• Toxicological Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.209-216
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• 2012

The biological activity of particles is largely dependent on their size in biological systems. Dispersion in the aqueous phase has been both a critical impediment to and a prerequisite for particle studies. Carbon black has been used as a surrogate to investigate the biological effects of carbonaceous particles. Here, biocompatible methods were established to disperse carbon black into ultrafine and fine particles which are generally distinguished by the small size of 100 nm. Carbon black with a distinct particle size, N330 and N990 were suspended in blood plasma, cell culture media, Krebs-Ringer's solution (KR), or physiological salt solution (PSS). Large clumps were observed in all dispersion preparations; however, sonication improved dispersion - averaged particle sizes for N330 and N990 were $85.0{\pm}42.9$ and $112.4{\pm}67.9$ nm, respectively, in plasma; the corresponding sizes in culture media were $84.8{\pm}38.4$ and $164.1{\pm}77.8$ nm. However, sonication was not enough to disperse N330 less than 100 nm in either KR or PSS. Application of Tween 80 along with sonication reduced the size of N330 to less than 100 nm, and dispersed N990 larger than 100 nm ($73.6{\pm}28.8$ and $80.1{\pm}30.0$ nm for N330 and $349.5{\pm}161.8$ and $399.8{\pm}181.1$ nm for N990 in KR and PSS, respectively). In contrast, 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) exhibited little effect. Electron microscopy confirmed the typical aciniform structure of the carbon arrays; however, zeta potential measurement failed to explain the dispersibility of carbon black. The methods established in this study could disperse carbon black into ultrafine and fine particles, and may serve as a useful model for the study of particle toxicity, particularly size-related effects.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.654-660
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• 1998

$[Fe^{II}Fe^{III}BPLMP(OAc)_2](BPh_4)_2$ (1), a new model for the reduced form of the purple acid phosphatases, has been synthesized by using a dinucleating ligand, 2,6-bis[((2-pyridylmethyl)(6-methyl-2-pyridylmethyl)amino) methyl]-4-methylphenol (HBPLMP). Complex I has been characterized by X-ray diffraction method as having (μ-phenoxo)bis(acetato)diiron core. Complex 1 was crystallized in the monoclinic space group C2/c with the following cell parameters: a=41.620(6) Å, b=14.020(3) Å, c=27.007(4) Å, β=90.60(2)°, and Z=8. The iron centers in the complex 1 are ordered as indicated by the difference in the Fe-O bond lengths which match well with typical $Fe^{III}-O\; and\; Fe^{II}-O$ bond lengths. Complex 1 has been studied by electronic spectral, NMR, EPR, SQUID, and electochemical methods. Complex 1 exhibits strong bands at 592 nm, 1380 nm in $CH_3CN$ (ε = 1.0 × 103 , 3.0 × 102). These are assigned to $phenolate-to-Fe^{III}$ and intervalence charge-transfer transitions, respectively. Its NMR spectrum exhibits sharp isotropically shifted resonances, which number half of those expected for a valence-trapped species, indicating that electron transfer between $Fe^{II}\;and\;Fe^{III}$ centers is faster than NMR time scale. This complex undergoes quasireversible one-electron redox processes. The $Fe^{III}_2/Fe^{II}Fe^{III}\;and\;Fe^{II}Fe^{III}/Fe^{II}_2$ redox couples are at 0.655 and -0.085 V vs SCE, respectively. It has $K_{comp}=3.3{\times}10^{12}$ representing that BPLMP/bis(acetate) ligand combination stabilizes a mixed-valence $Fe^{II}Fe^{III}$ complex in the air. Complex 1 exhibits a broad EPR signal centered near g=1.55 which is a characteristic feature of the antiferromagnetically coupled high-spin $Fe^{II}Fe^{III}$ system $(S_{total}=1/2)$. This is consistent with the magnetic susceptibility study showing the weak antiferromagnetic coupling $(J= - 4.6\;cm^{-1},\; H= - 2JS_1{\cdot}S2)$ between $Fe^{II}\; and \;Fe^{III}$center.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.230-236
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• 2012

