• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2004

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) has been used as a raw material in many traditional preparations since the ancient time. As a component of traditional health products, Ginger is known to be effective as appetite enhancer, anticold and anti-inflammation. This study was performed to investigate the immunomodulative effects of Ginger in mouse, using in vitro and ex vivo experiments. In vitro experiment, the mice splenocytes proliferation and three kinds of cytokines (IL-1 $\beta$, IL-6, and TNF-$\alpha$) prodution by peritoneal macrophages cultured with ethanol and water extracts of Ginger were used to indicate the immunomodulative effect. In order to elucidate the immunomodulative effects of Ginger ex vivo, water extract of Ginger was orally administrated into mice, and isolated splencytes and macrophages were used as experimental model. Ex vivo experiment, six to seven week old mice were fed ad libitum on a chow diet, and water extract of finger was orally administrated every other day for four weeks at two different concentractions (50 and 500 mg/kg B.W./day). In vitro study, the splenocytes proliferation was increased when water extract was supplemented in the range of 50-500 $\mu$l/ml concentration. In case of cytokines production, IL-1 $\beta$, IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ released by activated peritoneal macrophages were augmented by the supplementation of water extract of the Ginger. Ex vivo experiment, the highest proliferation of splenocytes and production of cytokines by activated peritoneal macrophages were seen in the mice orally administrated at the concentration of 500 mg/kg B.W./day. In conclusion, this study suggests that Ginger extracts may enhance the immune function by regulating the splenocytes proliferation and enhancing the cytokine prodution capacity by activated macrophages in mice.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2005

Myotonic Dystrophies type 1 and 2 (DM1/2) are neuromuscular disorders which belong to a group of genetic diseases caused by unstable CTG triplet repeat (DM1) and CCTG tetranucleotide repeat (DM2) expansions. In DM1, CTG repeats are located within the 3' untranslated region of myotonin protein kinase (DMPK) gene on chromosome 19q. DM2 is caused by expansion of CCTG repeats located in the first intron of a gene coding for zinc finger factor 9 on chromosome 3q. The CTG and CCTG expansions are located in untranslated regions and are expressed as pre-mRNAs in nuclei (DM1 and DM2) and as mRNA in cytoplasm (DM1). Investigations of molecular alterations in DM1 discovered a new molecular mechanism responsible for this disease. Expansion of un-translated CUG repeats in the mutant DMPK mRNA disrupts biological functions of two CUG-binding proteins, CUGBP and MNBL. These proteins regulate translation and splicing of mRNAs coding for proteins which play a key role in skeletal muscle function. Expansion of CUG repeats alters these two stages of RNA metabolism in DM1 by titrating CUGBP1 and MNBL into mutant DMPK mRNA-protein complexes. Mouse models, in which levels of CUGBP1 and MNBL were modulated to mimic DM1, showed several symptoms of DM1 disease including muscular dystrophy, cataracts and myotonia. Mis-regulated levels of CUGBP1 in newborn mice cause a delay of muscle development mimicking muscle symptoms of congenital form of DM1 disease. Since expansion of CCTG repeats in DM2 is also located in untranslated region, it is predicted that DM2 mechanisms might be similar to those observed in DM1. However, differences in clinical phenotypes of DM1 and DM2 suggest some specific features in molecular pathways in both diseases. Recent publications suggest that number of pathways affected by RNA CUG and CCUG repeats could be larger than initially thought. Detailed studies of these pathways will help in developing therapy for patients affected with DM1 and DM2.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.776-783
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• 2009

This paper is related to a 2D virtual color hairstyler using skinny smudge tool. The smudge tool is the popular graphic tool embedded in Adobe Photoshop. The smudge tool is used to smear paint on your canvas. The effect is much like finger painting. You can use the smudge tool by clicking on the smudge icon and clicking on the canvas and while holding the mouse button down, dragging in the direction you want to smudge. A disadvantage of previous smudge tool is to also smear pixels in the undesired region according to generating the target image as blending all pixels in a diameter of the master. In this paper to reduce the disadvantage, the skinny smudge tool based on the image segmentation for a master shape is proposed. The proposed skinny smudge tool has the advantage of applying the smudge effect to the desired regions regardless of the background as the master shape adhered closely to the contour shape is extracted by color image segmentation.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.23-33
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• 2008

The Zic family is a group of genes encoding zinc finger proteins that are highly expressed in the mammalian cerebellum. Zic genes are the vertebrate homologue of Drosophila pair-rule gene, odd-paired(opa), which plays important roles in the parasegmental subdivision as well as in the visceral mesoderm development of Drosophila embryos. Recent studies on human, mouse, frog, fish and ascidian Zic homologues support that Zic genes are involved in a variety of developmental processes, including neurogenesis, myogenesis, skeletal patterning, and left-right axis establishment. In an effort to explore possible functions of Zic proteins during vertebrate embryogenesis, we initially examined more detailed expression pattern of zebrafish homologue of zic3(zic3z). zic3z transcripts are detected in the neuroectoderm, neural plate, dorsal neural tube, and brain regions including eye field during early embryonic development. Marker DNA studies found that zic3z transcription is modulated by BMP, Wnt, and Nodal signals particularly in the dorsal and vegetal neuroectoderm at gastrula. Interfering with zic3z translation with zic3z-specific morpholino causes abnormal brain formation and expansion of the optic stalk cells. Retinal ganglion cells(RGCs) undergo abnormal neuronal differentiation. These findings suggest that zic3z defines the dorsal and vegetal neuroectoderm to specify brain formation and retinal neurogenesis during early embryonic development.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.19-24
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• 2012

