• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.41-44
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• 2020

The Chinese many-toothed snake (Sibynophis chinensis) is an endangered species in South Korea. To determine its reproductive activity, here we captured a gravid S. chinensis from Mulyeongari Oreum Wetland Conservation Area, Jeju Island, on May 27, 2018, and reared it at Animal Taxonomy and Morphology Laboratory, Jeju National University, South Korea. The snake oviposited a clutch of six eggs between June 12 and 20, 2018, with an average size of 24.86 ± 1.36 mm in length and 9.86 ± 0.49 mm in width, which were artificially incubated at a constant temperature of 27 ℃. After incubating for 34-41 days, five of these six eggs successfully hatched. Average snoutvent length (SVL), tail length (TL), and body weight (BW) of hatchlings were 136.5 ± 5.17 mm, 47.76 ± 2.80 mm, and 1.66 ± 0.12 g, respectively. This study observed the reproductive activity of S. chinensis and characterized its eggs and hatchlings for the first time, providing valuable information for the long-term conservation plan of S. chinensis in South Korea.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2001

Animal and clinical studies as well as epidemiological data have provided convincing evidence that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can protect against atherosclerosis. However, the effects of the fatty acids on atherogenesis are contradictory. This discrepancy could derive from great susceptibility of the fatty acids to oxidation. We investigated the effect of eicosapentaenoic aced(EPA) on cellular atherogenesis via the scavenger receptor of THP-1 derived macrophages. THP-1 cells were fully differentiated into macrophages by incubating with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate for seven days. Atherogenic features of EPA were compared by subsitituting for linoleic acid (LA). Macrophages were also incubated without treatment of the fatty acids as controls. EPA (5-50 nmol/mL) was not cytotoxic and did not measurably induce cellular oxidation compared to bovine serum albumin (BSA) vehicle or identical doses of LA. EPA increased macrophage uptake and degradation of acetylated LDL(AcLDL) up to 14% and 88%, respectively. EPA increased markedly total cellular sterol synthesis and heparin-releasable lipoprotein lipase activity of macrophages, indicating that EPA may enhance accumulation of cellular cholesteryl ester and possibly facilitate formation of foam cells. These results demonstrate that EPA promotes the modified LDL-triggered atherosclerotic process by the modulation of the scavenger receptor and the activation of LPL in macrophages.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2009

To improve the functional and organoleptic properties of the fermented soymilk with Bacillus subtilis 2829PNU015 which has chungkukjang like flavor, functional materials from the edible plant extracts with well-known health promoting effects were examined by fibrinolytic activity and sensory evaluation. Among five samples such as Corni fructus, garlic, purple sweet potato, aged garlic, and pumpanini were tested, Corni fructus showed the highest fibrinolytic activity. The appearance and taste of the fermented soymilk (FS) was varied to the amount of Corni fructus added, and the highest acceptability of FS was observed from FS containing 1% Corni fructus extracts ($10^{\circ}$Brix) in it. Best way of applying Corni fructus to the fermented soymilk (FFS) was found to be incubating the mixture of soymilk and Corni fructus with Bacillus subtilis. FFS demonstrated dose dependent radical scavenging activities and these activities were found to be higher than those of FS at designated concentration.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.371-376
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• 2006

Crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) plays a major role in controlling glucose level in the haemolymph and also triggers important events during molting and reproductive cycles. In Penaeus monodon, three types of CHH, namely Pem-CHH1, Pem-CHH2 and Pem-CHH3, have been previously characterized. In this study, mouse polyclonal antibody was raised against recombinant Pem-CHH1 that was expressed in Escherichia coli. The anti-Pem-CHH1 antibody recognized all three types of Pem-CHHs but did not cross-react with either related hormone, molt-inhibiting hormone of P. monodon, or unrelated human growth hormone. The hyperglycemic activity in the extract from the eyestalk neural tissues was significantly depleted after incubating with anti-Pem-CHH antibody. Direct injection of the antibody into shrimp caused about 30-50% reduction in the haemolymph glucose level. The result demonstrates the ability of anti-Pem-CHH1 antibody to deplete the activity of CHH in vivo, and thus provides a possibility of using anti-Pem-CHH1 antibody to inhibit the hormone activity as a strategy to modulate growth and reproduction in this species.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.906-911
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• 2003

