• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1141-1149
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• 2018

Objective: Cluster of differentiation 4 protein (CD4) gene is an important immune related gene which plays a significant role in T cell development and host resistance during viral infection. Methods: In order to unravel the relationship of CpG island methylation level of CD4 gene with its gene expression and T lymphocyte subpopulation traits, we used one typical Chinese indigenous breed (Dapulian, DP) and one commercial breed (Landrace), then predicted the CpG island of CD4 gene, determined the methylation status of CpG sites by bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BSP), and carried out the correlation analyses of methylation frequencies of CpG sites with mRNA expression and T lymphocyte subpopulation traits. Results: There was one CpG island predicted in the upstream -2 kb region and exon one of porcine CD4 gene, which located 333 bp upstream from the start site of gene and contained nine CpG sites. The correlation analysis results indicated that the methylation frequency of CpG_2 significantly correlated with CD4 mRNA expression in the DP and Landrace combined population, though it did not reach significance level in DP and Landrace separately. Additionally, 15 potential binding transcription factors (TFs) were predicted within the CpG island, and one of them (Jumonji) contained CpG_2 site, suggesting that it may influence the CD4 gene expression through the potential binding TFs. We also found methylation frequency of CpG_2 negatively correlated with T lymphocyte subpopulation traits CD4+CD8-CD3-, CD4-CD8+CD3- and CD4+/CD8+, and positively correlated with CD4-CD8+CD3+ and CD4+CD8+CD3+ (for all correlation, p<0.01) in DP and Landrace combined population. Thus, the CpG_2 was a critical methylation site for porcine CD4 gene expression and T lymphocyte subpopulation traits. Conclusion: We speculated that increased methylation frequency of CpG_2 may lead to the decreased expression of CD4, which may have some kind of influence on T lymphocyte subpopulation traits and the immunity of DP population.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.158-167
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• 2002

In order to endow with new bioactive functionality from small intestine submucosa (SIS) powder as natural source to poly (L-lactide) (PLA) and poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) synthetic biodegradable polymer, porous SIS/PLA and SIS/PLGA as natural/synthetic composite scaffolds were prepared by means of the solvent casting/salt leaching methods for the possibility of the application of tissue engineered bone and cartilage. A uniform distribution of good interconnected pores from the surface to core region was observed the pore size of 40~500 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ independent with SIS amount using the solvent casting/salt leaching method. Porosities, specific pore areas as well as pore size distribution also were almost same. After the fabrication of SIS/PLA hybrid scaffolds, the wetting properties was greatly enhanced resulting in more uniform cell seeding and distribution. Five groups as PGA non-woven mesh without glutaraldehyde (GA) treatment, PLA scaffold without or with GA treatment, and SIS/PLA (Code No.3 ; 1 : 12 of salt content, (0.4 : 1 of SIS content, and 144 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ of median pore size) without or with GA treatment were implanted into the back of nude mouse to observe the effect of SIS on the induction of cells proliferation by hematoxylin and eosin, and von Kossa staining for 8 weeks. It was observed that the effect of SIS/PLA scaffolds with GA treatment on bone induction are stronger than PLA scaffolds, that is to say, in the order of PLA/SIS scaffolds with GA treatment > PLA/SIS scaffolds without GA treatment > PGA nonwoven > PLA scaffolds only with GA treatment = PLA scaffolds only without GA treatment for the osteoinduction activity. The possible explanations are (1) many kinds of secreted, circulating, and extracellular matrix-bound growth factors from SIS to significantly affect critical processes of tissue development and differentiation, (2) the exposure of SIS to GA resulted in significantly calcification, and (3) peri-implant fibrosis due to covalent bonding between collagen molecule by crosslinking reaction. In conclusion, it seems that SIS plays an important role for bone induction in SIS/PLA scaffolds for the application of tissue engineering area.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.360-367
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• 2010

The genetic diversity and structure of P. tongkangensis in 5 populations from 3 regions was investigated using 56 markers derived from 6 ISSR primers. Genetic diversity at the species level (P=94.6, SI=0.377, h=0.240) was substantial considering the limited distribution and small size of populations. Genetic differentiation among regions (12%) and among populations (13%) in the region was not clearly evident, which suggested a moderate level of gene flow among adjacent populations. The Mantel test revealed a significant correlation between genetic differentiation (${\Phi}_{ST}$) and geographic distance among populations. This was supported by cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). The significant difference in marker band frequency at many loci and their fixation in opposite directions in the smallest and most isolated population SC were considered due to genetic drift. Therefore, the genetic diversity of P. tongkangensis could be compromised if the distribution area or the size of the population was further reduced. In particular, small and isolated populations could be at great risk of extinction. Considering this, the unique habitats of P. tongkangensis should be protected and the reduction of population size should be closely monitored. Conservation efforts including the seeding and planting of seedlings should be done carefully based on their genetic and ecological traits. Our data support the argument that establishing an integrated management system for the efficient conservation of P. tongkangensis is critical.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.92-100
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• 2015