The Korean hare, Lepus coreanus, is an important mammal in ecosystem food chains, and is distributed across the entire Korean peninsula and northeastern China. Polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed using the biotinenrichment technique for use in population genetics studies. Five trinucleotide and four dinucleotide microsatellite loci were selected and tested on 22 Korean hare specimens collected from Gangwon Province and Gyeongsangbuk Province in South Korea. The number of alleles across the two sampling regions ranged from three to nine with a mean of 6.1. Mean observed and expected heterozygosities and polymorphic information content were 0.540, 0.627 and 0.579, respectively. Only one locus, Lc06, showed departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium after applying the Bonferroni correction. Four microsatellites, Lc01, Lc03, Lc12, and Lc19, satisfied the criteria to serve as a core set of markers recommended for population genetics studies. These new microsatellite markers will be widely applicable to future genetic studies for management and conservation of the Korean hare and related species, including assessment of the genetic diversity and population structure of L. coreanus.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05a
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• pp.185-190
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• 1996

RFSP is a computer program to do fuel management calculations for CANDU reactors. Its main function is to calculate neutron flux and power distributions using two-energy-group, three dimensional neutron diffusion theory. However, up to now the treatment has not been true two-group but actually "one-and-half groups". In other words, the previous (1.5-group) version of RFSP lumps the fast fission term into the thermal fission term. This is based on the POWDERPUFS-V Westcott convention. Also, there is no up-scattering term or bundle power over cell flux (H1 factor) for the fast group. While POWDERPUFS-V provides only 1.5 group properties, true two-group cross sections for the design and analysis of CAUDU reactors can be obtained from WIMS-AECL. To treat the full two-group properties, the previous RFSP version was modified by adding the fast fission, up-scatter terms, and H1 factor. This two-group version of RFSP is a convenient tool to accept lattice properties from any advanced lattice code (e.g. WIMS-AECL DRAGON, HELIOS...) and to apply to advanced fuel cycles. In this study, the modification to implement the true two-group treatment was performed only in the subroutines of the ＊SIMULATE module of RFSP. This module is the appropriate one to modify first, since it is used for the tracking of reactor operating histories. The modified two-group RFSP was evaluated with true two-group cross sections from WIMS-AECL. Some tests were performed to verify the modified two-group RFSP and to evaluate the effects of fast fission and up-scatter for three core conditions and four cases corresponding to each condition. The comparisons show that the two-group results are quite reasonable and serve as a verification of the modifications made to RFSP. To assess the long-term impact of the full 2-group treatment, it is necessary to simulate a long period (several months) of reactor history. It will also be necessary to implement the full two-group treatment of reactivity devices and assess the reactivity-device worths.ce worths.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.392-405
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• 2020

Purpose: Titanium implants are widely used in the treatment of dentition defects; however, due to problems such as osseointegration failure, peri-implant bone resorption, and periimplant inflammation, their application is subject to certain restrictions. The surface modification of titanium implants can improve the implant success rate and meet the needs of clinical applications. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of porous titanium with a chitosan/hydroxyapatite coating on osseointegration. Methods: Titanium implants with a dense core and a porous outer structure were prepared using a computer-aided design model and selective laser sintering technology, with a fabricated chitosan/hydroxyapatite composite coating on their surfaces. In vivo and in vitro experiments were used to assess osteogenesis. Results: The quasi-elastic gradient and compressive strength of porous titanium implants were observed to decrease as the porosity increased. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that, the porous titanium implants had no biological toxicity; additionally, the porous structure was shown to be superior to dense titanium with regard to facilitating the adhesion and proliferation of osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. The in vivo experimental results also showed that the porous structure was beneficial, as bone tissue could grow into the pores, thereby exhibiting good osseointegration. Conclusions: Porous titanium with a chitosan/hydroxyapatite coating promoted MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation and differentiation, and also improved osseointegration in vitro. This study has meaningful implications for research into ways of improving the surface structures of implants and promoting implant osseointegration.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.418-434
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of silica-calcium phosphate composite (SCPC) granules on bone regeneration in extraction sockets. Methods: Ten patients were selected for a split-model study. In each patient, bone healing in SCPC-grafted and control ungrafted sockets was analyzed through clinical, radiographic, histomorphometric, and immunohistochemical assessments 6 months postoperatively. Results: A radiographic assessment using cone-beam computed tomography showed minimal ridge dimension changes in SCPC-grafted sockets, with 0.39 mm and 1.79 mm decreases in height and width, respectively. Core bone biopsy samples were obtained 6 months post-extraction during implant placement and analyzed. The average percent areas occupied by mature bone, woven bone, and remnant particles in the SCPC-grafted sockets were 41.3%±12%, 20.1%±9.5%, and 5.3%±4.4%, respectively. The percent areas of mature bone and woven bone formed in the control ungrafted sockets at the same time point were 31%±14% and 24.1%±9.4%, respectively. Histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses showed dense mineralized bundles of type I collagen with high osteopontin expression intensity in the grafted sockets. The newly formed bone was well vascularized, with numerous active osteoblasts, Haversian systems, and osteocytes indicating maturation. In contrast, the new bone in the control ungrafted sockets was immature, rich in type III collagen, and had a low osteocyte density. Conclusions: The resorption of SCPC granules in 6 months was coordinated with better new bone formation than was observed in untreated sockets. SCPC is a resorbable bone graft material that enhances bone formation and maturation through its stimulatory effect on bone cell function.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.28-33
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• 2021

