• Title/Summary/Keyword: Complex surface

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Potential Importance of Proteomics in Research of Reproductive Biology (생식생물학에세 프로테오믹스의 응용)

  • Kim Ho-Seung;Yoon Yong-Dal
    • Development and Reproduction
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2004
  • The potential importance of proteomic approaches has been clearly demonstrated in other fields of human medical research, including liver and heart disease and certain forms of cancer. However, reproductive researches have been applied to proteomics poorly. Proteomics can be defined as the systematic analysis of proteins for their identity, quantity, and function. It could increase the predictability of early drug development and identify non-invasive biomarkers of toxicity or efficacy. Proteome analysis is most commonly accomplished by the combination of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis(2DE) and MALDI-TOF(matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight) MS(mass spectrometry) or protein chip array and SELDI-TOF(surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization-time of flight) MS. In addition understanding the possessing knowledge of the developing biomarkers used to assess reproductive biology will also be essential components relevant to the topic of reproduction. The continued integration of proteomic and genomic data will have a fundamental impact on our understanding of the normal functioning of cells and organisms and will give insights into complex cellular processes and disease and provides new opportunities for the development of diagnostics and therapeutics. The challenge to researchers in the field of reproduction is to harness this new technology as well as others that are available to a greater extent than at present as they have considerable potential to greatly improve our understanding of the molecular aspects of reproduction both in health and disease.

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Petrological Characteristics and Deterioration State of Standing Buddha Statue in the Gwanchoksa Temple, Nonsan, Korea (논산 관촉사 석조미륵보살입상의 암석학적 특성과 풍화훼손도)

  • Yun, Seok-Bong;Kaug, Yean-Chun;Park, Sung-Mi;Yi, Jeong-Eun;Lee, Chan-Hee;Choi, Seok-Won
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.39 no.6 s.181
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    • pp.629-641
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    • 2006
  • The Standing Buddha Statue in the Gwanchoksa temple consists of medium to coarse grained biotite granodiorite with dark grey color, and it has a week gneissosity along the pegmatite veins. The results of magnetic susceptibility and geochemical patterns of the host rock of Standing Buddha Statue and the basement rock suggest that both values are formed from the co-genetic magma with the same differentiation process. The CIAs of the basement rock and the Standing Buddha Statue are calculated to 51.43 and 50.86, and the WPIs are estimated 4.52 and 8.95, respectively. So the weathering potential from the host rock of Standing Buddha Statue and basement rock prove to be high. The Standing Buddha Statue is terribly damaged with physical weathering from deterioration and exfoliation, and are scattered with secondary pollutant and precipitate. Basement rock is also in danger of ground collapse because of irregularly developed discontinuity system. Most surface of Standing Buddha Statue is seriously discolored into yellowish brown and dark gray, or black precipitates are also formed. Moreover, it is heavily covered with crustose lichen, fungi and algae, or moss are also found. In order to control the influential factors with the complex deterioration of Standing Buddha Statue, it is needed to rearrange a site environments, and conservation scientific management is required to protect it from covering lichens, exfoliations and fractures.

MethA Fibrosarcoma Cells Expressing Membrane-Bound Forms of IL-2 Enhance Antitumor Immunity

