• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.325-330
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• 2016

T-complex protein 10A homolog 2 (TCP10L) was previously demonstrated to be a potential tumor suppressor in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, little is known about the molecular mechanism. MAX dimerization protein 1 (MAD1) is a key transcription suppressor that is involved in regulating cell cycle progression and Myc-mediated cell transformation. In this study, we identified MAD1 as a novel TCP10L-interacting protein. The interaction depends on the leucine zipper domain of both TCP10L and MAD1. TCP10L, but not the interaction-deficient TCP10L mutant, synergizes with MAD1 in transcriptional repression, cell cycle G1 arrest and cell growth suppression. Mechanistic exploration further revealed that TCP10L is able to stabilize intracellular MAD1 protein level. Consistently, the MAD1-interaction-deficient TCP10L mutant exerts no effect on stabilizing the MAD1 protein. Taken together, our results strongly indicate that TCP10L stabilizes MAD1 protein level through direct interaction, and they cooperatively regulate cell cycle progression.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2013

Beta-lapachone (${\beta}$-Lap; 3,4-dihydro-2, 2-dimethyl-2H-naphthol[1, 2-b]pyran-5,6-dione) is a novel anti-cancer drug under phase I/II clinical trials. ${\beta}$-Lap has been demonstrated to cause apoptotic and necrotic death in a variety of human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The mechanisms underlying the ${\beta}$-Lap toxicity against cancer cells has been controversial. The most recent view is that ${\beta}$-Lap, which is a quinone compound, undergoes two-electron reduction to hydroquinone form utilizing NAD(P)H or NADH as electron source. This two-electron reduction of ${\beta}$-Lap is mediated by NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), which is known to mediate the reduction of many quinone compounds. The hydroquinone forms of ${\beta}$-Lap then spontaneously oxidizes back to the original oxidized ${\beta}$-Lap, creating futile cycling between the oxidized and reduced forms of ${\beta}$-Lap. It is proposed that the futile recycling between oxidized and reduced forms of ${\beta}$-Lap leads to two distinct cell death pathways. First one is that the two-electron reduced ${\beta}$-Lap is converted first to one-electron reduced ${\beta}$-Lap, i.e., semiquinone ${\beta}$-Lap $(SQ)^{{\cdot}-}$ causing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which then causes apoptotic cell death. The second mechanism is that severe depletion of NAD(P)H and NADH as a result of futile cycling between the quinone and hydroquinone forms of ${\beta}$-Lap causes severe disturbance in cellular metabolism leading to apoptosis and necrosis. The relative importance of the aforementioned two mechanisms, i.e., generation of ROS or depletion of NAD(P)H/NADH, may vary depending on cell type and environment. Importantly, the NQO1 level in cancer cells has been found to be higher than that in normal cells indicating that ${\beta}$-Lap may be preferentially toxic to cancer cells relative to non-cancer cells. The cellular level of NQO1 has been found to be significantly increased by divergent physical and chemical stresses including ionizing radiation. Recent reports clearly demonstrated that ${\beta}$-Lap and ionizing radiation kill cancer cells in a synergistic manner. Indications are that irradiation of cancer cells causes long-lasting elevation of NQO1, thereby sensitizing the cells to ${\beta}$-Lap. In addition, ${\beta}$-Lap has been shown to inhibit the repair of sublethal radiation damage. Treating experimental tumors growing in the legs of mice with irradiation and intraperitoneal injection of ${\beta}$-Lap suppressed the growth of the tumors in a manner more than additive. Collectively, ${\beta}$-Lap is a potentially useful anti-cancer drug, particularly in combination with radiotherapy.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.580-592
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• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to further investigate the potential health beneficial effects of long-term seaweed supplementation on lipid metabolism and hepatic functions in DIO mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: Four brown seaweeds (Undaria pinnatifida [UP], Laminaria japonica [LJ], Sargassum fulvellum [SF], or Hizikia fusiforme [HF]) were added to a high fat diet (HFD) at a 5% ratio and supplemented to C57BL/6N mice for 16 weeks. Triglycerides (TGs) and total cholesterol (TC) in the liver, feces, and plasma were measured. Fecal bile acid (BA) levels in feces were monitored. Hepatic insulin signaling- and lipogenesis-related proteins were evaluated by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Fasting blood glucose levels were significantly reduced in the LJ, SF, and HF groups compared to the HFD group by the end of 16-week feeding period. Plasma TG levels and hepatic lipid accumulation were significantly reduced in all 4 seaweed supplemented groups, whereas plasma TC levels were only suppressed in the UP and HF groups compared to the HFD group. Fecal BA levels were significantly elevated by UP, LJ, and SF supplementation compared to HFD feeding only. Lastly, regarding hepatic insulin signaling-related proteins, phosphorylation of 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase was significantly up-regulated by all 4 types of seaweed, whereas phosphorylation of protein kinase B was up-regulated only in the SF and HF groups. Lipogenesis-related proteins in the liver were effectively down-regulated by HF supplementation in DIO mice. CONCLUSIONS: Brown seaweed consumption showed hypotriglyceridemic effects in the prolonged DIO mouse model. Specifically, combinatory regulation of BA excretion and lipogenesis-related proteins in the liver by seaweed supplementation contributed to the reduction of plasma and hepatic TG levels, which inhibited hyperglycemia in DIO mice. Thus, the discrepant and species-specific functions of brown seaweeds provide novel insights for the selection of future targets for therapeutic agents.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.70-78
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• 2009

