• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.10
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• pp.661-666
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• 2009

Porcine pancreas development is not well studied at the molecular level despite being a therapeutic resource for diabetic patients. In this study, we investigated expression of lineage markers and performed proteomic analysis. Expression of the early lineage markers Pdx1 and Ptf1a was developmentally conserved between mice and pigs, whereas expression of the islet differentiation marker Pax4 was delayed in porcine compared with murine pancreas development. Proteomic analysis found that expression levels of chymotrypsinogen were down-regulated during porcine pancreas development while those of digestive enzymes like lipases, elastase and serine protease were up-regulated. In addition, specific isoforms of protein folding assistants such as protein disulfide isomerase and prefoldin were expressed at specific stages during the maturation of digestive enzymes. Taken together, these results show that development of the porcine pancreas is regulated by a concerted interplay of pancreas lineage marker proteins and other specified proteins, resulting in a functional endocrine and exocrine organ.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.912-917
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• 2010

It was known that oil-filled transformer's life depended on insulating paper which was applied to transformers for insulating of transformer. Therefore when paper was aged, its electrical, mechanical and chemical characteristics were changed. Especially if operating temperature was high, paper was quickly damaged. As cellulose paper which was mainly used for solid insulation of transformers was degraded, the cellulose polymer chains broke down into shorter lengths and gases such as CO, $CO_2$, $CH_4$, $C_2H_4$ and so on were produced from paper. Also by-product known as furan compounds were producted from paper and it were dissolved within insulating oil. In this paper accelerating aging cell was aged during 60 hours at 100, 150, 180 and $200^{\circ}C$, respectively, so evaluating the chemical characteristics of cellulose paper by thermal. An it were performed analysis such as tensile strength(TS), dissolved gas analysis(DGA) and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). Also for analyzing of correlation between insulating degradation characteristics, it was performed linear regression method as statistical treatment.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2012

Since the provision of Permanent Affordable Housing in the early 1990's, it is confronted with the need to strengthen its welfare service due to aging of its facilities and the declining welfare system for its tenants. In addition, the aging population of tenants is on the rise, increasing the group of tenants that are in need of care. The local social community center has entered into the community of permanent affordable housing and takes partial responsibility in the tenant's social welfare. However, social community center is mainly responsible for providing welfare service to its local residents and thus limited in its ability to satisfy welfare service to tenants of permanent affordable housing. Therefore, it is required to renew the existing welfare system to better suit social demands of tenants according to its specific social group and the characteristics of housing complex. This study aims to propose methods that can strengthen welfare service and analyze the characteristics of welfare service by investigating the existing conditions of welfare system for the tenants in permanent affordable housing complex. For this purpose, this study presents with categories of service standards, by breaking down and codifying welfare service and propose applicable mixed-use service in pre-existing permanent affordable housing.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.1250-1256
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• 2023

Herein, different extracts of Scenedesmus deserticola JD052, a green microalga, were evaluated in vitro as a potential anti-aging bioagent. Although post-treatment of microalgal culture with either UV irradiation or high light illumination did not lead to a substantial difference in the effectiveness of microalgal extracts as a potential anti-UV agent, the results indicated the presence of a highly potent compound in ethyl acetate extract with more than 20% increase in the cellular viability of normal human dermal fibroblasts (nHDFs) compared with the negative control amended with DMSO. The subsequent fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract led to two bioactive fractions with high anti-UV property; one of the fractions was further separated down to a single compound. While electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analysis identified this single compound as loliolide, its identification has been rarely reported in microalgae previously, prompting thorough systematic investigations into this novel compound for the nascent microalgal industry.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.272-282
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• 2011

Ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) has been shown to have anti-aging effects in animal and clinical studies. However, the molecular mechanisms by which ginseng exerts these effects remain unknown. Here, the anti-aging effect of Korean red ginseng (KRG) in rat testes was examined by system biology analysis. KRG water extract prepared in feed pellets was administered orally into 12 month old rats for 4 months, and gene expression in testes was determined by microarray analysis. Microarray analysis identified 33 genes that significantly changed. Compared to the 2 month old young rats, 13 genes (Rps9, Cyp11a1, RT1-A2, LOC365778, Sv2b, RGD1565959, RGD1304748, etc.) were up-regulated and 20 genes (RT1-Db1, Cldn5, Svs5, Degs1, Vdac3, Hbb, LOC684355, Svs5, Tmem97, Orai1, Insl3, LOC497959, etc.) were down-regulated by KRG in the older rats. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of untreated aged rats versus aged rats treated with KRG showed that the affected most was Cyp11a1, responsible for C21-steroid hormone metabolism, and the top molecular and cellular functions are organ morphology and reproductive system development and function. When genes in young rat were compared with those in the aged rat, sperm capacitation related genes were down-regulated in the old rat. However, when genes in the old rat were compared with those in the old rat treated with KRG, KRG treatment up-regulated C21-steroid hormone metabolism. Taken together, Cyp11a1 expression is decreased in the aged rat, however, it is up-regulated by KRG suggesting that KRG seems enhance testes function via Cyp11a1.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.53-66
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• 1986

This study was carried out to determine the mortality level and it's related demographic factors in Korea since 1942. In order to clarify the changes in structure of mortality and the causes of death, the indices such as Crude Death Rate(CDR) or Life Expectancy at Birth were used. The author examined the mortality levels and major causes of death and performed the relevant demographic analysis. The followings are the summary of this study: 1. The CDR declined rapidly till 1960's. Such improvement slowed down from 1960's to mid 1970's and stabilized afterwards. It was due to the change of age composition, namely, the increase of aging population. 2. The Life Expectancy at Birth increased rapidly till mid 1960's. But elongation of the Life Expectancy slowed down after then. Especially in female, it slowed down more. 3. Changing patterns of major causes of death summarize that, till 1960's infectious diseases were major causes of death, but recently non-infectious diseases like chronic degenerative diseases became more prevalent. 4. The elongation of Life Expectancy at Birth till mid 1960's was mainly resulted by $_4{q}_1$. But the major contributing factor of the improvement in Life Expectancy at Birth in female is he reduction of $_$\infty${q}_{50}$ recently. In male, the improvement in Life Expectancy at Birth is due to the reduction of $_1{q}_0$. recently. 5. The age-sex-specific mortality rates revealed that $_n{q}_x$ declined in common throughout the period, even though there exists some variability of their ranges as age changes. Consequently, this study seems to suggest that the demographic transition in Korea occurred between late 1960's and early 1970's. In other words, the rapid change before late 1960's was eased in early 1970's. The slow change in this period caused a stabilizing pattern. Therefore, the population change is expected to be stabilized continuously.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.79-92
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• 2007