The aim of this study is to evaluate the fracture characteristics of ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites with 1.5 volume ratio of polyvinyl alcohol and steel fiber by high velocity impact of steel projectile. We used gunpowder impact facility to evaluate the fracture characteristics of ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites by collision of steel projectile, and the impact velocity was from about 150 to 1,000m/s. The results of evaluation on the fracture characteristics of ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites were penetration grade, which is the kinetic energy more than three times of no-fiber reinforced specimen (Plain). In addition, ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites did not occurred critical damage other than the debris. In the case of mass loss, Plain specimen was proportional to kinetic energy of steel projectile, while ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites was not significantly affected by kinetic energy of steel projectile. In particular, this tendency had a close relationship with the fracture characteristics of back side of specimens, and the scabbing inhibiting efficiency of PVA specimen was higher than S specimen. In the results of verifying relationship between front and back side calculated by local damage, scabbing occurred at the region close to the back side in the ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites unlike Plain specimen. Thus, in this study, we examined principal fracture behaviors of ductile fiber reinforced cement based composites under collision of steel projectile, and verified that impact resistance performance was improved as compared to Plain specimen.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.135-145
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• 1992

With the increasing tendency to construct high rise reinforced concrete building~i, it is required to use high strength materIals, smaller member sections, and larger reinforcing bars, I t is generally recognized that under severe seismic loads beam column jomts may become more critical structural components than other structural elements. In a ductile momentresistmg reinforced concrete frame, the connection of bearncolumn must be capable of resistll1g the large lateral forces caused by seismic actions, The purpose of this experimental study is to evaluate and ll1vestigate the earthquake resistant perform ance of beam-colurrm subassemblies constructed with high-strength concrete cast by the concrete of com¬pressive strength of 700kg / cm2 subjected to reversed cyclic loadings. New approaches for moving the plastic hinging zone away from the column face and preventing the di¬agonal crack in the joint region are adopted to advance the earthquake-resistant performance of beam-column subassemblies using high-strengh concrete under severe earthquake-type loading. Exper¬imental results indicate that the modified new details which are introduced by intermediate reinforcement in the beam over a specific beam length adjacent to the joint are able to attain the stable hysteretic behavior and the enhancement of earthquake-resistant performance. Keywords: high strength concrete: beam-column Joints; seirnic loads(reversed cyclic loading) : earth¬quake-resistant performance; plastic hinge zone: diagonal crack: intermediate reinforce¬ment ; closed strirrup: hysteretic behavior: enhancement .

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.159-172
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• 2008

This study was carried out to obtain ecological information necessary for a conservation plan based on the distributional patterns, wetland types, and hydrophytic characteristics of urban wetlands in Seongnam City, Kyunggi Province where representing the various patterns of land use made by rapid urbanization since 1970s. Total 162 sites of four wetland types were identified as urban wetlands during the first survey. The sites were classified into 55 forested swamps, 4 riverine wetlands, 62 abandoned paddy fields, 37 small ponds, and 4 reservoirs, etc. The second survey targeted 107 sites which were identified as good wetlands. It showed that 42 sites(about 39%) were already degraded due to drainage, landfill, and crop cultivation at 6 months intervals. Both hydrologic conditions and hydrophytic characteristics of 27 good wetlands help maintain current ecological status, but most wetlands have been degraded by artificial impacts. Among 184 species identified, only 75 species(about 40.7%) were hydrophytes. Prevalence Index of hydrophyte based on three categories of OBL(obligatory wetland plant), FAC(facultitative plant), UPL(obligatory upland plant) was 3.7, indicating that vegetation data alone is inadequate to designate as wetlands. This study revealed that as critical habitats for wildlife they playa vital role in ecotone between both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem with its proper distributional pattern in spite of their small areas compared to the entire geographic region of the City.

