• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.274-282
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• 2012

The object of this study was to assess the efficacy of Polycan from Aureobasidium pullulans SM-2001, which is composed mostly of beta-1,3-1,6-glucan, on osteoarthritis (OA)-induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection and partial medial meniscectomy (ACLT&PMM). Three different dosages of Polycan (85, 42.5, and 21.25 mg/kg) were orally administered once a day for 84 days to male rats a week after ACLT&PMM surgery. Changes in the circumference and maximum extension angle of each knee, and in cartilage histopathology were assessed using Mankin scores 12 weeks after Polycan administration. In addition, cartilage proliferation was evaluated using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). As the result of ACLT&PMM, classic OA was induced with increases in maximum extension angles, edematous knees changes, and capsule thickness, as well as decreases in chondrocyte proliferation, cartilages degenerative changes, and loss of articular cartilage. However, these changes (except for capsule thickness) were markedly inhibited in all Polycan- and diclofenac sodium-treated groups compared with OA control. Although diclofenac sodium did not influence BrdU uptake, BrdU-immunoreactive cells were increased with all dosages of Polycan, which means that Polycan treatment induced proliferation of chondrocytes in the surface articular cartilage of the tibia and femur. The results obtained in this study suggest that 84 days of continuous oral treatment of three different dosages of Polycan led to lesser degrees of articular stiffness and histological cartilage damage compared with OA controls 91 days after OA inducement, suggesting that the optimal Polycan dosage to treat OA is 42.5 mg/kg based on the present study.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1401-1408
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• 2021

This study examined whether the oral administration of low-molecular-weight collagen peptide (LMCP) containing 3% Gly-Pro-Hyp with >15% tripeptide (Gly-X-Y) content could ameliorate osteoarthritis (OA) progression using a rabbit anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) model of induced OA and chondrocytes isolated from a patient with OA. Oral LMCP administration (100 or 200 mg/kg/day) for 12 weeks ameliorated cartilage damage and reduced the loss of proteoglycan compared to the findings in the ACLT control group, resulting in dose-dependent (p < 0.05) improvements of the OARSI score in hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) and Safranin O staining. In micro-computed tomography analysis, LMCP also significantly (p < 0.05) suppressed the deterioration of the microstructure in tibial subchondral bone during OA progression. The elevation of IL-1β and IL-6 concentrations in synovial fluid following OA induction was dose-dependently (p < 0.05) reduced by LMCP treatment. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry illustrated that LMCP significantly (p < 0.05) upregulated type II collagen and downregulated matrix metalloproteinase-13 in cartilage tissue. Consistent with the in vivo results, LMCP significantly (p < 0.05) increased the mRNA expression of COL2A1 and ACAN in chondrocytes isolated from a patient with OA regardless of the conditions for IL-1β induction. These findings suggest that LMCP has potential as a therapeutic treatment for OA that stimulates cartilage regeneration.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.881-891
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• 2020

In recent years, large-scale development of coastal areas has caused the loss of many lives and extensive property damage in coastal areas, due to wave overtopping caused by high-wave invasion and strong typhoons. However, coastal inundation studies considering the characteristics of domestic coastal areas are insufficient. This study is a methodology study that aimed to reproduce inundation of surge and wave complex elements by applying the ADCSWAN (ADCIRC+SWAN) and FLOW-3D models. In this study, the boundary data (sea level, wave) of the FLOW-3D model was extracted using the ADCSWAN (ADCIRC+SWAN) model and applied as the input value of the FLOW-3D model and a reproduction was created of the Flooding due to surge and overtopping in Busan Marine City when the typhoon Chaba passed. In addition, the existing overtopping empirical equation and the overtopping calculated by the FLOW-3D model were compared, and for coastal inundation, a qualitative verification was performed using the Inundation Trace Map of Land and Geospatial Informatrix Corporation, and the effectiveness of this study was reviewed.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.133-152
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• 2022