In this paper, we propose a novel method for eye detection using two texture filters considering textural and structural characteristics of eye regions. The human eyes have two characteristics: 1) the eyes are horizontally long and 2) the pupas are of circular shapes. By considering these two characteristics of human eyes, two texture filters are utilized for the eye detection. One is Gabor filter for detecting eye shapes in horizontal direction. The other is ART descriptor for detecting pupils of circular shape. In order to effectively detect eye regions, the proposed method consists of four steps. The first step is to extract facial regions using AdaBoost method. The second step is to normalize the illumination by considering local information. The third step is to estimate candidate regions for eyes, by merging the results from two texture filters. The final step is to locate exact eye regions by using geometric information of the face. As experimental results, the performance of the proposed method has been improved by 2.9~4.4%, compared to the existing methods.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.368-383
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• 2014

Climate change is expected to affect population density, phenology, distribution, morphological traits, reproduction and genetics of insects, and even in the extinction of insects. To develop novel research subjects for predicting climate change effect, basic information about biological and ecological data on insect species should be compiled and reviewed. For this reason, this study was conducted to collect the biological information on insect pests that are essential for predicting potential damage caused by insect pests in future environment. In addition, we compared domestic and foreign research trends regarding climate change effect and suggested future research subjects. Domestic researchers were rather narrow in the subject, and were mostly conducted based on short-term monitoring data to determine relationship between insects and environmental variables. On the other hand, foreign researches studied on various subjects to analyze the effect of climate change, such as changes in distribution of insect using long-term monitoring data or their prediction using population parameters and models, and monitoring of the change of the insect community structure. To determine change of the phenology, distribution, overwintering characteristics, and genetic structures of insects under climate change through development of monitoring technique, in conclusion, further researches are needed. Also, development of population models for major or potential pests is important for prediction of climate change effects.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.902-912
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• 2020

Objective: Mongolia is one of a few countries that supports over 25 million goats, but genetic diversity, demographic history, and the origin of goat populations in Mongolia have not been well studied. This study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity, phylogenetic status and population structure of Mongolian native goats, as well as to discuss their origin together with other foreign breeds from different countries using hypervariable region 1 (HV1) in mtDNA. Methods: In this study, we examined the genetic diversity and phylogenetic status of Mongolian native goat populations using a 452 base-pair long fragment of HVI of mitochondrial DNA from 174 individuals representing 12 populations. In addition, 329 previously published reference sequences from different regions were included in our phylogenetic analyses. Results: Investigated native Mongolian goats displayed relatively high genetic diversities. After sequencing, we found a total of 109 polymorphic sites that defined 137 haplotypes among investigated populations. Of these, haplotype and nucleotide diversities of Mongolian goats were calculated as 0.997±0.001 and 0.0283±0.002, respectively. These haplotypes clearly clustered into four haplogroups (A, B, C, and D), with the predominance of haplogroup A (90.8%). Estimates of pairwise differences (Fst) and the analysis of molecular variance values among goat populations in Mongolia showed low genetic differentiation and weak geographical structure. In addition, Kazakh, Chinese (from Huanghuai and Leizhou), and Arabian (Turkish and Baladi breeds) goats had smaller genetic differentiation compared to Mongolian goats. Conclusion: In summary, we report novel information regarding genetic diversity, population structure, and origin of Mongolian goats. The findings obtained from this study reveal that abundant haplogroups (A to D) occur in goat populations in Mongolia, with high levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.175-178
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• 2002

