• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2021

Decorin (DCN) is a proteoglycan belonging to the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family. It is composed of a protein core containing leucine repeats with a glycosaminoglycan chain consisting of either chondroitin sulfate or dermatan sulfate. DCN is a structural component of connective tissues that can bind to type I collagen. It plays a role in the assembly of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and it is related to fibrillogenesis. It can interact with fibronectin, thrombospondin, complement component C1, transforming growth factor (TGF), and epidermal growth factor receptor. Normal DCN expression regulates a wide range of cellular processes, including proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and autophagy, through interactions with various molecules. However, its aberrant expression is associated with oocyte maturation, oocyte quality, and poor extravillous trophoblast invasion of the uterus, which underlies the occurrence of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Spatiotemporal hormonal control of successful pregnancy should regulate the concentration and activity of specific proteins such as proteoglycan participating in the ECM remodeling of trophoblastic and uterine cells in fetal membranes and uterus. At the human feto-maternal interface, TGF-β and DCN play crucial roles in the regulation of trophoblast invasion of the uterus. This review summarizes the role of the proteoglycan DCN as an important and multifunctional molecule in the physiological regulation of oocyte maturation and trophoblast migration. This review also shows that recombinant DCN proteins might be useful for substantiating diverse functions in both animal and in vitro models of oogenesis and implantation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.325-336
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• 1992

The successional status and potential natural vegetation were examined in a mixed broadleaved-Abies forest located at Mt, Odae National Park. The examination was based on the subsequent process of generation replacement by understory saplings for the dominant canopy trees within 88 $5m{\times}50m$ belt transects. The transition matrix model, which was modified from mathematical theory of Markov chain, was employed to analyze the successional status of the study forest. The model suggests that the study forest is still seral, and it is considered to be more than 700 years away from the steady state or climax in terms of species composition. The simulations predict a remarkable decrease in the proportion of species composition of the present dominant Quercus mongolica and Tilia amurensi.s from current 28% and 13% to less than 3% and 5%, respectively, at the steady state. On the contrary, the proportions of Abies holophylla, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, Carpinus cordata, and Pinus koraiensis will increase at the steady state. The ratio of mixture between deciduous and coniferous trees will be gradually changed from current 6.5 : 3.5 to 5.0 : 5.0 at equilibrium. Discussion for the problems of Quercus mongolica in successional status noted that the species behaved as a mid-successional dominant, not a climax species in the study forest. The hypothesis and sensitivity of the transition matrix model were also discussed to evaluate the applicability to the real situation. The overall results indicated that the present dynamics of the forest must reflect the seral state due to previous disturbance mainly by hyman related interference.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.64-67
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether in patients with rotator cuff tears a correlation exists between molecular changes and clinical parameters such as age, duration of symptom, range of motion, and tear size. Molecular changes of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) were assessed by measuring messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of the two proteins. Methods: The rotator cuff tissue from was obtained from the edge of a torn tendon revealed after debridement by a motorized shaver. Using the sample of rotator cuff tissue, the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to quantify MMP-2 and TIMP-2 mRNA expression. To determine whether mRNA levels and the clinical variables, such as age, defect size, range of motion (ROM) of shoulder, and duration of symptoms, show any correlation, Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to test for significant differences. Results: There was an inverse correlation between the mRNA levels of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 from the torn rotator cuff tendons regardless of the clinical variables. However, comparison of mRNA levels versus clinical parameters such as age, defect size, range of motion and duration of symptoms revealed a number of findings. We found a significant correlation between age and mRNA levels of MMP-2 from torn cuffs (r = 0.513, p = 0.021). Further, we found a significant correlation between defect size in the full thickness tears and mRNA levels of MMP-2 (r = 0.454, p = 0.045). Conversely, no significant association between mRNA levels of MMP-2 and ROM or duration of symptom was found. Conclusions: Our results suggest that both MMP-2 and TIMP-2 may be involved in the disease process of rotator cuff tears. Although the level of mRNA expression of MMP-2 and TMP-2 remain constant in torn rotator cuffs irrespective of the clinical variables, their levels may be influenced by age and defect size, which could account to change in tendon degradation and the healing process.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.624-629
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• 2015

