• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.592-599
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• 2018

The kinetics and thermodynamics of the adsorption of acid blue 40 from an aqueous solution by activated carbon were examined as a function of the activated carbon dose, pH, temperature, contact time, and initial concentration. The adsorption efficiency in a bathtub was increased at pH 3 and pH 11 due to the presence of sufonate ions ($SO_3{^-}$) and amine ions ($NH_2{^+}$). The equilibrium adsorption data were fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The results indicated that the Langmuir model provides the best correlation of the experimental data. The separation factor of the Langmuir and Freundlich model showed that the adsorption treatment of acid blue 40 by activated carbon could be an effective adsorption process. The adsorption energy determined by the Temkin equation showed that the adsorption step is a physical adsorption process. Kinetics analysis of the adsorption process of acid blue 40 on activated carbon showed that a pseudo second order kinetic model is more consistent than a pseudo second order kinetic model. The estimated activation energy was 42.308 kJ/mol. The enthalpy change (80.088 J/mol) indicated an endothermic process. The free energy change (-0.0553 ~ -5.5855 kJ/mol) showed that the spontaneity of the process increased with increasing adsorption temperature.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1104-1111
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• 2019

Objective: The aim of this study was to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of G protein-coupled receptor 54 (GPR54) gene and explore association of this candidate gene with reproductive traits in Jiaxing Black sows. Methods: Six pairs of primers of the gene were designed to amplify all exons thus sequences of which were detected by means of direct sequencing and then SNP loci were scanned. The effects of SNPs on total number of piglets born (TNB), number of piglets born alive (NBA), number of still born piglets (NSB), and litter weight at birth (LWB) of Jiaxing Black sows were analyzed. Results: Three SNP loci, including T3739C, C3878T and T6789C, were identified via comparison of sequencing and two genotypes (AB, BB) at each SNP site were observed. T3739C resulted in the change of amino acid ($Leu{\rightarrow}Pro$) in corresponding protein, and C3878T resulted in synonymous mutation ($Ile{\rightarrow}Ile$). Statistical results demonstrated that allele B was the preponderant allele at the three SNP loci and Genotype BB was the preponderant genotype. Meanwhile, Chi-Square test of these three SNPs indicated that all mutation sites fitted in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p>0.05). For GPR54-T3739C locus, Jiaxing Black sows with genotype BB had 1.23 TNB and 1.28 NBA (p<0.01) that were more than those with genotype AB, respectively. Jiaxing Black sows that had the first two parities with genotype BB had additional 2.23 TNB, 2.27 NBA (p<0.01), and 1.94 LWB (p<0.05) compared to those with genotype AB, respectively. However, for other two loci, no significant difference was found between TNB, NBA, NSB, and LWB, and different genotypes of Jiaxing Black sows. Conclusion: In conclusion, the polymorphisms of GPR54-T3739C locus were significantly associated to TNB, NBA, and LWB and could be used as a potential genetic marker to improve reproductive function of Jiaxing black sows.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.117-125
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• 2019

This study measured inefficiencies of Korean banks with weighted Russell directional distance function, WRDDM, for the years of 2004-2013. Checking contributions of inputs and outputs to these inefficiencies, we found that non-performing loan as undesirable output was the most influential factor. The annual average of inefficiencies of Korean banks was 0.3912, and it consisted of non-performing loan 0.1883, output factors 0.098 except non-performing loan, input factors 0.098. The annual average inefficiency went sharply up from 0.2995 to 0.4829 mainly due to the sharp increase of inefficiency of non-performing loan from 0.1088 to 0.2678 before and after 2007-2008 Global financial crisis. We empirically showed the non-performing loan needed to be considered since it was the most important factor among the influential factors of technical inefficiency such as manpower, total deposit, securities, and non-performing loan. This study had some limitation since we did not control financial environment factor in WRDDM.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.685-696
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• 2021

