• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.185-191
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• 2022

In this study, we propose a novel super-resolution neural network based on U-Net, residual neural network, and sub-pixel convolution. To prevent the loss of detailed information due to the max pooling of U-Net, we propose down-sampling and connection using sub-pixel convolution. This uses all pixels in the filter, unlike the max pooling that creates a new feature map with only the max value in the filter. As a 2×2 size filter passes, it creates a feature map consisting only of pixels in the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. This makes it half the size and quadruple the number of feature maps. And we propose two methods to reduce the computation. The first uses sub-pixel convolution, which has no computation, and has better performance, instead of up-convolution. The second uses a layer that adds two feature maps instead of the connection layer of the U-Net. Experiments with a banchmark dataset show better PSNR values on all scale and benchmark datasets except for set5 data on scale 2, and well represent local area patterns.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.71
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• pp.155-179
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• 2022

This study aims to apply Hannah Arendt's concept of 'collective responsibility' to the Christian education on environmental issues around the world, focusing on climate change. This study prepares the concept of 'collective responsibility' and the concept of 'collective guilt' and emphasizes the fact that the current climate change problem should be seen as a political task rather than a task of personal ethics. According to Arendt's theory, Christian education activities applying 'collective responsibility' for climate change can become action. This study has four suggestions for Christian learning to understand and recognize climate change. First, presenting and justifying the anxiety and anger toward climate change in the classroom. Second, transcending self-interest (egocentrism) through "Common Sense (enlarged mentality)" in Kantian terms. Third, building education communities through 'citizen participatory education,' running communication, and conversation. Fourth, encouraging experience and practice in every education community with "faith expressing itself through love (Gal 5:6)." Then, to be sure, this refers to not only love of neighbor in Christianity but also political friendship (philia politikē). The academic significance of this study is that it is the first interdisciplinary research paper in Korea which dealt with Arendt's political theory in relation to Christian education. Although it claims to be a theoretical work that applies Arendt's political theory from a systematic theological perspective to Christian education, the author is proud that it is accompanied by practical elements that can be actualized in the education field.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.654-661
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• 2021

In this study, in order to isolate excellent whitening agents from fungal cultural broth, various fungi were collected from wild areas in South Korea and then screened for tyrosinase inhibition activity, as tyrosinase is a precursor for the biosynthesis of melanin in regulating skin color. A fungus strain that inhibits tyrosinase activity has been identified and confirmed as Trichoderma viridescens (later renamed T. viridescens SW-1) via ITS sequencing. In T. viridescens SW-1, tyrosinase inhibitory activity was strongest on day three of culture. A 5% culture broth showed a tyrosinase inhibitory activity greater than 90% and exhibited high thermostability on day three. At 10% culture broth, the accumulations of intra- and extracellular melanin were inhibited above 27.1% and 7.5%, respectively. In summary, the physical and functional properties of the tyrosinase inhibitory substances of T. viridescens SW-1 included high levels of inhibition of melanin synthesis and antioxidative activity as well as thermostability. Therefore, we suggest that the whitening substance identified from the cultural broth of T. viridescens SW-1 has potential for application as a functional cosmetic ingredient.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.847-854
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to prepare Daebong persimmon-fermented liquor supplemented with Prunus mume fruit to promote the consumption of Daebong persimmon and to develop local specialties. As fermentation progressed, the alcohol content rapidly increased, whereas the sugar content decreased. With the production of CO₂ from the second day of fermentation, the epidermis and flesh solids of the Daebong persimmons began mixing together and rose to the surface of the fermentation container. This phenomenon continued until the fourth and fifth days of fermentation; on the fifth day, the ethanol and sugar contents were 11.4% and 9.8°Brix, respectively. A concentration of 6 to 9% (w/w) P. mume fruit was found to be the optimal amount during Daebong persimmon fermentation. When the fermented liquor was stored for 60 days at 5℃, the pH and ethanol content showed no significant change during the aging period. As aging progressed, the content of sugar slowly decreased in both the control sample and in the one to which P. mume was added, showing 9.8 and 10.4 mg/ml at the eighth week post-aging, respectively. The total acid content was 0.79~0.81% at the beginning of aging but slightly increased to 0.84~0.86% in the second week of aging. As a result of the sensory test, the sour taste, sweetness, and flavor were slightly stronger in the P. mume fruit group than in the control group.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.690-697
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• 2022

