMWPE markedly increased the wear resistance. The effects of zirconia content on the oxidation behavior of the ${\gamma}$-ray-treated UHMWPE/zirconia composite surfaces were examined. The oxidation index that estimates the oxidation degree as the content of total carbonyl compounds was monitored using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance. The changes in the surface composition due to the oxidation were confirmed by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis. The extent of oxidation decreased with increasing zirconia content, which was attributed to the increased crystallinity as well as the decreased polymer portion of the UHMWPE/zirconia composites.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.500-503
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• 2002

Biomedical signals are ubiquitously contaminated and degraded by background noise which span nearly all frequency bandwidths. This paper proposes the MADF (multiplication free adaptive digital filter) algorithm to cancel the noise. And the convergence characteristics of the algorithm is analyzed. In the experimental results, the MADF algorithm has the advantage in which has superior to a condition of low-frequency and slow data speed. This application gives an important significance in ensuring the objectivity of clinical information and in promoting the representation and the disease diagnosis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 1997.06a
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• pp.159-169
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• 1997

ABA-type(or AB) block copolymers composed of poly(${\gamma}$-alkyl L-glutamate) (PALG)[or poly(L-leucine)] as the A component and polyether[or poly (N-isopropy1 acrylamide) as the B component were synthesized by polymerization of (${\gamma}$-alkyl L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride initiated by primary amined located at both(or one) ends of the polymer chains. Structural studies of the block copolymers were performed in the solution and solid state. Also, artificial skin, drug delivery system of the block copolymers and cell attachment onto the copolymer were carried out for biomedical applications.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.167-172
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• 2010

To meet on going challenges in nano-biomedical technology, the convergence of "spintronics", "biomedical" technology is a major break through in imaging, diagnosis and therapy, high-throughput genomic analysis. Especially magnetic bioassay is one of crucial devices for early diagnosis of specific analytes, point-of-care and U-health care application. In this paper, current status on high resolution magnetic sensors for bioassay and on-chip magnets for biomolecule transportation will be reviewed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.208-212
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• 2018

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has been attractive since it can not only treat organic waste in an eco-friendly way by digesting it but also generate electricity by the unique metabolic process of microbes. However, it hasn't been employed in practical use until now because it is hard to integrate a small electricity up to an adequate amount of electric power and difficult to keep its bio-electric activity consistent. In this study, we combined an energy harvester with MFC (MFC-EH) to make the power-integration convenient and developed an energy self-sustainable wireless sensor system driven by a stable electric power produced by MFC-EH. Additionally, we build the low power application measuring data to be cast by the web in real-time so that it can be quickly and easily accessed through the internet. The proposed system could contribute to improvement of waste treatment and up-cycling technologies in near future.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.180-184
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• 2014

Mitochondria play a crucial role in many essential biological events by way of the electron transport chains and intermembrane proteins that they contain. Abnormalities in the mitochondria are strongly correlated with the development of diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, and diabetes. However, the study of mitochondria has been referred to as 'labor-intensive' because of the difficulty in isolating the organelles from their various sources, which can include cultured cells and tissues. Multiple companies provide mitochondria isolation kits, and it is possible for investigators to use different kits and apply different protocols depending on the source of the mitochondria. Therefore, we focused on producing an isolation buffer that could be applied to both cultured cells and tissues, and optimized an isolation protocol that could be used with both. Specifically, we adjusted the buffer condition that can be applied to human cervical cancer cells, fibroblasts, and tissues such as mouse liver and spleen. We also optimized the protocol to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the steps involved in the isolation of mitochondria. These methodological improvements may contribute to advanced research by allowing investigators to overcome the difficulties involved in isolation of mitochondria from biological samples.