Oxidative stress have known to be a risk factor for the degenerative processes and closely related to a lot of diseases. It is well established that antioxidants are good in protection and therapeutic means against oxidative damage. There is increasing interest in natural antioxidants and many natural antioxidants have been found and utilized as the possible protection for various diseases and skin aging. We have screened natural antioxidant agents for cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, and drugs as therapeutic and preventive means against oxidative stress, and have developed a number of novel antioxidants from various natural sources. A novel melanin synthesis inhibitor, Melanocin A, isolated from the metabolite of a fungal strain Eupenicillium shearii F80695 inhibited mushroom tyrosinase and melanin biosynthesis of B16 melanoma cells with $IC_{50}$ value of 9.0 nM and MIC value of $0.9\;{\mu}M$, respectively. Melanocin A also exhibited potent antioxidant activity by scavenging of DPPH and superoxide anion radicals. UV was found to increase the level of hydrogen peroxides and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) in skin tissues. This increase in ROS may not only alter the structure and function of many genes and proteins directly but may also modulate their expressions through signal transduction pathways and, ultimately, lead to skin damage. We investigated the effect of Melanocin A on UV-induced premature skin aging. Firstly, the effect of Melanocin A on UV-induced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 expression in an immortalized human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT in vitro was investigated. Acute UV irradiation induced MMP-9 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels and Melanocin A suppressed this expression in a dose-dependent manner. We then investigated UV-induced skin changes in hairless mice in vivo by Melanocin A. Chronic exposure of hairless mouse dorsal skin to UV increased skin thickness and induced wrinkle formation and the gelatinase activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Moreover, Melanocin A significantly suppressed UV-induced morphologic skin changes and MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. These results show that Melanocin A can prevent the harmful effects of UV that lead to skin aging. Therefore, we suggest that Melanocin A should be viewed as a potential therapeutic agent for preventing and/or treating premature skin aging. Terrein is a bioactive fungal metabolite isolated from Penicillium species. Terrein has a relatively simple structure and can be easily synthesized. However, the biologic effects of terrein are comparatively unknown. We found for the first time that terrein potently inhibit melanin production in melanocytes and has a strong hypopigmentary effect in a spontaneously immortalized mouse melanocyte cell line, Mel-Ab. Treatment of Mel-Ab cells with terrein (10-100 mM) for 4 days significantly reduced melanin levels in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, terrein at the same concentration also reduced tyrosinase activity. We then investigated whether terrein influences the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) pathway and the expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), which is required for tyrosinase expression. Terrein was found to induce sustained ERK activation and MITF down-regulation, and luciferase assays showed that terrein inhibits MITF promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner. To elucidate the correlation between ERK pathway activation and a decreased MITF transcriptional level, PD98059, a specific inhibitor of the ERK pathway, was applied before terrain treatment and found to abrogate the terrein-induced MITF attenuation. Terrein also reduced the tyrosinase protein level for at least 72 h. These results suggest that terrain reduces melanin synthesis by reducing tyrosinase production via ERK activation, and that this is followed by MITF down-regulation.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.361-370
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• 2004

The discovery of insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins and their role to link cell surface receptors to the intracellular signaling cascades is a key step to understanding insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) action. Moreover, IRS-proteins coordinate signals from the insulin and IGF receptor tyrosine kinases with those generated by proinflammatory cytokines and nutrients. The IRS2-branch of the insulin/IGF signaling cascade has an important role in both peripheral insulin response and pancreatic $\beta$-cell growth and function. Dysregulation of IRS2 signaling in mice causes the failure of compensatory hyperinsulinemia during peripheral insulin resistance. IRS protein signaling is down regulated by serine phosphorylation or protea-some-mediated degradation, which might be an important mechanism of insulin resistance during acute injury and infection, or chronic stress associated with aging or obesity. Under-standing the regulation and signaling by IRS1 and IRS2 in cell growth, metabolism and survival will reveal new strategies to prevent or cure diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.1007-1016
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• 2007

In power system, substation facilities have become too complex and larger according to an extended power system. Also, customers require the high quality of electrical power system. However, some facilities become old and often break down unexpectedly. The unexpected failure may cause a break in power system and loss of profits. Therefore it is important to prevent abrupt faults by monitoring the condition of power systems. Among the various power facilities, power transformers play an important role in the transmission and distribution systems. In this research, we develop intelligent diagnosis technique for predicting faults of power transformer by FCM(Fuzzy c-means) and Euclidean based distance measure. The proposed technique make it possible to measures the possibility and degree of aging as well as the faults occurred in transformer. To demonstrate the validity of proposed method, various experiments are performed and their results are presented.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2000

To reduce shrinkage and the possibility of fracture during ambient pressure drying, it is of great importance to increase the strength and stiffness of the wet gels. In this paper is presented the strengthening and stiffening of wet silica gels prepared from sodium silicate (water glass) as well as properties of the corresponding xerogels. By washing gels containing different initial silica contents in water solutions at elevated pH, a maximum in shear modulus of ~4 MPa was obtained. The maximum stiffness enabled xerogels with bulk density of 0.28g/$\textrm{cm}^3$ to be made regardless of silica content and washing conditions. However, by aging the wet gels in a solution providing fresh monomers to the gel network, a shear modulus of 20 MPa was obtained after 27h. By this method monolithic xerogels with a density down to ~0.2g/$\textrm{cm}^3$ was prepared. The results are compared to alkoxide based gels.