• The Journal of Sustainable Design and Educational Environment Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

School facilities are one of the important educational requirements, and it is necessary to maintain safe and sustainable for the ongoing educational environment. For this reason, educational government department have an effort to produce school facilities that have become safe, comfort, convenient and high-quality. There are many methods to improve existing buildings and build new schools by energy efficient technology. Even though educational environment of school facilities are improved by the efforts, the energy consumption has a huge increase. Energy is a major budget item for schools. The accurate estimation of energy cost is critical for effective budgeting and financing for the school facility maintenance. Accurate energy cost estimation also allow for a anticipatable LCC (Life Cycle Cost) of new school facilities. In this study, in order to produce a basic information about the present energy usage status in domestic school facilities, energy usage quantity is regionally analysed according to physical characteristics of elementary, middle, and high school facilities. Those results will give a chance to see deeply the pros and cons of energy usage each regional school facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2010

Methods of the characteristics evaluation of turbo-molecular pumps (TMP) are well-defined in the international measurement standards such as ISO, PNEUROP, DIN, JIS, and AVS. The Vacuum Center in the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has recently designed, constructed, and established the integrated characteristics evaluation system of TMPs based on the international documents by continuously pursuing and acquiring the reliable international credibility through measurement perfection. The measurement of TMP pumping speed is normally performed with the throughput and orifice methods dependent on the mass flow regions. However, in the UHV range of the molecular flow region, the high uncertainties of the gauges, mass flow rates, and conductance are too critical to precisely accumulate reliable data. In order to solve the uncertainty problems of pumping speeds in the UHV range, we introduced a SRG with 1% accuracy and a constant volume flow meter (CVFM) to measure the finite mass flow rates down to $10^{-1}$ Pa-L/s with 3% uncertainty for the throughput method. In this way we have performed the measurement of pumping speed down to $10^{-4}$ Pa with an uncertainty of less than 6% for a 1000 L/s TMP. In this article we suggest that the CVFM has an ability to measure the conductance of the orifice experimentally with flowing the known mass through the orifice chambers, so that we may overcome the discontinuity problem encountering during introducing two measurement methods in one pumping speed evaluation sequence.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1600-1607
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• 2012

The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family plays essential roles in physiological processes such as embryonic development, angiogenesis, wound healing, and tissue homeostasis as a consequence of MMPr capacity for breaking down many types of extracellular matrix proteins. Imbalanced regulation of MMP expression can also lead to pathological conditions such as tumor progression. We recently reported that the Drosophila Mmp1 gene is highly expressed in the digestive tract and is required for the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis such as by restriction of uncontrolled intestinal stem cell proliferation. However, the regulatory mechanisms of MMP gene expression in the intestine remain unclear. In this study, we determined that the expression of Mmp1 is regulated by the homeodomain transcription factor Caudal. Experiments using the targeted expression of Caudal under the regulation of Gal4-UAS system indicated that endogenous Caudal is required for the Mmp1 gene expression in the adult Drosophila intestine and that exogenous Caudal induces Mmp1 expression. Transient transfection experiments indicated that Caudal can activate the promoter activity of Mmp1 and that several putative Caudal binding sites in the 5'-flanking region of the Mmp1 gene may be critical to the upregulation by Caudal. Our data suggest that Mmp1 is one of the target genes of Caudal in physiological normal condition and in tumorigenesis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.352-357
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• 2016

Vertebrate neurogenesis requires inhibition of endogenous bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signals in the ectoderm. Blocking of BMPs in animal cap explants causes the formation of anterior neural tissues as a default fate. To identify genes involved in the anterior neural specification, we analyzed gene expression profiles using a Xenopus Affymetrix Gene Chip after BMP-4 inhibition in animal cap explants. We found that the xCyp26c gene, encoding a retinoic acid (RA) degradation enzyme, was upregulated following inhibition of BMP signaling in early neuroectodermal cells. Whole-mount in situ hybridization analysis showed that xCyp26c expression started in the anterior region during the early neurula stage. Overexpression of xCyp26c weakly induced neural genes in animal cap explants. xCyp26c abolished the expression of all trans-/cis-RA-induced posterior genes, but not basic FGF-induced posterior genes. Depletion of xCyp26c by morpholino-oligonucleotides suppressed the normal formation of the axis and head, indicating that xCyp26c plays a critical role in the specification of anterior neural tissue in whole embryos. In animal cap explants, however, xCyp26c morpholinos did not alter anterior-to-posterior neural tissue formation. Together, these results suggest that xCyp26c plays a specific role in anterior-posterior (A-P) neural patterning of Xenopus embryos.