• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1507-1515
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• 2006

Angelica gigantis (AG), Rehamaninae Radix(RR), Paenia japonica (PJ), and Polygoni multiflori Radix (PM) have been used as medicinal plants to tonify the blood. General function of the drugs have been known to nourish blood and control the heart and liver meridians. Recently, several studies have proposed mechanisms by which some oriental medicinal herbs work on the immune system. However, it is uncertain whether aqueous-extract of these drugs has immunomodulatory effect yet. In this study, I investigated the immune promotive effects of the water-extracted AG, RR, PJ and PM. The water-extracted AG, RR, PJ and PM inhibited NO production and iNOS expression in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. Among these extracts, AG and PM induced expression of IL-2 and IFN${\gamma}$ in mouse spleen cells. In the flow cytometry analysis, PM-stimulated mouse spleen cells showed an increase in B-cell phenotype (CD45R/B220). The oral administration of Polygoni multiflori water-extracts to mice having S-180 abdominal dropsy cancer prolonged life-span more than control mice. These data suggest that among these extracts, PM has cellular and humoral immune-enhancement effect through IL-2 and IFN${\gamma}$ cytokine production, the regulation of NO production in macrophage cells and the B cell production in spleen cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.304-304
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• 2010

The study on the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) using the noble metals has long been the interest subject and the recent progress in nanoscience provides the opportunity to develop new model systems of catalysts in this field. Of the noble metal catalysts, we selected ruthenium (Ru) as metal catalyst due to its unusual catalytic behavior. The size of colloid Ru NPs was controlled by the concentration of Ru precursor and the final reduction temperatures. For catalytic activity of CO oxidation, it was found that the trend is dependent on the size of Ru NPs. In order to explain this trend, the surface oxide layer surrounding the metal core has been suggested as the catalytically active species through several studies. In this poster, we show the influence of surface oxide on Ru NPs on the catalytic activity of CO oxidation using chemical treatments including oxidation, reduction and UV-Ozone surface treatment. The changes occurring to UV-Ozone surface treatment will be characterized with XPS and SEM. The catalytic activity before and after the chemical modification were measured. We discuss the trend of catalytic activity in light of the formation of core-shell type oxide on nanoparticles surfaces.

• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1240-1247
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• 2018

Magnetic hysteresis in Ni nanowire arrays grown by electrodeposition inside the pores of anodic alumina templates is studied as a function of temperature in the range between 5 K and 300 K. Nanowires with different diameters, aspect ratios, inter-wire distance in the array and surface condition (smooth and rough) are synthesized. These microstructure parameters are linked to the different free magnetic energy contributions determining coercivity and the controlling magnetization reversal mechanisms. Coercivity increases with temperature in arrays of nanowires with rough surfaces and small diameters -33 nm and 65 nm- when measured without removing the alumina template and/or the Al substrate. For thicker wires -200 nm in diameter and relatively smooth surfaces- measured without the Al substrate, coercivity decreases as temperature rises. These temperature dependences of magnetic hysteresis are described in terms of an effective magnetic anisotropy $K_a$, resulting from the interplay of magnetocrystalline, magnetoelastic and shape anisotropies, together with the magnetostatic interaction energy density between nanowires in the array. The experimentally determined coercive fields are compared with results of micromagnetic calculations, performed considering the magnetization reversal mode acting in each studied array and microstructure parameters. A method is proposed to roughly estimate the value of $K_a$ experimentally, from the hysteresis loops measured at different temperatures. These measured values are in agreement with theoretical calculations. The observed temperature dependence of coercivity does not arise from an intrinsic property of pure Ni but from the nanowires surface roughness and the way the array is measured, with or without the alumina template and/or the aluminum support.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1022-1027
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• 2021