In this paper we introduce a commercial interactive whiteboard (IWB) system named ImSensorTouch by ImSensor Inc. Using this interface system, we can control our computer through the interactive whiteboard screen just by touching it with your finger or a pen. The interface interacts with Windows operating system (OS) and is adaptable to changes of surroundings especially temperature, and illumination condition. The proposed system calculates the difference between a reference image and a current image captured by a camera in the optical receptive field. And the position making the difference is used to generate the position on Windows screen. Then, we send a mouse event on the position to Windows OS. We have implemented the system using a critical section(CS) with two threads for the reference frame update process in which an adaptive thresholding technique is periodically exploited to get reliable result. We expect the system is competitive and promises a bright future in the IWB market.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.157-164
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• 2015

The existing input device is limited to keyboard and mouse. However, recently new type of input device has been developed in response to requests from users. To reflect this trend we propose the new type of input device that gives instruction as analyzing the hand motion of image without special device. After binarizing the skin color area using Cam-Shift method and tracking, it recognizes the hand motion by inputting the finger areas and the angles from the palm center point, which are separated through labeling, into four cardinal directions and counting them. In cases when specific background was not set and without gloves, the recognition rate remained approximately at 75 percent. However, when specific background was set and the person wore red gloves, the recognition rate increased to 90.2 percent due to reduction in noise.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.695-702
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• 2018

The inner ear is a complex sensory organ responsible for hearing and balance. Formation of the inner ear is dependent on tight regulation of spatial and temporal expression of genes that direct a series of developmental processes. Recently, epigenetic regulation has emerged as a crucial regulator of the development of various organs. However, what roles higher-order chromatin organization and its regulator molecules play in inner ear development are unclear. CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a highly conserved 11-zinc finger protein that regulates the three-dimensional architecture of chromatin, and is involved in various gene regulation processes. To delineate the role of CTCF in inner ear development, the present study investigated inner ear-specific Ctcf knockout mouse embryos (Pax2-Cre; $Ctcf^{fl/fl}$). The loss of Ctcf resulted in multiple defects of inner ear development and severely compromised otic neurogenesis, which was partly due to a loss of Neurog1 expression. Furthermore, reduced Neurog1 gene expression by CTCF knockdown was found to be associated with changes in histone modification at the gene's promoter, as well as its upstream enhancer. The results of the present study demonstrate that CTCF plays an essential role in otic neurogenesis by modulating histone modification in the Neurog1 locus.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.117-125
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• 2009

In this paper, we propose user-centric immersible and interactive electronic book based on the interface of tabletop display. Electronic book is usually used for users that want to read the text book with multimedia contents like video, audio, animation and etc. It is based on tabletop display platform then the conventional input device like keyboard and mouse is not essentially needed. Users can interact with the contents based on the gestures defined for the interface of tabletop display using hand finger touches then it gives superior and effective interface for users to use the electronic book interestingly. This interface supports multiple users then it gives more diverse effects on the conventional electronic contents just made for one user. In this paper our method gives new way for the conventional electronics book and it can define the user-centric gestures and help users to interact with the book easily. We expect our method can be utilized for many edutainment contents.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.317-322
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• 2021

CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), a zinc finger protein, is a transcription factor and regulator of chromatin structure. Forebrain excitatory neuron-specific CTCF deficiency contributes to inflammation via enhanced transcription of inflammation-related genes in the cortex and hippocampus. However, little is known about the long-term effect of CTCF deficiency on postnatal neurons, astrocytes, or microglia in the hippocampus of adult mice. To address this, we knocked out the Ctcf gene in forebrain glutamatergic neurons (Ctcf cKO) by crossing Ctcf-floxed mice with Camk2a-Cre mice and examined the hippocampi of 7.5-10-month-old male mice using immunofluorescence microscopy. We found obvious neuronal cell death and reactive gliosis in the hippocampal cornu ammonis (CA)1 in 7.5-10-month-old cKO mice. Prominent rod-shaped microglia that participate in immune surveillance were observed in the stratum pyramidale and radiatum layer, indicating a potential increase in inflammatory mediators released by hippocampal neurons. Although neuronal loss was not observed in CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) CTCF depletion induced a significant increase in the number of microglia in the stratum oriens of CA3 and reactive microgliosis and astrogliosis in the molecular layer and hilus of the DG in 7.5-10-month-old cKO mice. These results suggest that long-term Ctcf deletion from forebrain excitatory neurons may contribute to reactive gliosis induced by neuronal damage and consequent neuronal loss in the hippocampal CA1, DG, and CA3 in sequence over 7 months of age.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.277-286
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• 2023

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass and function. It is a natural part of aging and can lead to decreased mobility and increased frailty. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which is involved in muscle protein degradation, is closely linked to sarcopenia. Germinated Rhynchosia nulubilis hydrolysate (GRH) has been reported to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but there have been no reports on its inhibitory effect on muscle reduction. However, no study has yet explored the relationship between GRH and muscle loss inhibition. In this study, we evaluated the effects of GRH on muscle atrophy inhibitory activity in dexamethasone (Dexa)-induced muscle atrophy C2C12 myotubes and mouse models. Moreover, we identified a molecular pathway underlying the effects of GRH on skeletal muscle. May Grunwald-Giemsa staining showed that the length and area of myotubes increased in the groups treated with GRH. In addition, the GRH-treated group significantly reduced the expression of muscle ring finger protein 1 and muscular atrophy F-box (MAFbx) in the Dexa-induced muscular atrophy C2C12 model. GRH also improved muscle strength in C57BL/6 mice with Dexa-induced muscle atrophy, resulting in prolonged running exhaustive time and increased grip strength. We found that muscle strengthening by GRH was correlated with a decreased expression of the MAFbx gene in mouse muscle tissue. In conclusion, GRH can attenuate Dexa-induced muscle atrophy by inhibiting the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway via downregulation of the MAFbx gene expression.