With the recent growing interest in eco-friendly cars, as interest in eco-friendly cars increases, interest and purchase of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that do not emit pollutants are increasing. Recently, the government is supporting the expansion of hydrogen charging station and localization of core parts according to the government's hydrogen energy dissemination policy. In this study, the flow characteristics of the hydrogen flow control valve were investigated. As the differential pressure increases, the mass flow rate and flow coefficient tend to be different from the volume flow rate. And it was confirmed that it affects the hydrogen temperature due to the nozzle effect in the bottleneck section, and the change in density affects the mass flow rate.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.19-29
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• 2021

Due to the climate changing, the world's countries are tightening regulations on CO2 and air pollutants emission to solve them. In addition, eco friendly vehicles is increasing to replace automobiles in internal combustion engine. Recently, the government is supporting the expansion of hydrogen refueling infrastructure and localization of core equipment in refueling facilities according to the hydrogen economy road map. In this study, design of the Excess flow limiting device in FCEV cylinder valve using by finite element analysis and performed performance tests on prototype. Major test results as hydrostatic strength, continued operation, operation, pressure impulse, leakage showed that the excess flow limiting device meets the performance requirements according to ISO 12619-2 and ISO 12619-11.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.449-458
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• 2019

Hepatitis B treatments using immune therapy are gaining interest because of the improvements in dendritic cell performance for antigen presentation, which induces an appropriate immune response and raises patient survival rates. This research aims to produce a significant amount of the HBcAg antigen, which can induce an immune response and have a curative effect on HBV infection. In this study, the HBV subgenotype B3 of the HBcAg gene was used, which is dominant in Indonesia. Further, Lactococcus lactis bacteria was used as the host because of its safety and tightly regulated protein expression. The codon usage for the HBcAg gene was optimized to improve protein expression in L. lactis, which is important because a codon is not random between species. The HBcAg gene is attached to a pNZ8148 plasmid and transformed into the L. lactis NZ3900 expression host. The results confirm that a positive protein band (21 kDa) in two fractions of purified HBcAg was recognized by both western blotting and dot blot hybridization, even if the HBcAg optimized codon has higher GC contents than that suggested for L. lactis expression. Overall, this research strengthens the broad use of L. lactis bacteria for any protein expression, including higher protein expression of codon optimized HBcAg gene compared to non-optimized genes. Furthermore, the improvement in the codon optimization of the HBcAg gene significantly increases the total protein expression by 10-20%, and the expression level of the codon optimized HBcAg increases 1.5 to 3.2-times that of the native HBcAg.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.177-183
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• 2020

The Hippo-YAP signaling pathway is critical for cell proliferation, survival, and self-renewal in both Drosophila and mammals. Disorder of Hippo-YAP pathway leads to tumor development, progression and poor prognosis in various cancers. YAP/TAZ are the key downstream effectors of the Hippo pathway and they can be inhibited through LATS1/2, core kinases in the Hippo pathway, mediated phosphorylation. In this study, we investigated the effect of Angelica gigas Nakai extract (AGNE) on Hippo-YAP/TAZ pathway. First, ANGE induced YAP/TAZ phosphorylation and dissociation of the YAP/TAZ-TEAD transcription complex. By qRT-PCR, we found that ANGE inhibits the expression of YAP/TAZ-TEAD target gene, CTGF and CYR61. In addition, the transcriptional activity of YAP/TAZ was not suppressed significantly in LATS1/2 double-knockout (DKO) cells by ANGE compared to LATS1/2 wild-type (WT) cells, which means AGNE inhibits YAP/TAZ signaling through direct action on LATS1/2. Further, it was confirmed that AGNE-induced activation of LATS1/2 inhibited the migration potential of the vector-expressing cells by suppressing YAP/TAZ activity. The reduced migration potential was restored in active YAP-TEAD expressing cells. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that ANGE downregulates YAP/TAZ signaling in cells through the activation of LATS1/2.