Three compounds were isolated from marine-derived Streptomyces sp. CNQ-031, and their inhibitory activities against monoamine oxidases (MAOs), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and β-secretase (BACE-1) were evaluated. Compound 1 (5,7-dihydroxy-2-isopropyl-4H-chromen-4-one) was a potent and selective inhibitor of MAO-A, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 2.70 µM and a selectivity index (SI) of 10.0 versus MAO-B. Compound 2 [5,7-dihydroxy-2-(1-methylpropyl)-4H-chromen-4-one] was a potent and low-selective inhibitor of MAO-B, with an IC₅₀ of 3.42 µM and an SI value of 2.02 versus MAO-A. Compound 3 (1-methoxyphenazine) did not inhibit MAO-A or MAO-B. All three compounds showed little inhibitory activity against AChE, BChE, and BACE-1. The K_i value of compound 1 for MAO-A was 0.94 ± 0.28 µM, and the K_i values of compound 2 for MAO-A and MAO-B were 3.57 ± 0.60 and 1.89 ± 0.014 µM, respectively, with competitive inhibition. The 1-methylpropyl group in compound 2 increased the MAO-B inhibitory activity compared with the isopropyl group in compound 1. Inhibition of MAO-A and MAO-B by compounds 1 and 2 was recovered by dialysis experiments. These results suggest that compounds 1 and 2 are reversible, competitive inhibitors of MAOs and can be considered potential therapies for neurological disorders such as depression and Alzheimer's disease.

• BioChip Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.332-339
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• 2018

The future neuro-prosthetic devices would be required spikes data monitoring through sub-nanoscale transistors that enables to neuroscientists and clinicals for scalable, wireless and implantable applications. This research investigates the spikes monitoring through integrated CNT front-end amplifier for neuro-prosthetic diagnosis. The proposed carbon nanotube-based architecture consists of front-end amplifier (FEA), integrate fire neuron and pseudo resistor technique that observed high electrical performance through neural activity. A pseudo resistor technique ensures large input impedance for integrated FEA by compensating the input leakage current. While carbon nanotube based FEA provides low-voltage operation with directly impacts on the power consumption and also give detector size that demonstrates fidelity of the neural signals. The observed neural activity shows amplitude of spiking in terms of action potential up to $80{\mu}V$ while local field potentials up to 40 mV by using proposed architecture. This fully integrated architecture is implemented in Analog cadence virtuoso using design kit of CNT process. The fabricated chip consumes less power consumption of $2{\mu}W$ under the supply voltage of 0.7 V. The experimental and simulated results of the integrated FEA achieves $60G{\Omega}$ of input impedance and input referred noise of $8.5nv/{\sqrt{Hz}}$ over the wide bandwidth. Moreover, measured gain of the amplifier achieves 75 dB midband from range of 1 KHz to 35 KHz. The proposed research provides refreshing neural recording data through nanotube integrated circuit and which could be beneficial for the next generation neuroscientists.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 2017

Scaffolds of cell substrates are biophysical platforms for cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation. They ultimately play a leading-edge role in the regeneration of tissues. Recent studies have shown the potential of bioactive scaffolds (i.e., osteo-inductive) through 3D printing. In this study, rice bran-derived biocomposite was fabricated for fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based 3D printing as a potential bone-graft analogue. Rice bran by-product was blended with poly caprolactone (PCL), a synthetic commercial biodegradable polymer. An extruder with extrusion process molding was adopted to manufacture the newly blended "green material." Processing conditions affected the performance of these blends. Bio-filament composite was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Mechanical characterization of bio-filament composite was carried out to determine stress-strain and compressive strength. Biological behaviors of bio-filament composites were also investigated by assessing cell cytotoxicity and water contact angle. EDX results of bio-filament composites indicated the presence of organic compounds. These bio-filament composites were found to have higher tensile strength than conventional PCL filament. They exhibited positive response in cytotoxicity. Biological analysis revealed better compatibility of r-PCL with rice bran. Such rice bran blended bio-filament composite was found to have higher elongation and strength compared to control PCL.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.2256-2268
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• 2018