  • Sonn, Chung-Hee;Yoon, Hee-Ryung;Seong, In-Ock;Chang, Mi-Ra;Kim, Yong-Chan;Kang, Han-Chul;Suh, Seok-Cheol;Kim, Young-Sang
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.16 no.12
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    • pp.1919-1927
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    • 2006
  • Tumor cells genetically engineered to secrete cytokines are effective in tumor therapy, but various unexpected side effects are observed, which may result from the bulk activation of various bystander cells. In this study, we tested tumor vaccines expressing various membrane-bound forms of IL-2 (mbIL-2) on MethA fibrosarcoma cells to focus antitumor immune responses to CTL. Chimeric forms of IL-2 with whole CD4, deletion forms of CD4, and TNF were expressed on the tumor cell surface, respectively. Tumor clones expressing mbIL-2 or secretory form of IL-2 were able to support the cell growth of CTLL-2, an IL-2-dependent T cell line, and the proliferation of spleen cells from 2C TCR transgenic mice that are responsive to the $p2Ca/L^d$ MHC class I complex. Expression of mbIL-2 on tumor cells reduced the tumorigenicity of tumor cells, and the mice that once rejected the live IL-2/TNF tumor clone acquired systemic immunity against wild-type MethA cells. The IL-2/TNF clone was inferior to other clones in tumor formation, and superior in the stimulation of the CD8+ T cell population in vitro. These results suggest that the IL-2/TNF clone is the best tumor vaccine, and may stimulate CD8+ T cells by direct priming. Expression of IL-2/TNF on tumor cells may serve as an effective gene therapy method to ameliorate the side effects encountered in the recombinant cytokine therapy and the conventional cytokine gene therapy using the secretory form of IL-2.

A Study on Fouling Characteristics and Applicability of Fouling Reducer in Submerged MBR Process (침지형 MBR공정에서 파울링 특성과 파울링 완화제의 적용성에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Jun Won;Park, Hong June;Kim, Min Ho;Oh, Yong Keol;Park, Chul Hwi
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.35 no.5
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    • pp.371-380
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    • 2013
  • Though MBR process has many advantages, the greatest risk factors in operating MBR process are occurrence of membrane fouling and decrease of flux. It is very difficult to find exact mechanism due to complex influence by many effects, although there have been recently many studies of membrane fouling. The purposes of this study are firstly evaluating bioreactor of lab-scale and micro-filtration hollow fiber membrane, secondly investigating correlation between foulants affecting membrane performance and membrane fouling, and lastly evaluating various parameters affecting fouling and applicability of membrane fouling reducer. This study found that TMP was increasing rapidly and showed 0.32 bar and the average of flux was 88 LMH. EPS concentration tends not to change much above MLSS concentration (6,000 mg/L). However, EPS concentration variation is wide below MLSS concentration (6,000 mg/L). Also, from results of membrane surface condition and element analysis using SEM/EDX, carbon and fluorine were founded to be the highest percentage in membrane because of characteristics of membrane material. In operating continuously, inorganic fouling was generated by increase of these inorganic substances such as $Al^{3+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$. Lastly, the best filtration performance was obtained for 0.03 mg MFR/mg MLSS by results of particle size, zeta potential, $SCOD_{cr}$, EPS and MLSS concentration.

Remote Sensing Applications for Malaria Research : Emerging Agenda of Medical Geography (원격탐사 자료를 이용한 말라리아 연구 : 보건지리학적 과제와 전망)

  • Park, Sunyurp
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.473-493
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    • 2012
  • Malaria infection is sensitively influenced by regional meteorological conditions along with global climate change. Remote sensing techniques have become an important tool for extraction of climatic and environmental factors, including rainfall, temperature, surface water, soil moisture, and land use, which are directly linked to the habitat qualities of malaria mosquitoes. Improvement of sensor fidelity with higher spatial and spectral resolution, new multinational sensor development, and decreased data cost have nurtured diverse remote sensing applications in malaria research. In 1984, eradication of endemic malaria was declared in Korea, but reemergence of malaria was reported in mid-1990s. Considering constant changes in malaria cases since 2000, the epidemiological management of the disease needs careful monitoring. Geographically, northmost counties neighboring North Korea have been ranked high in the number of malaria cases. High infection rates in these areas drew special attention and led to a hypothesis that malaria dispersion in these border counties might be caused by north-origin, malaria-bearing adult mosquitoes. Habitat conditions of malaria mosquitoes are important parameters for prediction of the vector abundance. However, it should be realized that malaria infection and transmission is a complex mechanism, where non-environmental factors, including human behavior, demographic structure, landscape structure, and spatial relationships between human residence and the vector habitats, are also significant considerations in the framework of medical geography.