Rice is a fundamental staple food commodity all around the world. Globally, it is grown over 167 million hectares and occupies almost 1/5^th of total cultivated land under cereals. With a total production of 782 million metric tons in 2018. In Pakistan, it is the 2^nd largest crop being produced and 3^rd largest food commodity after sugarcane and rice. The stem borers a type of pest in rice and other crops, Scirpophaga incertulas or the yellow stem borer is very serious pest and a major cause of yield loss, more than 90% damage is recorded in Pakistan on rice crop. Yellow stem borer population of rice could be stimulated with various environmental factors which includes relative humidity, light, and environmental temperature. Focus of this study is to find the environmental factors changes i.e., temperature, relative humidity and rainfall that can lead to cause outbreaks of yellow stem borers. this study helps to find out the hot spots of insect pest in rice field with a control of farmer's palm. Proposed system uses temperature, relative humidity, and rain sensor along with artificial neural network to predict yellow stem borer attack and generate warning to take necessary precautions. result shows 85.6% accuracy and accuracy gradually increased after repeating several training rounds. This system can be good IoT based solution for pest attack prediction which is cost effective and accurate.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.23-29
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• 2024

Potatoes are one of the world's four major crops, and domestic consumption is currently increasing in Korea. However, the mechanization rate of potatoes is very low, and especially, harvesting is the most labor-intensive task in potato production. In Korea, potato-collecting work depends on manpower, so it is necessary to develop a gathering-type harvester that can be used for processes from digging to harvesting. Therefore, in this study, a self-propelled-type potato harvester was developed, and its performance was analyzed to mechanize harvesting. The potato harvester was developed to have a crawler-type driving part with a 60 hp diesel engine and consisted of a digging part that digs potatoes from the ground, a vertical transporting part that transfers the dug potatoes to the height of the collection bag, a separating part that separates debris, such as stones and soil, and a collecting part that loads the collection box. A field test of the potato harvester was conducted, and performance was evaluated by the damage, loss, and debris mixing proportions, which were 2.5%, 2.8%, and 2.6%, respectively. The working capacity was 1.2 h/10 a. The economic analysis results showed that the cost of harvesting work could be reduced by 12.7% compared to manual harvesting.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.79-91
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• 2022

In this study, the effect of oral ciprofloxacin on the structure of the thoracic aorta in rats was investigated. Twenty four male albino rats were divided into 4 groups (6 rats/group): group I (adult control), group II (adult rats treated with ciprofloxacin), group III (senile control), and group IV (senile rats treated with ciprofloxacin). Rats in groups II and IV received ciprofloxacin via oral gavage in a daily dose of 3.5 mg/kg/d for 14 days, while control rats received equivalent amount of distilled water used to dissolve the drug. After 2 weeks, all rats were sacrificed, thoracic aortae were dissected, and half of the specimens were processed for paraffin sections and examined by light microscopy. The other half of the specimens were prepared for scanning electron microscopy. Sections from rats treated with ciprofloxacin showed evident damaging effect on aortic wall particularly in (group IV). Aortic intima showed, focal desquamation of the lining epithelium. Tunica media exhibited loss of the normal concentric arrangement and degeneration of the smooth muscle cells. Immune staining for alpha smooth muscle actin showed muscle damage. Interestingly, some sections in (group IV) showed out-pouch (aneurysm like) of the aortic wall. There was dense collagen fibers deposition. Scanning electron microscopic observations of (group IV) revealed uneven intima, adherent blood cells and fibrin filaments to damaged intima, and out-pouch formation. It was concluded that oral ciprofloxacin caused deleterious structural changes in the thoracic aortic wall of rats explaining clinical observations of fluoroquinolones induced risk of aortic dissection and aneurysm.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.872-878
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• 2016

Astaxanthin (ASX) is a xanthophyll pigment isolated from crustaceans and salmonids. Owing to its powerful antioxidant activity, ASX has been reported to have the potential to protect against gastric ulcers and a variety of other illnesses. Histamine (His) is a dietary factor that causes gastric erosion and ulceration in young chicks. In this study, we examined whether ASX had protective effects on dietary histamine-induced lesions in the gizzard and proventriculus of broiler chickens. Four experimental treatment groups were planned: basal diet (BD), BD+His, BD+ASX, and BD+ASX+His, with four chicks (5 days old) in each group and three replications (i.e., a total of 12 chicks per group). The BD was supplemented with either 0.4% His or 100 ppm ASX. The birds were fed ad libitum for 3 weeks, and diets contained no antimicrobial compounds. Supplementing the diet with His significantly decreased body weight gain, but increased the weights of the gizzard and proventriculus of the chicks as compared with those of chicks in the BD group (p<0.05). ASX did not affect His-dependent changes in chick body weight or weights of the gizzard and proventriculus. The loss of gastric glands in the proventriculus, which was observed in His-treated chicks, was not prevented by ASX administration. The frequency of proventricular ulceration, however, was lowered by treatment with ASX, without significant differences between the two supplementation levels. In conclusion, our data showed that ASX might be helpful for alleviating structural damage to the digestive system in poultry under certain stressful conditions.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2016