In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a heme precursor, on inflammatory and oxidative stress activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in RAW 264.7 macrophages by estimating nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), cytokines, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). We also evaluated the molecular mechanisms through analysis of the expression of their regulatory genes, and further evaluated the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant efficacy of ALA against LPS in the zebrafish model. Our results indicated that ALA treatment significantly attenuated the LPS-induced release of pro-inflammatory mediators including NO and PGE2, which was associated with decreased inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 expression. ALA also inhibited the LPS-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, reducing their extracellular secretion. Additionally, ALA abolished ROS generation, improved the mitochondrial mass, and enhanced the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and the activation of nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. However, zinc protoporphyrin, a specific inhibitor of HO-1, reversed the ALA-mediated inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines production and activation of mitochondrial function in LPS-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Furthermore, ALA significantly abolished the expression of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines, and showed strong protective effects against NO and ROS production in zebrafish larvae. In conclusion, our findings suggest that ALA exerts LPS-induced anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects by upregulating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, and that ALA can be a potential functional agent to prevent inflammatory and oxidative damage.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.187-215
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• 2021

Archives should provide a web-based archival information service with good usability based on the understanding of users' needs. Thus, this study analyzed the usability of the National Archives of Korea (NAK) website's search service through expert and usability evaluations for various users and suggested improvement plans. A literature review, heuristic evaluation, one of the usability expert evaluation methods, and usability evaluation for users were performed. As a result of expert evaluation, the severity rating for the usability problem was highest regarding a match between the system and real world and the lowest in error prevention. In the usability evaluation, it was assumed that the user's background and whether the website's help was provided is associated with usability. Usability evaluation was conducted for 22 participants, including those majoring in records management, web/application developers, and people without such backgrounds. Furthermore, a presurvey, a five-second test, and search tasks were conducted in a row. The analysis based on usability components in ISO 9241-11: 2018, i.e., effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction, showed that web/application developers had the highest search effectiveness, and those majoring in records management showed high effectiveness only in the search for archival content services. Background factors did not affect efficiency, and the more familiar with the finding aids, the better the efficiency. Moreover, providing the website's help was found to be positively associated with effectiveness and satisfaction. This study suggests that the NAK website will offer a user-friendly interface and search function, expand help support, and display a consistent web interface.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2021

This study investigated the environmental effects of improving the general-type activated carbon adsorption tower used at the Sihwa/Banwol Industrial Complex with use of a cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption tower for the application of an activated carbon co-regenerated system. Four general-type activated carbon adsorption towers and two cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption towers were selected to analyze the properties of activated carbon and to compare the efficiency of reducing environmental pollutants. The results showed that the activated carbon used in the cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption towers was high quality activated carbon with an iodine adsorption force of more than 800 mg/g and that a good adsorption performance was maintained within the replacement cycle. From an analysis of the environmental pollutant reduction efficiency, it was confirmed that the cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption tower functioned properly as a prevention facility for handling emissions pollutants with a treatment efficiency of total hydrocarbons (THC), toluene, and methylethylketone (MEK) components of 71%, 77%, and 80%, respectively. The general activated carbon adsorption tower, which was confirmed to use low-performance activated carbon, had a very low treatment efficiency and did not function properly as a prevention facility for dealing with emission pollutants. It is believed that it is possible to reduce pollutants during operations by changing from the general-type activated carbon adsorption tower to a cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption tower.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1942-1949
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• 2019

Objective: Leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) is associated with several physiological processes including inflammation, tumorigenesis, and natural killer T cell generation. Chicken LECT2 (chLECT2) gene was originally identified as one of the differentially expressed genes in chicken kidney tissue, where the chickens were fed with different calcium doses. In this study, the molecular characteristics and gene expression of chLECT2 were analyzed under the stimulation of toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) ligand to understand the involvement of chLECT2 expression in chicken metabolic disorders. Methods: Amino acid sequence of LECT2 proteins from various species including fowl, fish, and mammal were retrieved from the Ensembl database and subjected to Insilco analyses. In addition, the time- and dose-dependent expression of chLECT2 was examined in DF-1 cells which were stimulated with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly [I:C]), a TLR3 ligand. Further, to explore the transcription factors required for the transcription of chLECT2, DF-1 cells were treated with poly (I:C) in the presence or absence of the nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$ ($NF{\kappa}B$) and activated protein 1 (AP-1) inhibitors. Results: The amino acid sequence prediction of chLECT2 protein revealed that along with duck LECT2 (duLECT2), it has unique signal peptide different from other vertebrate orthologs, and only chLECT2 and duLECT2 have an additional 157 and 161 amino acids on their carboxyl terminus, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that chLECT2 is evolved from a common ancestor along with the actinopterygii hence, more closely related than to the mammals. Our quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that, the expression of chLECT2 was up-regulated significantly in DF-1 cells under the stimulation of poly (I:C) (p<0.05). However, in the presence of $NF{\kappa}B$ or AP-1 inhibitors, the expression of chLECT2 is suppressed suggesting that both $NF{\kappa}B$ and AP-1 transcription factors are required for the induction of chLECT2 expression. Conclusion: The present results suggest that chLECT2 gene might be a target gene of TLR3 signaling. For the future, the expression pattern or molecular mechanism of chLECT2 under stimulation of other innate immune receptors shall be studied. The protein function of chLECT2 will be more clearly understood if further investigation about the mechanism of LECT2 in TLR pathways is conducted.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.149-157
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• 2019