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A Study on the Feature Extraction Using Spectral Indices from WorldView-2 Satellite Image (WorldView-2 위성영상의 분광지수를 이용한 개체 추출 연구)

  • Hyejin, Kim;Yongil, Kim;Byungkil, Lee
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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    • v.33 no.5
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    • pp.363-371
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    • 2015
  • Feature extraction is one of the main goals in many remote sensing analyses. After high-resolution imagery became more available, it became possible to extract more detailed and specific features. Thus, considerable image segmentation algorithms have been developed, because traditional pixel-based analysis proved insufficient for high-resolution imagery due to its inability to handle the internal variability of complex scenes. However, the individual segmentation method, which simply uses color layers, is limited in its ability to extract various target features with different spectral and shape characteristics. Spectral indices can be used to support effective feature extraction by helping to identify abundant surface materials. This study aims to evaluate a feature extraction method based on a segmentation technique with spectral indices. We tested the extraction of diverse target features-such as buildings, vegetation, water, and shadows from eight band WorldView-2 satellite image using decision tree classification and used the result to draw the appropriate spectral indices for each specific feature extraction. From the results, We identified that spectral band ratios can be applied to distinguish feature classes simply and effectively.

Catalytic Characteristics of Mn-PC for VOCs Combustion (VOCs 연소용 Mn-PC 촉매 특성)

  • Seo, Seong-Gyu;Ma, Zhong-Kun;Liu, Yi;Yoon, Hyung-Sun;Kim, Sang-Chai
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.237-242
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    • 2011
  • In this study, the catalytic activity of Mn-Phthalocyanine (Mn-PC) for VOCs (acetadehyde, propionaldehyde and toluene) combustion was determined. The reaction was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at the temperature range of $200{\sim}380^{\circ}C$. We investigated the physicochemical properties of Mn-PC before and after the pretreatment (air, $450^{\circ}C$, 1 hr, 60 cc/min) by TGA (Thermogravimetric Analyzer), BET (Brunauer Emmett Teller), EA (Elemental Analyzer), XRD (X-ray Diffractometer) and SEM (Scanning Electronic Microscope). By TGA analysis, 88 wt.% mass loss of Mn-PC was found at $419^{\circ}C$. The BET surface area of Mn-PC increased after the pretreatment. The decomposition and combustion of organic components in Mn-PC were observed by EA analysis. We also confirmed that Mn-PC had transformed into a new manganese oxide phase ($Mn_3O_4$) after the pretreatment by XRD analysis. By SEM analysis, many of the micropores generated during the pretreatment were found. The catalytic activity of Mn-PC with the pretreatment for propionaldehyde combustion was higher than that of $Mn_3O_4$ and fresh Mn-PC. It showed the catalytic activity of Mn-PC with the pretreatment for VOCs combustion by the order of toluene < acetadehyde < propionaldehyde.

Seasonal Variations of Water Quality in the Coastal Sea of Jungmun Resort Complex in Jeiu Island (제주도 중문관광단지 연안해역 수질의 계절변동)

  • Jang Seung-Min;Choi Young-Chan
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.3-18
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    • 2002
  • This study has been carried out to find the water Quality in coastal sea of fungmun area, southern Jeju Island. In-situ observations and water sampling had been made every month from July 1997 to June 2000. The distributions of water temperature and salinity over the study area have been 13.8~27.0℃ and 30.0~34.7‰, respectively. Salinity is showed low salinity from June to September (rainy season) because of rain. Tsushima Warm Waters (TWW) as ≥15℃ and ≥34‰ influence the adjacent sea around Jeju Island all year round. Yangtse Coastal Waters (YCW) influence the surface layer around Jeju from June to September and so strong stratification (termocline, halocline) resulted at the depth of between 20~30m at outer-sea. However the stratification does not happen even in summer at inner-sea, which seem to be caused due to vertical mixing by wind, waves and tides. A water mass of high value of water temperature and salinity (respectively 14.1~17.7℃, 33.9~34.1‰) stayed at the lower layer in outer-sea all the year round. It is probably formed by mixing between TWW and YSBCW(Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water). The mean value of DO was the lowest in summer and the highest in winter. COD and TH were the highest in summer and the lowest in winter. However, TP showed the lowest value in summer season, because the mean value of N/P ratio was over 16. The mean of N/P ratio was under 16 in other seasons. The phosphate would be a limiting factor in the growth of phytoplanHon in summer. Nitrate would be a limiting factor in other seasons. Distribution of chlorophyll a did not show any seasonal change in the study period, but especially increased during April and May in the first year(1998) and the second year(1999) all over the study area, which suggested that phytoplankton inhabitation distributed widely in the study area. The space averaged values were the highest for TIN in rainy season and lower for TP in rainy season than in other seasons. It suggests that river runoff influences the inner-sea.