In recent years, the on-resistance, power loss and cell density of Si power devices have not exhibited significant improvements, and performance is approaching the material limits. GaN is considered an attractive material for future high-power applications because of the wide band-gap, large breakdown field, high electron mobility, high switching speed and low on-resistance. Here we report on the Ohmic contact resistance and reverse-bias characteristics of AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes with and without annealing. Annealing in oxygen at $500^{\circ}C$ resulted in an increase in the breakdown voltage from 641 to 1,172 V for devices with an anode-cathode separation of $20{\mu}m$. However, these annealing conditions also resulted in an increase in the contact resistance of $0.183{\Omega}-mm$, which is attributed to oxidation of the metal contacts. Auger electron spectroscopy revealed diffusion of oxygen and Au into the AlGaN and GaN layers following annealing. The improved reverse-bias characteristics following annealing in oxygen are attributed to passivation of dangling bonds and plasma damage due to interactions between oxygen and GaN/AlGaN. Thermal annealing is therefore useful during the fabrication of high-voltage GaN devices, but the effects on the Ohmic contact resistance should be considered.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2020

Purpose: Preterm infants are at high risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a means of predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes in this population. It is controversial whether diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI) represents damage to the white matter or delayed myelination in preterm infants. This study investigated MRI findings for predicting the severity of neurodevelopmental outcomes and assessing whether preterm infants with DEHSI near term-equivalent age have abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes. Materials and Methods: Preterm infants (n = 64, gestational age at birth < 35 weeks) undergoing brain MRI near term-equivalent age and subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes were evaluated between 18 and 24 months of age. The associations of MRI findings and the risk of severe cognitive delay, severe psychomotor delay, cerebral palsy (CP), and neurosensory impairment were analyzed. The associations of DEHSI with risks of severe cognitive delay, severe psychomotor delay, CP, and neurosensory impairment (hearing or visual impairment) were analyzed. Outcome data were evaluated by logistic regression and the Fisher's exact test. Results: There were significant associations between abnormal white matter findings and delayed mental development, delayed psychomotor development, neurosensory impairment, and presence of CP. The presence of DEHSI was not correlated with delayed neurodevelopmental outcomes or presence of CP. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, cystic encephalomalacia, punctate lesion, loss of white matter volume and ventricular dilation were significantly associated with CP. Conclusion: Abnormal MRI findings near term-equivalent age in preterm infants predict adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. No significant association between DEHSI and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes was demonstrated.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.362-372
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• 2018

High mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) is an abundant, chromatin-associated, non-histone protein involved in transcription, chromatin remodeling, and recombination. Recently, the HMGB2 gene was found to be significantly downregulated during senescence and shown to regulate the expression of senescent-associated secretory proteins. Here, we demonstrate that HMGB2 transcription is repressed by p21 during radiation-induced senescence through the ATM-p53-p21 DNA damage signaling cascade. The loss of p21 abolished the downregulation of HMGB2 caused by ionizing radiation, and the conditional induction of p21 was sufficient to repress the transcription of HMGB2. We also showed that the p21 protein binds to the HMGB2 promoter region, leading to sequestration of RNA polymerase and transcription factors E2F1, Sp1, and p300. In contrast, NF-Y, a CCAAT box-binding protein complex, is required for the expression of HMGB2, but NF-Y binding to the HMGB2 promoter was unaffected by either radiation or p21 induction. A proximity ligation assay results confirmed that the chromosome binding of E2F1 and Sp1 was inhibited by p21 induction. As HMGB2 have been shown to regulate premature senescence by IR, targeting the p21-mediated repression of HMGB2 could be a strategy to overcome the detrimental effects of radiation-induced senescence.