Since the emergence of proteomics methods, many proteins specific for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have been identified. Despite their usefulness for the specific diagnosis of RCC, such proteins do not provide spatial information on the diseased tissue. Therefore, the identification of cancer-specific proteins that include information on their specific location is needed. Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) based imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) has emerged as a new tool for the analysis of spatial distribution as well as identification of either proteins or small molecules in tissues. In this report, surgical tissue sections of papillary RCC were analyzed using MALDI-IMS. Statistical analysis revealed several discriminative cancer-specific m/z-species between normal and diseased tissues. Among these m/z-species, two particular proteins, S100A11 and ferritin light chain, which are specific for papillary RCC cancer regions, were successfully identified using LC-MS/MS following protein extraction from independent RCC samples. The expressions of S100A11 and ferritin light chain were further validated by immunohistochemistry of human tissues and tissue microarrays (TMAs) of RCC. In conclusion, MALDI-IMS followed by LC-MS/MS analysis in human tissue identified that S100A11 and ferritin light chain are differentially expressed proteins in papillary RCC cancer regions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.571-578
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• 2007

A monoclonal antibody (mab) against the antimicrobial sulfamethazine was prepared and characterized by an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IC-ELISA). Sulfamethazine in the range of 0.2 and 45ng/ml could be determined with the mab by IC-ELISA. cDNAs encoding a variable heavy chain and variable light chain of the mab were cloned to produce recombinant antibodies using phage display technology. Following phage rescue and three rounds of panning, a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody with high sulfamethazine-binding affinity was obtained. ELISA analysis revealed that scFv antibody and parent mab showed similar, but not identical, characteristics. The $IC_{50}$ value by IC-ELISA with scFv antibody was 4.8ng/ml, compared with 1.6ng/ml with the parent mab. Performances of the assays in the presence of milk matrix were compared; the mab-based assay was less affected than the scFv-based assay. Sixty milk samples were analyzed by mab-based IC-ELISA, and four samples were sulfamethazine positive; these results were favorably correlated with those obtained by HPLC.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.9-17
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• 2004

Objective : Mesangial cell proliferation and excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins is the common pathologic feature of glomerulosclerosis, and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) BB-chain, transforming growth factor betal $(TGF-{\beta}1)$, cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) and CDK inhibitors mediated in these pathophysiological processes. Bupleurum falcatum which is one of the most widely used components in traditional oriental medicines, has multiple pharmacological effects, such as antipyretic, analgesic, immune modulating, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-thrombotic, anti-atherosclerotic, and antitussive effects. Methods : In this study, we evaluated the influence of Bupleurum falcatum on mesangial cell proliferation, DNA synthesis and expression of PDGF-BB chain, $TGF-{\beta}1$, CDKI, CDK2, CDK4, p21 and p27 in fetal bovine serum (FBS)-activated human mesangial cell. Results : Bupleurum falcatum reduced the mesangial cell proliferation and DNA synthesis more than control and captopril. And in the ELISA analysis of $TGF-{\beta}1$, and RT-PCR of PDGF-BB chain, CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, p21, and p27, Bupleurum falcatum inhibited the expression of $TGF-{\beta}1$ protein and PDGF-BB, CDK1, CDK2 gene and promoted that of p21 gene in a dose-dependent manner in comparing with control and captopril. Conclusions: These results suggest that Bupleurum falcatum may inhibit the mesangial cell proliferation and DNA synthesis by regulation of PDGF-BB and $TGF-{\beta}1$ expressions, and by modulation of CDK1, CDK2 and p21 expression.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.77-86
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• 2013

Cognitive radio (CR) has emerged as one of effective methods to enhance the utilization of existing radio spectrum. Main principle of CR is that secondary users (SUs) are allowed to use the spectrum unused by primary users (PUs) without interfering PU's transmissions. In this paper, PUs operate on a slot-by-slot basis and SUs try to exploit the slots unused by PUs. We propose OSA protocols in the single channel and we propose an opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) protocols in the multi-channel cognitive radio networks with one control channel and several licensed channels where a slot is divided into contention phase and transmission phase. A slot is divided into reporting phase, contention phase and transmission phase. The reporting phase plays a role of finding idle channels unused by PUs and the contention phase plays a role of selecting a SU who will send packets in the data transmission phase. One SU is selected by carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) with request to send / clear to send (RTS/CTS) mechanism on control channel and the SU is allowed to occupy all remaining part of all idle channels during the current slot. For mathematical analysis, first we deal with the single-channel case and we model the proposed OSA media access control (MAC) protocol by three-dimensional discrete time Markov chain (DTMC) whose one-step transition probability matrix has a special structure so as to apply the censored Markov chain method to obtain the steady state distribution.We obtain the throughput and the distribution of access delay. Next we deal with the multi-channel case and obtain the throughput and the distribution of access delay by using results of single-channel case. In numerical results, our mathematical analysis is verified by simulations and we give numerical results on throughput and access delay of the proposed MAC protocol. Finally, we find the maximum allowable number of SUs satisfying the requirements on throughput and access delay.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.463-473
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• 2019

