• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.10
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• pp.546-551
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• 2014

The insecticidal activity of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry toxins involves toxin stabilization, oligomerization, passage across the peritrophic membrane (PM), binding to midgut receptors and pore-formation. The residues Arg-158 and Tyr-170 have been shown to be crucial for the toxicity of Bt Cry4Ba. We characterized the biological function of these residues. In mosquito larvae, the mutants R158A/E/Q (R158) could hardly penetrate the PM due to a significantly reduced ability to alter PM permeability; the mutant Y170A, however, could pass through the PM, but degraded in the space between the PM and the midgut epithelium. Further characterization by oligomerization demonstrated that Arg-158 mutants failed to form correctly sized high-molecular weight oligomers. This is the first report that Arg-158 plays a role in the formation of Cry4Ba oligomers, which are essential for toxin passage across the PM. Tyr-170, meanwhile, is involved in toxin stabilization in the toxic mechanism of Cry4Ba in mosquito larvae.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2003

Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites were isolated from the blood of an ocular patient, and have been successfully passaged in the laboratory, for over a year, by peritoneal inoculation in mice. The isolated parasite was designated the Korean Isolate-1 (KI-1) and its characteristics were compared with those of the RH strain, a well-known virulent strain originating from a child who suffered from encephalitis. The morphology, pathogenicity, infectivity and cell culture characteristics of the KI-1 were similar to those of the RH strain. Both RH and KI-1 antigens were detected by an anti-T gondii monoclonal antibody (mAb), Tg563, against the major surface protein SAG1 (30 kDa), whereas no reaction was observed against an anti-Neospora caninum mAb, 12B4. The KI-1 was confirmed as an isolate of T. gondii. A long-term laboratory maintenance and characterization of a local T gondii isolate is reported for the first time in the Republic of Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.103-107
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• 2009

The genus Acanthamoeba can cause severe infections such as granulomatous amebic encephalitis and amebic keratitis in humans. However, little genomic information of Acanthamoeba has been reported. Here, we constructed Acanthamoeba expressed sequence tags (EST) database (Acanthamoeba EST DB) derived from our 4 kinds of Acanthamoeba cDNA library. The Acanthamoeba EST DB contains 3,897 EST generated from amebae under various conditions of long term in vitro culture, mouse brain passage, or encystation, and downloaded data of Acanthamoeba from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Taxonomically Broad EST Database (TBestDB). The almost reported eDNA/genomic sequences of Acanthamoeba provide stand alone BLAST system with nucleotide (BLAST NT) and amino acid (BLAST AA) sequence database. In BLAST results, each gene links for the significant information including sequence data, gene orthology annotations, relevant references, and a BlastX result. This is the first attempt for construction of Acanthamoeba database with genes expressed in diverse conditions. These data were integrated into a database (http://www. amoeba.or.kr).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.489-497
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• 2016

The rail fastening system, which provides a structural connection between the rail and the sleepers, is a main track component that plays an important role in retaining the rail gauge within acceptable tolerances, as well as in passing the train load to the roadbed through the sleepers. In this paper, a modal test was first performed to evaluate the dynamic characteristics (e.g., natural frequency) of the clips of the railway fastening system under the condition of rail corrugation in urban railway operation. The corrugation-induced passing frequency was then compared with the natural frequency of the clips to investigate any resonance effect during train passage. Furthermore, a field test under train passage was conducted to measure the accelerations on the rail and the rail fastening clips as well as the strains on the rail fastening clips in the rail corrugation condition. The field measurements indicated that the accelerations on the rail and the rail fastening clips have a close relationship with the rail corrugation, but they had a minimal effect on the strains of the rail fastening clips.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Construction Safety
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2019

Despite the efforts for enhancing the safety record, construction industry has been suffered from higher fatalities than other industries. The poor record of safety in construction industry means that there is a clear need for an effective countermeasure. As mentioned in previous studies, it is important to identify the type of activities or risks that are likely to cause accidents and to develop appropriate safety measures. Considering the large number of accident cases on the temporary installations including work platforms and work passages, the temporary installations should be managed first. To support it, this study aims to analyze falling accident cases on construction working platforms and passages which can lead to develop proper safety measures. Through the analysis of 1663 accident cases in the perspective of cost, progress, activity, and type of workers, this study identifies how the recent accidents occur and what is the cause of the accident occurrence. The identified causes of accident occurrence will help us to improve current construction safety.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4871-4876
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• 2014

Background: We sought to evaluate the role of tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) on the promotion of coal tar pitch extract (CTPE)-induced tumorigenesis of human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) and tumor metastasis in nude mice, and related mechanisms. Materials and Methods: BEAS-2B cells were first treated with 2.4 mg/mL CTPE for 72 hours. After removal of CTPE, the cells were continuously cultured and passaged using trypsin-EDTA. THP-1 cells were used as macrophage-like cells. BEAS-2B cells under different conditions (n=6/group) were injected into the back necks of nude mice, and alterations of tumor xenograft growth, indicative of tumorigenicity, and tumor metastasis were determined. Pathological changes (tumor nests and microvascular lesions) of HE-stained tumor tissues were also evaluated. The expression of AP-1(c-Jun) in xenografts and metastatic tumors was determined using immunohistochemistry. Results: Tumor size and weight in nude mice transplanted with the mixture of CTPE-induced passage 30 BEAS-2B and THP-1 cells (2:1) were increased compared to those from the CTPE-treated BEAS-2B cells at passage 30 alone at different observation time points. Tumor metastasis to lymph nodes and liver was only detected after transplantation of a mixture the two kinds of cells. The numbers of tumor nests and microvascular lesions, and the expression levels of AP-1 (c-Jun) in tumors from the mixture of two kinds of cells were increased apparently in contrast to those in tumor from the CTPE-treated BEAS-2B cells of passage 30 alone. In addition, there was positive correlation between AP-1 (c-Jun) expression level and the number of microvascular lesions, or between AP-1 (c-Jun) expression level and tumor metastasis in these two groups. Conclusions: TAMs not only facilitate tumorigenesis transformation of CTPE-induced BEAS-2B cells, but also promote tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis in nude mice in vivo, which may be mediated by AP-1.