Recent research has been actively carried out on systems that want to optimize resource utilization by analyzing the intended behavior and pattern of behavior of objects (users, consumers). A service system that applies information about an object's location or behavior must include a location trigger processing system for tracking an object's real-time location. In this paper, we analyze design problems for the implementation of a context-awareness based location trigger system, and present system models based on analysis details. For this purpose, this paper introduces the concept of location trigger for intelligent location tracking techniques about moving situations of objects, and suggests a mobile agent system with active rules that can perform monitoring and appropriate actions based on sensing information and location context information, and uses them to design and implement the location trigger system for context-awareness based location services. The proposed system is verified by implementing location trigger processing scenarios and trigger service and action service protocols. In addition, through experiments on mobile agents with active rules, it is suggested that the proposed system can optimize the role and function of the application system by using rules appropriate to the service characteristics and that it is scalable and effective for location-based service systems. This paper is a preliminary study for the establishment of an optimization system for utilizing resources (equipment, power, manpower, etc.) through the active characteristics of systems such as real-time remote autonomous control and exception handling over consumption patterns and behavior changes of power users. The proposed system can be used in system configurations that induce optimization of resource utilization through intelligent warning and action based on location of objects, and can be effectively applied to the development of various location service systems.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 2021

Saccharomyces lysate has the well-known function of soothing the skin in various ways: it is an anti-irritant and can treat skin care conditions, such as skin whitening and antioxidative activity. However, data on the safety for use of Saccharomyces lysate in cosmetics and skin care products are still limited. To design a new cosmetic material with antioxidant and skin-whitening effects, 80 yeast strains were isolated from berries grown in Sunchang. Among the isolates, the FT4-4 strain, which exhibited superior biological activities, was selected for further experiments. The FT4-4 strain was identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae by 18S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. S. cerevisiae FT4-4 showed higher DPPH radical-scavenging (51.41%), superoxide dismutase (62.23%), and tyrosinase inhibition (64.75%) activities. The highest yield of biomass (3.16 g/l) and maximum growth rate of S. cerevisiae FT4-4 were observed within 16 h. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity potential of S. cerevisiae FT4-4 on B16F10 melanoma cells was measured by an MTT assay, and the results indicated that S. cerevisiae FT4-4 had a capacity to inhibit melanin up to 72.02% at an initial 10 mg/ml concentration. These results suggest that S. cerevisiae FT4-4 could be a promising candidate as a multi-functional material for application in the cosmetic industry, especially because of its antioxidant and skin-whitening effects.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.67
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• pp.5-55
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to promote future research and practical application in the field of records systems by informing the revision of the ISO 16175 standard set and analyzing its main contents, which was widely used as a record management functional requirements. Based on the experience of participating in the developing process of this International Standard since 2015, this study analyzed the context and process of revision, and the main contents of the standard, and sought to draw limited implications and proposed follow-up researches connected to the practice of the Korean records systems. The previous ISO 16175 sets had been produced as ISO 16175-1, 2, 3 in 2010-2011, and which were restructured and revised into new ISO 16175-1, 2 in 2020 in line with the revision of ISO 15489 and changes in the digital environment. Main title of the International Standard is processes and functional requirements for software for managing records, and Part I provides high-level functional requirements and associated guidance for applications that manage digital records, Part II provides guidance for selecting, designing, implementing and maintaining software for managing records. This standard assumes that the records system does not necessarily have to be a single system or software solely for records management and that it should be able to perform record management function in any forms.