• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.197-201
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• 2005

It is well known that a rotating bar potential can transport angular momentum to the disk and hence cause the evolution of the disk. Such a process is particularly important in disk galaxies since it can result in fuelling AGNs and starburst ring activities. In this paper, we will present the numerical simulations to show how this mechanism works. The problem, however, is quite complicated. We classify our simulations according to the type of Lindbald resonances and try to single out the individual roles they play in the disk evolution. Among many interesting results, we emphasize the identification of the origin of the starburst rings and the dense circumnuclear molecular disks to the instability of the disk. Unlike most of the other simulations, the self-gravitation of the disk is emphasized in this study.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.161-167
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• 2018

Chloroplasts are present in organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. These organelles are thought to have originated from photosynthetic cyanobacteria through endosymbiosis. During endosymbiosis, most cyanobacterial genes were transferred to the host nucleus. Therefore, most chloroplast proteins became encoded in the nuclear genome and must return to the chloroplast after translation. The N-terminal cleavable transit peptide (TP) is necessary and sufficient for the import of nucleus-encoded interior chloroplast proteins. Over the past decade, extensive research on the TP has revealed many important characteristic features of TPs. These studies have also shed light on the question of how the many diverse TPs could have evolved to target specific proteins to the chloroplast. In this review, we summarize the characteristic features of TPs. We also highlight recent advances in our understanding of TP evolution and provide future perspectives about this important research area.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.277-283
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• 1990

Inactivation and reactivation of photosynthetic oxygen evolving complex were studied with isolated spinach (Spinacia oleraceda. L.) photosystem II particles by the activity of oxygen evolution and chlorophyll fluorescence. When the particles were treated with Tris and urea, the oxygen evolution was inactivated and three polypeptides having molecular weights of 33 kDa, 24 kDa and 18 kDa were simultaneously released. But in NaCl-treated particles, two polypeptides of 24 kDa and 18 kDa were removed from PS II particles. The oxygen evolution activities of Tris and urea-treated particles were not restored by adding cation ions (Mg2+, Mn2+ and Ca2+), but the NaCl-treated particles were restored by exogenously added Ca2+. The removal of these extrinsic polypeptides, especially 33 kDa, markedly showed the decrease of the variable fluorescence (Fv). These results are likely to be due to dissipate thermal energy by antenna of photosystem II complexes.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.178-184
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• 2012

Echinoids were collected at depths of 5-10 m in Munseom, Jeju Island by SCUBA diving on November 23, 2008 and September 15, 2009. Two specimens were identified as Echinometra mathaei (Blainville, 1825) based on morphological characteristics and molecular analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I partial sequences. Echinometra mathaei collected from Korea was redescribed with photographs and was compared with other species from GenBank based on molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses showed that no significant differences were between base sequences of E. mathaei from Korea and that from GenBank. To date, 13 echinoids including this species have been reported from Jeju Island, and 32 echinoids have been recorded in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2004

Small animal models are extensively utilized in the study of biomedical sciences. Current animal experiments and analysis are largely restricted to in vitro measurements and need to sacrifice animals to perform tissue or molecular analysis. This prevents researchers from observing in vivo the natural evolution of the process under study. Imaging techniques can provide repeatedly in vivo anatomic and molecular information noninvasively. Small animal imaging systems have been developed to assess biological process in experimental animals and increasingly employed in the field of molecular imaging studies. This review outlines the current developments in nuclear medicine imaging instrumentations including fused multi-modality imaging systems for small animal imaging.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.423-434
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• 2013

The adoption of oligonucleotide aptamer is well on the rise, serving an ever increasing demand for versatility in biomedical field. Through the SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment), aptamer that can bind to specific target with high affinity and specificity can be obtained. Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acid molecules that can fold into complex three-dimensional structures, forming binding pockets and clefts for the specific recognition and tight binding of any given molecular target. Recently, aptamers have attracted much attention because they not only have all of the advantages of antibodies, but also have unique merits such as thermal stability, ease of synthesis, reversibility, and little immunogenicity. The advent of novel technologies is revolutionizing aptamer applications. Aptamers can be easily modified by various chemical reactions to introduce functional groups and/or nucleotide extensions. They can also be conjugated to therapeutic molecules such as drugs, drug containing carriers, toxins, or photosensitizers. Here, we discuss new SELEX strategies and stabilization methods as well as applications in drug delivery and molecular imaging.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.77-80
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• 2005

Targeting of complex system such as human cells rather than biochemically pure molecules will be a useful approach to massively identify ligands specific for the markers associated with human disease such as cancer and simultaneously discover the specific molecular markers. In this study, we developed in vitro selection method to identify nuclease-resistant nucleic acid ligands called RNA aptamers that are specific for human cancer cells. This method is based on the combination of the cell-based selection and subtractive systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) method. These aptamers will be useful for cancer-specific ligands for proteomic research to identify cancer-specific molecular markers as well as tumor diagnosis and therapy.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.221-231
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• 2003

To gain information on retrotransposons in the genome of Paragonimus westermani, PCR was carried out with degenerate primers, specific to protease and reverse transcriptase (rt) genes of long-terminal-repeat (LTR) retrotransposons. The PCR products were cloned and sequenced, after which 12 different retrotransposon-related sequences were isolated from the trematode genome. These showed various degrees of identity to the polyprotein of divergent retrotransposon families. A phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that these sequences could be classified into three different families of LTR retrotransposons, namely, Xena, Bel, and Gypsy families. Of these, two mRNA transcripts were detected by reverse transcriptase-PCR, showing that these two elements preserved their mobile activities. The genomic distributions of these two sequences were found to be highly repetitive. These results suggest that there are diverse retrotransposons including the ancient Xena family in the genome of P. westermani, which may have been involved in the evolution of the host genome.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.101-113
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• 1995

The ants found in Chindo Island were investigated from July to October, 1994. We were interested in the ant fauna of this island because it is one of larger islands of Korea and being well supplied with subterranean water, quite different for mother islands in this respect. Collections were examined from 11 sites of Chindo Is. , of which 21 species of 15 genera under 4 subfamilies are classified and reported.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• no.nspc3
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• pp.139-146
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• 1992

The primary sequence of the 18S rRNA gene of a crustacean Pugettia quadridens (Decapoda: Pleocyemata: Brachyura) was determined by the PCR cloning and Taq sequencing. The 18S rRNA gene of this species in 1837 bases long, and 46 bases shorter than that of another crustacean decapod Oedignathus inermis. The similarity between two species is 90.8% when the insertion and/or deletion sites were excluded. Within the molecule, the most conservative (identical) region locates at the position of 1137-1206 and it is 70 bases long. The most long consecutive nucleotide differences occur at the position between 46-55 and the second most between 399-407. The sequence variation in the primary structure of 18S rRNA gene are not evenly distributed throughout the molecule.