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NADPH Oxidase and Mitochondrial ROS are Involved in the $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 and Monocyte Adhesion in Cultured Endothelial Cells

  • Yu, Jae-Hyeon;Kim, Cuk-Seong;Yoo, Dae-Goon;Song, Yun-Jeong;Joo, Hee-Kyoung;Kang, Gun;Jon, Ji-Yoon;Park, Jin-Bong;Jeon, Byeong-Hwa
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.217-222
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    • 2006
  • Atherosclerosis is considered as a chronic inflammatory process. However, the nature of the oxidant signaling that regulates monocyte adhesion and its underlying mechanism is poorly understood. We investigated the role of reactive oxygen species on the vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and monocyte adhesion in the cultured endothelial cells. $TNF-{\alpha}$ at a range of $1{\sim}30\;ng/ml$ induced VCAM-1 expression dose-dependently. BCECF-AM-labeled U937 cells firmly adhered on the surface of endothelial cells when the endothelial cells were incubated with $TNF-{\alpha}$ (15 ng/ml). Ten $\;{\mu}mol/L$ of SB203580, an inhibitor of p38 MAPK, significantly reduced $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ VCAM-1 expression, compared to the JNK inhibitor ($40\;{\mu}mol/L$ of SP60015) or ERK inhibitor ($40\;{\mu}mol/L$ of U0126). Also, SB203580 significantly inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ monocyte adhesion in HUVEC. Superoxide production was minimal in the basal condition, however, treatment of $TNF-{\alpha}$ induced superoxide production in the dihydroethidineloaded endothelial cells. Diphenyleneiodonium (DPI, $10\;{\mu}mol/L$), an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, and rotenone $(1\;{\mu}mol/L)$, an inhibitor of mitochondrial complex I inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ superoxide production, VCAM-1 expression and monocyte adhesion in the endothelial cells. Taken together, our data suggest that NADPH oxidase and mitochondrial ROS were involved in $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ VCAM-1 and monocyte adhesion in the endothelial cells.

Persistent Scatterer Selection and Network Analysis for X-band PSInSAR (X-band PSInSAR를 위한 고정산란체 추출 및 네트워크 분석 기법)

  • Kim, Sang-Wan;Cho, Min-Ji
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.521-534
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    • 2011
  • The high-resolution X-band SAR systems such as COSMO-SkyMED and TerraSAR-X have been launched recently. In addition KOMPSAT-5 will be launched in the early of 2012. In this study we developed the new method for persistent scatterer candidate (PSC) selection and network construction, which is more suitable for PSInSAR analysis using multi-temporal X-band SAR data. PSC selection consists in two main steps: first, selection of initial PSCs based on amplitude dispersion index, mean amplitude, mean coherence. second, selection of final PSCs based on temporal coherence directly estimated from network analysis of initial PSCs. To increase the stability of network the Multi- TIN and complex network for non-urban area were addressed as well. The proposed algorithm was applied to twenty-one TerraSAR-X SAR of New Orleans. As a result many PSs were successfully extracted even in non-urban area. This research can be used as the practical application of KOMPSAT-5 for surface displacement monitoring using X-band PSInSAR.