Two novel casual agents of soybean sprout rot occurred at soybean sprouts cultivated under structure in Suwon area in 1997 were isolated and their pathogenicity was tested in vivo. An isolate formed crowed, black acervuli which were oval to elongated with numerous black, needlelike, intermixed long and short setae, 65~110$\times$3.5~6.6 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. Conidia were curved, lunate, unicellular and hyliane and measured 21.5~22.5$\times$3.5~4.0 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The other isolate produced conidia with straight and cylindrical, and measured 14.0~17.5$\times$3.5~4.5 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. Apressorium size was measured 6.3~8.5$\times$4.5~5.0 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The agents were identified as Colletotrichum truncatum and C. gloeosporioides based on their morphological characteristics. There was a large difference in pathogenicity between two isolates. C. gloeosporioides caused dark brownish discoloration of whole plants. It showed high pathogenicity with severe disease development. Meanwhile C. gloeosporiodes caused light brown spots on cotyledon and its pathogenicity was not strong. The soybean sprout rot occurred by the two Colletotrichum species was firstly reported in soy-bean sprout in Korea, and we suggest it as “Colletotrichum rot of soybean sprout”.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.392-397
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• 2014

Recently, there are many researches on active safety system of intelligent vehicle. To reduce the probability of collision caused by driver's inattention and mistakes, the active safety system gives warning or controls the vehicle toward avoiding collision. For the purpose, it is necessary to recognize and analyze circumstances around. In this paper, we will treat the problem about collision risk assessment. In general, it is difficult to calculate the collision risk before it happens. To consider the uncertainty of the situation, Monte Carlo simulation can be employed. However it takes long computation time and is not suitable for practice. In this paper, we apply neural networks to solve this problem. It efficiently computes the unseen data by training the results of Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, we propose the features affects the performance of the assessment. The proposed algorithm is verified by applications in various crash scenarios.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2017

A membrane bioreactor by sequentially alternating the inflow and by applying a two-stage coagulation control based on pre-coagulation was evaluated in terms of phosphorus removal efficiency and cost-savings. The MBR consisted of two identical alternative reaction tanks, followed by aerobic, anoxic and membrane tanks, where the wastewater and the internal return sludge alternatively flowed into each alternative reaction tank at every 2 hours. In the batch-operated alternative reaction tank, the initial concentration of nitrate rapidly decreased from 2.3 to 0.4 mg/L for only 20 minutes after stopping the inflow, followed by substantial release of phosphorus up to 4 mg/L under anaerobic condition. Jar test showed that the minimum alum doses to reduce the initial $PO_4$-P below 0.2 mg/L were 2 and 9 mol-Al/mol-P in the wastewater and the activated sludge from the membrane tank, respectively. It implies that a pre-coagulation in influent is more cost-efficient for phosphorus removal than the coagulation in the bioreactor. On the result of NUR test, there were little difference in terms of denitrification rate and contents of readily biodegradable COD between raw wastewater and pre-coagulated wastewater. When adding alum into the aerobic tank, alum doses above 26 mg/L as $Al_2O_3$ caused inhibitory effects on ammonia oxidation. Using the two-stage coagulation control based on pre-coagulation, the P concentration in the MBR effluent was kept below 0.2 mg/L with the alum of 2.7 mg/L as $Al_2O_3$, which was much lower than 5.1~7.4 mg/L as $Al_2O_3$ required for typical wastewater treatment plants. During the long-term operation of MBR, there was no change of the TMP increase rate before and after alum addition.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.29 no.10 s.106
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• pp.853-858
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• 2005

Recently, various novel numerical models based on Navier-Stokes equation have been developed for calculating wave motions in the sea with coastal or ocean structures. Among those models, Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method might be the most popular one, and it has been used for numerical simulations of wave motions including complicated phenomena of wave breakings. VOF method, however, needs enormous computation time and large computational storage memories in general, thus it is practically difficult to use this method for calculations in the case of random waves because long and stable computation (e.g for more than 100 significant wave periods) is required to obtain statistically meaningful results. On the other hand if the wave motion is potential motion, Boundary Element Method (BEM), which is a much faster and more accurate method than VOF method, can be effectively used. The aim of this study is to develop a new efficient model applicable to calculations of wave motion and/or wave-structure interactions under random waves. To achieve this, a strictly combined BEM-VOF model has been developed by making the best use of both methods' merits; VOF method is used in a restricted fluid domain around a structure where complicated phenomena of wave breakings may exist, and BEM is used in the other domains far from the disturbance where the wave motion may be assumed to be potential. The verification of the model was performed with numerical results for Stokes' 5th order wave propagation and a random wave propagation.