• 재활복지
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.67-82
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate relation and effect of PCC(Percentage of Correct Consonant) and nasalance score on the speech intelligibility and acceptability in adults with dysarthria by reading task of standardized passage. Ten adults with dysarthria and sixteen normal adults were participated in this study. PCC and nasalance score were measured through reading task of standardized passage. And, speech intelligibility and acceptability were examined using visual analogue criteria. The result of the study was as follows. First, the nasalance score of adults with dysarthria group is significantly higher than normal adults group in reading sample by standardized passage. Second, the PCC, speech intelligibility and acceptability shows significant correlation. However, the nasalance score doesn't show significant corelation with speech intelligibility and acceptability. These results suggest that PCC is closely related to speech intelligibility and speech acceptability, but nasalance score is not related to speech intelligibility and speech acceptability.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.49-55
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• 2019

This study sought to investigate whether mean speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) can be predicted by parameters of voice and speech range profile (VRP and SRP) in Korean normal adults. Moreover, it explored whether gender differences exist in the absolute differences between the SFF and estimated SFF (ESFF) predicted by the VRP and SRP. A total of 85 native Korean speakers with normal voice participated in the study. Each participant was asked to perform the VRP task using the vowel /a/ and the SRP task using the first sentence of a Korean standard passage "Ga-eul". In addition, the SFF was measured with electroglottography during a passage reading task. Predictive factors of the SFF were explored and the absolute difference between the SFF and the ESFF (DSFF) was compared between gender groups. Results indicated that predictive factors were age, gender, minimum pitch and pitch range for the VRP (adjusted $R^2=.931$), and pitch range (in semi-tones) and maximum pitch for the SRP (adjusted $R^2=.963$), respectively. The SFF and ESFF predicted by the VRP and SRP showed a strong positive correlation. The DSFF of the VRP and SRP, as well as their sum did not differ by gender. In conclusion, the SFF during a passage reading task could be successfully predicted by the parameters of the VRP and SRP tasks. In further studies, clinical implications need to be explored in patients who may exhibit deviations in SFF.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.104-114
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• 2004

A study was carried out to estimate the deformation of the set net according to the current by the model test in the circulation water channel. The tension of the frame line and the variation of net shapes were measured to investigate the deforming of the model set net in the flow. The results are obtained as follows; 1. The tensions (y) of the frame line according to the flow speed(x) from 0.0m/s to 0.6m/s were expressed by the experimental equation as follow : y= 1814.1x+115.12 2. In case of the upperward flow with fish court net, deformed angle in the upperward net was changed from 0$^{\circ}$ to 79$^{\circ}$, the inclined passage net was from 0$^{\circ}$ to 56$^{\circ}$. Besides, the depth ratio of the first bag net changed from 1.0 to 0.42 and the second bag net was from 1.0 to 0.41, and deformed angle in the downward of the bag net was from 0$^{\circ}$ to 87$^{\circ}$. 3. In case of the upperward flow with bag net, deformed angle in the upperward net was changed from 0$^{\circ}$ to 60$^{\circ}$, the inclined passage net was from 0$^{\circ}$ to 13$^{\circ}$. Besides, the depth ratio of the first bag net changed from 1.0 to 0.27 and the second bag net was from 1.0 to 0.15. In the flow speed 0.3m/s, the inclined passage net rised up to the entry of the bag net and then prevented it more over 90% in 0.5m/s. A deformed angle in the downward of the fish court net was from 0$^{\circ}$ to 58$^{\circ}$. 4. To minimize the deformation of each part in model set net, it needs to attach the moving weight out of the fish court net, inclined passage net and bag net. Besides, it needs to adjust the tension of the net twine for the maintenance of the shape.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.721-733
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• 2009

A pattern of tropical cyclone (TC) movement in the western North Pacific area was studied using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and the best track data from 1951 to 2007. The independent variable used in this study was defined as the frequency of tropical cyclone passage in 5 by 5 degree grid. The $1^{st}$, $2^{nd}$ and $3^{rd}$ modes were the east-west, north-south and diagonal variation patterns. Based on the time series of each component, the signs of first and second mode changed in 1997 and 1991, respectively, which seems to be related to the fact that the passage frequency was higher in the South China Sea for 20 years before 1990s, and recent 20 years in the East Asian area. When the eigen vectors were negative values in the first and second modes and TC moves into the western North Pacific, TC was formed mainly at the east side relatively compared to the case of the positive eigen vectors. The first mode seems to relate to the pressure pattern at the south of Lake Baikal, the second mode the variation pattern around $30^{\circ}N$, and the third mode the pressure pattern around Japan. The first mode was also closely related to the ENSO and negatively related to the $Ni\tilde{n}o$-3.4 index in the correlation analysis with SST anomalies.