The aim of this study is to identify the value structure of active seniors for noodles. Noodles are the secondly most preferred and familiar food in Korea, followed by rice. And noodles also have a variety of tastes/flavors and even a variety of ceremonial characteristics. The necessity of offering proper food to seniors has recently increasing because Korea becoming an aged society. This study conducted 1:1 in-depth interviews with 30 active senior participants using the soft laddering technique, which is based on the means-end chain theory. The Implication Matrix and HVM were derived from performing content analysis. The active seniors mainly consider the 'taste', expecting to obtain the 'satisfying taste', and pursuing the 'family affair', 'pleasure', and 'self-satisfaction'. The results of this study indicated that the taste is the most important attribute and the active seniors consider their family as well as the pleasure and satisfaction of their own. Male seniors mainly pursue the 'pleasure' and 'self-satisfaction' by satisfying their taste through considering 'taste' and 'familiarity'. But female seniors mainly pursue the 'family affair' by 'satisfying taste' through considering 'taste'. These results can be used as a basic data for developing noodle products for the elderly. This study will also contribute to the development of special care food and product concepts for the silver generation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.130-136
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• 2021

Persister cell formation and biofilms of pathogens are extensively involved in the development of chronic infectious diseases. Eradicating persister cells is challenging, owing to their tolerance to conventional antibiotics, which cannot kill cells in a metabolically dormant state. A high frequency of persisters in biofilms makes inactivating biofilm cells more difficult, because the biofilm matrix inhibits antibiotic penetration. Fatty acids may be promising candidates as antipersister or antibiofilm agents, because some fatty acids exhibit antimicrobial effects. We previously reported that fatty acid ethyl esters effectively inhibit Escherichia coli persister formation by regulating an antitoxin. In this study, we screened a fatty acid library consisting of 65 different fatty acid molecules for altered persister formation. We found that undecanoic acid, lauric acid, and N-tridecanoic acid inhibited E. coli BW25113 persister cell formation by 25-, 58-, and 44-fold, respectively. Similarly, these fatty acids repressed persisters of enterohemorrhagic E. coli EDL933. These fatty acids were all medium-chain saturated forms. Furthermore, the fatty acids repressed Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) biofilm formation (for example, by 8-fold for lauric acid) without having antimicrobial activity. This study demonstrates that medium-chain saturated fatty acids can serve as antipersister and antibiofilm agents that may be applied to treat bacterial infections.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1293-1316
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• 2021

Using directional antennas in wireless Ad hoc networks has many superiorities, including reducing interference, extending transmission range, and increasing space division multiplexing. However, directional transmission introduces two problems: deafness and directional hidden terminals problems. We observe that these problems result in saturation throughput disparity among the competing flows in directional CSMA/CA based Ad hoc networks and bring challenges for modeling the saturation throughput of the flows. In this article, we concentrate on how to model and analyze the saturation throughput disparity of different flows in directional CSMA/CA based Ad hoc networks. We first divide the collisions occurring in the transmission process into directional instantaneous collisions and directional persistent collisions. Then we propose a four-dimensional Markov chain to analyze the transmission state for a specific node. Our model has three different kinds of processes, namely back-off process, transmission process and freezing process. Each process contains a certain amount of continuous time slots which is defined as the basic time unit of the directional CSMA/CA protocols and the time length of each slot is fixed. We characterize the collision probabilities of the node by the one-step transition probability matrix in our Markov chain model. Accordingly, we can finally deduce the saturation throughput for each directional data stream and evaluate saturation throughput disparity for a given network topology. Finally, we verify the accuracy of our model by comparing the deviation of analytical results and simulation results.