This study was conducted to analyze genome of red sea cucumber and to use it as basic data for the development of genetic markers for red sea cucumber. Microsatellite marker analysis of Ulleungdo_normal and Ulleungdo_native red sea cucumbers revealed that dinucleotide simple sequence repeats (SSRs) had the highest ratio, at 81.3~81.4%, and the number of the detected SSRs tended to decrease as the number of repeating sequence units in SSRs increased. In general, microsatellites with between 5 and 10 iterations were most common. As the size of the SSR repeating sequence units increased, the SSR iterations gradually decreased. The di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotides in SSRs were detected in the highest numbers as (AT)₅, (AAT)₅, and (AAAT)₅, respectively. (CG) and (CCG) had very low frequencies compared to the numbers of other repeating SSR units. The numbers of di-and tri-nucleotide repeats were up to 35 and 32, respectively, and then increased discontinuously up to 44 and 43 repeats, respectively. Tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotides in SSRs occurred in numbers up to 25, 21 and 14, respectively. This analysis of red sea cucumber indicated that it maintains its own repetition sequence and repetition number; therefore, we suggest that using it as basic data for molecular marker will be possible in future research.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.45-67
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• 2000

2-Amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) is a mutagenic and carcinogenic heterocyclic amino found in cooked meat. The in vivo mutagenicity and hepatocarcinogenicity of MeIQx were examined in mice harboring the lacZ mutation reporter gene ($Muta^{TM}$ Mice) and bitransgenic mice over-expressing the c-myc oncogene. C57B1/$\lambda$lacZ and bitransgenic c-myc (albumin promoter)/$\lambda$lacZ mice were bred and weaned onto an AIN-76 based diet containing $0.06\%$ (w/w) MeIQx or onto control diet. After 30 weeks on diet, only male bitransgenic mice on MeIQx developed hepatocellular carcinoma ($100\%$ incidence) indicating that there was synergism between c-myc over-expression and MeIQx. By 40 weeks, hepatic tumor incidence was $100\%$ ($17\%$) and $44\%$ ($0\%$) in male c-myc/$\lambda$lacZ and C57B1/$\lambda$lacZ mice given MeIQx (or control) diet, respectively, indicating that either MeIQx or c-myc over-expression alone eventually induced hepatic tumors. At either time point, mutant frequency in the lacZ gene was at least 40-fold higher in MeIQx-treated mice than in control mice of either strain. These findings suggest that MeIQx-induced hepatocarcinogenesis is associated with MeIQx-induced mutations. Elevated mutant frequency in MeIQx-treated mice also occurred concomitant with the formation of MeIQx-guanine adducts as detected by the $^{32}P$-postlabeling assay. Irrespective of strain or diet, sequence analysis of the lacZ mutants from male mouse liver showed that the principal sequence alteration was a single guanine-base substitution. Adenine mutations, however, were detected only in animals on control diet. MeIQx-fed mice harboring the c-myc oncogene showed a l.4-2.6-fold higher mutant frequency in the lacZ gene than mice not carrying the transgene. Although there was a trend toward higher adduct levels in c-myc mice, MeIQx-DNA adduct levels were not significantly different between c-myc/$\lambda$lacZ and C57B1/$\lambda$lacZ mice after 30 weeks on diet. Thus, it appeared that factors in addition to MeIQx-DNA adduct levels, such as the enhance rate of proliferation associated with c-myc over-expression, may have accounted for a higher mutant frequency in c-myc mice. In the control diet groups, the lacZ mutant frequency was significantly higher in c-myc/$\lambda$lacZ mice than in 057B1/$\lambda$1acZ mice. The findings are consistent with the notion that c-myc over-expression is associated with an increase in mutagenesis. The mechanism for the synergistic effects of c-myc over-expression on MeIQx hepatocarcinogenicity appears to involve an enhancement of MeIQx-induced mutations.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.383-390
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• 2023

The goal of this study was to identify new bioactive peptides in extracts derived from Tenebrio molitor (T. molitor) larvae for the development of functional foods. After extraction from freeze-dried T. molitor larvae with various solvents on time course, the extracts showed the highest 2,2,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity at 5 and 10 hr per total protein and solid contents, respectively. When the water extract was fractionated, a high methanol concentration led to a reduced level of high-molecular-weight proteins in the centrifugal supernatant, whereas increased DPPH activity in the supernatants suggests low-molecular-weight peptides may mediate antioxidant activity in the supernatant. Most of the organic solvent partitions, excluding butanol, showed similar activities in the water phases, and the organic solvent partition fraction exhibited a 28~44% decrease in activity following heat treatment, implying that some components in the fraction become unstable in the presence of heat. The addition of proteinase K to the water extract increased DPPH activity by 10~20%, suggesting that peptides, when released from total proteins, partially increase antioxidant activity. Therefore, we suggest that the antioxidants in T. molitor larval extracts make them a potential source of functional animal food.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.365-376
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• 2024