The function of genes related to spectinomycin biosynthesis (spcD, speA, speB, spcS2) from Streptomyces spectabilis ATCC 27741, a spectinomycin producer, was analyzed. Each gene was subcloned from a spectinomycin biosynthetic gene cluster and overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) using pET vector. After incubating each purified protein with its possible substrates, the final products were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). From these results, spcD, speA, and speB have been identified to be dTDP-glucose synthase, myo-inositol monophosphatase, and myo-inositol dehydrogenase, respectively. In addition, the results suggest that the spcS2 gene product functions downstream of the speB gene product in the biosynthetic pathway of spectinomycin. Taken together, the present study elucidates the early steps of the biosynthetic pathway for 6-deoxyhexose (6-DOH) part (actinospectose) and aminocyclitol part (actinamine) of spectinomycin.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.361-367
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• 2005

In this study, we evaluated and compared the pharmacodynamics of paclitaxel (PTX) in human A549 NSCLC cells grown as monolayers or as three-dimensional histocultures. Growth inhibitory effects were determined after incubating cells in drug free medium until 96 hr post drug exposure initiation. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry. The growth inhibition induced by PTX was significantly different in monolayers and histocultures, and PTX showed significantly less cytotoxicity in histocultures where large resistant fractions were observed. Moreover, although PIX induced significant $G_{2}/M$ arrest followed by apoptosis in monolayers in a drug concentration-dependant manner, $G_{2}/M$ arrest was not elicited in histocultures. However, apoptotic cells appeared from the $G_{2}/M$ phase in histocultures. In this study, we provide first evidence that PIX in three-dimensional histocultures, does not induce $G_{2}/M$ arrest, but rather that it induces $G_{2}/M$ phase specific apoptosis. Overall, our data demonstrate different pharmacodynamics of PTX in traditional monolayer and three-dimensional histocultures.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.321-327
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• 2015

Nocardia salmonicida is one of the main pathogens of fish nocardiosis. The purpose of this study was to build a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for the rapid and sensitive detection of N. salmonicida. A set of four primers were designed from the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region of N. salmonicida, and conditions for LAMP were optimized as incubating all the reagents for 60 min at 64℃. LAMP products were judged with agar gel electrophoresis as well as with the naked eye after the addition of SYBR Green I. Results showed the sensitivity of the LAMP assay was 1.68 × 10³ CFU/ml (16.8 CFU per reaction) and 10-fold higher than that of PCR. The LAMP method was also effectively applied to detect N. salmonicida in diseased fish samples, and it may potentially facilitate the surveillance and early diagnosis of fish nocardiosis.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.37B no.11
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• pp.1058-1071
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• 2012

This paper proposes policies for developing ICT ecosystems so that Korean ICT companies can have a competitive power under the changing ICT industry environment. It analyzes the changes of user characteristics, their consumption trends and ICT industry environment. It also examines problems of domestic ICT industry and overseas ICT policies. In addition, it investigates the ICT ecosystem strategies of Google and Apple based on the theory of business ecosystem. This study suggests government policies for establishing a smart ecosystem, incubating a strategic ecosystem, and maintaining a sustainable ecosystem. The findings of this study provide additional insights and guidelines for policy makers to develop effective ICT ecosystems.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.156-159
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• 2005

The protective effect of Naoxingtong (NXT) on rat cerebral microvascular endothelial cell (rCMEC) was investigated. rCMEC was injured in vitro by incubating for 4 hours at 100% NO in a hypoxia chamber. After treated with NXT-containing serum, the cellular viability rate (90.3%) was significantly elevated when compared with that of control group and the inhibitive rate of lactic dehydrogenase activity (9.2%) was far lower than the control group with dose-dependent effect. The results indicate that NXT can increase viability of rCMEC, and protect cell membrane from injury during hypoxia.

• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1002-1008
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• 2007

PreS domain of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen is a good candidate for an effective vaccine as it activates both B and T cells besides binding to hepatocytes. This report deals with overexpression and purification of adr subtype of surface antigen that is more prevalent in Pakistan. PreS region, comprising 119 aa preS1 region plus a 55 aa preS2 region plus 11 aa from the N-terminal S region, was inserted in pET21a+ vector, cloned in E. coli $DH5\alpha$ cells and expressed in E. coli BL21 codon+ cells. The conditions for over expression were optimized using different concentrations of IPTG (0.01-5 mM), and incubating the cells at different temperatures (23-$41^{\circ}C$) for different durations (0-6 h). The cells were grown under the given optimized conditions (0.5 mM IPTG concentration at $37^{\circ}C$ for 4 h), lysed by sonication and the protein was purified by ion exchange chromatography. On the average, 24.5 mg of recombinant protein was purified per liter of culture. The purified protein was later lyophilized and stored at $-80^{\circ}C$.