Hydrophilic and hydrophobic polyethersulfone (PES)-zinc oxide (ZnO) sublayers were prepared by loading of ZnO nanoparticles into PES matrix. Both porosity and hydrophilicity of the hydrophilic sublayer were increased upon addition of hydrophilic ZnO, while these were decreased for the hydrophobic sublayer. In addition, the results demonstrated that the hydrophilic membrane exhibited smaller structural parameter (S value or S parameter or S), which is beneficial for improving pure water permeability and decreasing mass transfer resistance. In contrast, a higher S parameter was obtained for the hydrophobic membrane. With a 2 M NaCl as DS and DI water as FS, the pure water flux of hydrophilic TFN0.5 membrane was increased from $21.02L/m^2h$ to $30.06L/m^2h$ and decreased for hydrophobic TFN0.5 membrane to $14.98L/m^2h$, while the salt flux of hydrophilic membrane increased from $10.12g/m^2h$ to $17.31g/m^2h$ and decreased for hydrophobic TFN0.5 membrane to $3.12g/m^2h$. The increment in pure water permeability can be ascribed to reduction in S parameter, which resulted in reduced internal concentration polarization (ICP). The current study provides a feasible and low cost procedure to decrease the ICP in FO processes.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.527-535
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• 2021

The STEAM education was applied to science high school students, and changes in perceptions of students and teachers were investigated after class treatment. By the results of the student's perception survey, very positive results were found in increasing problem-solving capabilities, educational satisfaction, etc. More than 98% of students said they would continue to participate in STEAM education classes. Meanwhile, the lack of time for class activities put a burden on students to complete the problems during class. Especially nanoscience content and activities were properly organized in consideration of the level of cognitive development of the students. In addition, as a result of a survey of teachers' perceptions for students, more than 80.0% of teachers responded very positively in 'self-directed learning ability' and 'problem-solving capability', etc.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.225-235
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• 2022

It includes the synthesis of pristine ZnO nanoparticles and a series of Ag-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles was carried out by reflux method by varying the amount of silver (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9% by mol.). The morphology of these nanoparticles was investigated by SEM, XRD and FT-IR techniques. These techniques show that synthesized particles are homogenous spherical nanoparticles having an average particle size of about 50-100 nm along with some agglomeration. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnO nanoparticles and Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles were investigated via photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) as a standard dye. The data from the photocatalytic activity of these nanoparticles show that 7% Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles exhibit much enhanced photocatalytic activity as compared to pristine ZnO nanoparticles and other percentages of Ag-doped ZnO nanoparticles. Furthermore, 7% Ag-doped ZnO was made composites with sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride by physical mixing method and a series of nanocomposites were made (3.5, 7.5, 25, 50, 75% by weight). It was observed that the 25% composites exhibited better photocatalytic performance than pristine S-g-C 3 N 4 and pure 7% Ag-doped ZnO. Tauc's plot also supports the photodegradation results.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1383-1391
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• 2016

Anti-estrogen drugs such as tamoxifen have been used for treating patients with ER-positive, early breast cancer. However, resistance to anti-estrogen treatment is inevitable in most patients. Breast cancer anti-estrogen resistance-3 (BCAR3) has been identified as the protein responsible for the induction of tamoxifen resistance in estrogen-dependent human breast cancer. We have previously reported that BCAR3 regulates the cell cycle progression and the signaling pathway of EGF and insulin leading to DNA synthesis. In this study, we investigated the functional role of BCAR3 in regulating c-Jun transcription in non-tumorigenic human breast epithelial MCF-12A cells. A transient transfection of BCAR3 increased both the mRNA and protein of c-Jun expression, and stable expression of BCAR3 increased c-Jun protein expression. The overexpression of BCAR3 directly activated the promoter of c-jun, AP-1, and SRE but not that of $NF-{\kappa}B$. Furthermore, single-cell microinjection of BCAR3 expression plasmid in the cell cycle-arrested MCF-12A cells induced c-Jun protein expression, and co-injection of dominant negative mutants of Ras, Rac, and Rho suppressed the transcriptional activity of c-Jun in the presence of BCAR3. Furthermore, stable expression of BCAR3 increased the proliferation of MCF-12A cells. The microinjection of inhibitory materials such as anti-BCAR3 antibody and siRNA BCAR3 inhibited EGF-induced c-Jun expression but did not affect IGF-1 induced upregulation of c-Jun. Taken together, we propose that BCAR3 plays a crucial role in c-Jun protein expression and cell proliferation and that small GTPases (e.g., Ras, Rac, and Rho) are required for the BCAR3-mediated activation of c-Jun expression.