The present study assessed the cytotoxic effects on cell growth and senescence in human cancer (A-549, AGS, HCT-116, MDA-MB-231, and U 87-MG) and normal (MRC-5 and mesenchymal stem cells) cell lines treated with efavirenz (EFA), an inhibitor of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RTase). Following EFA treatment, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values were approximately 15 µM, and the IC₅₀ value was significantly (p<0.05) lower in the cancer cell lines, compared to normal cell lines. After determining the IC₅₀ values against EFA, each cell line was treated with 15 µM EFA for up to one week. Significant (p<0.05) decreases in endogenous RTase and telomerase activity were observed in the cancer cell lines. RTase and telomerase activity were absent or detected at very low levels in both EFA-untreated and treated MRC-5 and MSC normal cells. The cell doubling time (CDT) was also significantly (p<0.05) prolonged by the decreased cell growth rate in the EFA-treated cancer cell lines compared to the untreated cell lines. Furthermore, EFA-treated cancer cells displayed a high number of cells with a high intensity of senescence-associated ß-galactosidase activity (SA-ß-gal activity), compared to the untreated cells. The present study showed that inhibition of RTase activity induces cellular senescence and arrests cell growth in human cancer cell lines; however, normal cell lines showed greater tolerance against EFA. RTase treatment could offer optional chemotherapy for cancer treatment in human cancer cell lines with high RTase activity.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.296-302
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• 2024

An ionic conjugated polymer-iron (III) chloride composite was prepared via in-situ quaternization polymerization of 2-ethynylpyridine (2EP) using iron (III) chloride. Various instrumental methods revealed that the chemical structure of the resulting conjugated polymer (P2EP)-iron (III) chloride composite has the conjugated backbone system having the designed pyridinium ferric chloride complexes. The polymerization mechanism was assumed to be that the activated triple bond of 2-ethynylpyridinium salt, formed at the first reaction step, is easily susceptible to the step-wise polymerization, followed by the same propagation step that contains the propagating macroanion and monomeric 2-ethynylpyridinium salts. The electro-optical and electrochemical properties of the P2EP-FeCl₃ composite were studied. In the UV-visible spectra of P2EP-FeCl₃ composite, the absorption maximum values were 480 nm and 533 nm, and the PL maximum value was 598 nm. The cyclic voltammograms of the P2EP-FeCl₃ composite exhibited irreversible electrochemical behavior between the oxidation and reduction peaks. The kinetics of the redox process of composites were found to be very close to a diffusion-controlled process from the plot of the oxidation current density versus the scan rate.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.443-453
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• 2008

The Bric-a-brac, Tramtrack, Broad-complex (BTB) domain is a protein-protein interaction domain that is found in many zinc finger transcription factors. BTB containing proteins play important roles in a variety of cellular functions including regulation of transcription, regulation of the cytoskeleton, protein ubiquitination, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of a novel human gene, KLHL31, from a human embryonic heart cDNA library. The cDNA of KLHL31 is 5743 bp long, encoding a protein product of 634 amino acids containing a BTB domain. The protein is highly conserved across different species. Western blot analysis indicates that the KLHL31 protein is abundantly expressed in both embryonic skeletal and heart tissue. In COS-7 cells, KLHL31 proteins are localized to both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. In primary cultures of nascent mouse cardiomyocytes, the majority of endogenous KLHL31 proteins are localized to the cytoplasm. KLHL31 acts as a transcription repressor when fused to GAL4 DNA-binding domain and deletion analysis indicates that the BTB domain is the main region responsible for this repression. Overexpression of KLHL31 in COS-7 cells inhibits the transcriptional activities of both the TPA-response element (TRE) and serum response element (SRE). KLHL31 also significantly reduces JNK activation leading to decreased phosphorylation and protein levels of the JNK target c-Jun in both COS-7 and Hela cells. These results suggest that KLHL31 protein may act as a new transcriptional repressor in MAPK/JNK signaling pathway to regulate cellular functions.