• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2005

An experimental study of molecular motions on a liquid-vapor interface is limited due to micro-scale characteristics of a system with an angstrom or a nanometer size Therefore, in recent, many studies for micro-scale systems have been conducted by a computer simulation because it is free from experimental limitations. In this study, through the molecular dynamic (MD) method. molecular behavior was clarified on a liquid-vapor interface and a criterion to distinguish between liquid and vapor was suggested by a potential energy and the number of neighboring molecules. At an interface. the potential energy of a molecule was increased but the number of neighboring molecules was decreased when the molecule moved into a vapor region from a liquid region, and vice versa.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.10
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• pp.723-735
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• 2021

Spemann organizer is a center of dorsal mesoderm and itself retains the mesoderm character, but it has a stimulatory role for neighboring ectoderm cells in becoming neuroectoderm in gastrula embryos. Goosecoid (Gsc) overexpression in ventral region promotes secondary axis formation including neural tissues, but the role of gsc in neural specification could be indirect. We examined the neural inhibitory and stimulatory roles of gsc in the same cell and neighboring cells contexts. In the animal cap explant system, Gsc overexpression inhibited expression of neural specific genes including foxd4l1.1, zic3, ncam, and neurod. Genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and promoter analysis of early neural genes of foxd4l1.1 and zic3 were performed to show that the neural inhibitory mode of gsc was direct. Site-directed mutagenesis and serially deleted construct studies of foxd4l1.1 promoter revealed that Gsc directly binds within the foxd4l1.1 promoter to repress its expression. Conjugation assay of animal cap explants was also performed to demonstrate an indirect neural stimulatory role for gsc. The genes for secretory molecules, Chordin and Noggin, were up-regulated in gsc injected cells with the neural fate only achieved in gsc uninjected neighboring cells. These experiments suggested that gsc regulates neuroectoderm formation negatively when expressed in the same cell and positively in neighboring cells via soluble factors. One is a direct suppressive circuit of neural genes in gsc expressing mesoderm cells and the other is an indirect stimulatory circuit for neurogenesis in neighboring ectoderm cells via secreted BMP antagonizers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.184-184
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• 2011

Using first-principles density-functional calculations, we investigate the chain reaction mechanism of allyl alcohol (ALA) molecules on the H-terminated Si(001)-2${\times}$1 surface. Recently, it was reported [1] that allyl mercaptan (ALM) molecules show a self-directed line growth across the dimer rows through a chain reaction involving several reaction processes: (i) The created radical at the C atom is transferred to the S atom, (ii) the resulting S-centered radical easily abstracts an H atom from the neighboring dimer row, and (iii) the generated S-H group further reacts with the neighboring dimer row to produce the Si-S bond on the neighboring dimer row, accompanying the associative desorption of H2. This H2-desorption process creates a new DB on the neighboring dimer row, setting off the chain reaction across the dimer rows. In the present study, we find that although the structure of ALA with -OH functional is analogous to that of ALM with -SH functional, ALA and ALM lines show a difference in their growth direction. We predict that ALA undergoes the chain reaction to show a line growth along the dimer row, contrasting with the ALM line growth across the Si dimer rows. Our analysis shows that the different growth direction of ALA is due to the strong instability of oxygen radical intermediate, which prevents from growing across the dimer rows. Thus, we demonstrate that the stability of the radical intermediate plays a crucial role in determining the direction of molecular line growth.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.988-992
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• 2011

$CO_2$ adsorption on mineral sorbents has a potential to sequester $CO_2$. This study used a density functional theory (DFT) study of $CO_2$ adsorption on barium oxide (BaO) in the presence of $H_2O$ to determine the role of $H_2O$ on the $CO_2$ adsorption properties on the ($2{\times}2$; $11.05\;{\AA}{\times}11.05\;{\AA}$) BaO (100) surface because BaO shows a high reactivity for $CO_2$ adsorption and the gas mixture of power plants generally contains $CO_2$ and $H_2O$. We investigated the adsorption properties (e.g., adsorption energies and geometries) of a single $CO_2$ molecule, a single $H_2O$ molecule on the surface to achieve molecular structures and molecular reaction mechanisms. In order to evaluate the coordinative effect of $H_2O$ molecules, this study also carried out the adsorption of a pair of $H_2O$ molecules, which was strongly bounded to neighboring (-1.91 eV) oxygen sites and distant sites (-1.86 eV), and two molecules ($CO_2$ and $H_2O$), which were also firmly bounded to neighboring sites (-2.32 eV) and distant sites (-2.23 eV). The quantum mechanical calculations show that $H_2O$ molecule does not influence on the chemisorption of $CO_2$ on the BaO surface, producing a stable carbonate due to the strong interaction between the $CO_2$ molecule and the BaO surface, resulting from the high charge transfer (-0.76 e).

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.75-96
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• 2017

As electron donor/acceptor materials for organic photovoltaic cells, small-molecules donors/acceptor are attracting more and more attention. In this work, we investigated the electronic structures, electrochemical properties, and charge carrier transport properties of four recently-synthesized small-molecule donors/acceptor, namely, DPDCPB (A), DPDCTB (B), DTDCPB (A1), and DTDCTB (B1), by a series of ab initio calculations. The calculations look into the electronic structure of singly oxidized and reduced molecules, the first anodic and cathodic potentials, and the electrochemical gaps. Results of our calculations were in accord with those from experiments. Using Marcus theory, we also computed the reorganization energies of hole/electron hoppings, as well as hole/electron transfer integrals of multiple possible molecular dimer configurations. Our calculations indicated that the electron/hole transport properties are very sensitive to the relative separations/orientations between neighboring molecules. Due to high reorganization energies for electron hopping, the hole mobilities in the molecular crystals are at least an order of magnitude higher than the electron mobilities.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.65-75
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• 2022

Hypothalamus is a brain region that controls food intake and energy expenditure while sensing signals that convey information about energy status. Within the hypothalamus, molecularly and functionally distinct neurons work in concert under physiological conditions. However, under pathological conditions such as in diet-induced obesity (DIO) model, these neurons show dysfunctional firing patterns and distorted regulation by neurotransmitters and neurohormones. Concurrently, resident glial cells including astrocytes dramatically transform into reactive states. In particular, it has been reported that reactive astrogliosis is observed in the hypothalamus, along with various neuroinflammatory signals. However, how the reactive astrocytes control and modulate DIO by influencing neighboring neurons is not well understood. Recently, new lines of evidence have emerged indicating that these reactive astrocytes directly contribute to the pathology of obesity by synthesizing and tonically releasing the major inhibitory transmitter GABA. The released GABA strongly inhibits the neighboring neurons that control energy expenditure. These surprising findings shed light on the interplay between reactive astrocytes and neighboring neurons in the hypothalamus. This review summarizes recent discoveries related to the functions of hypothalamic reactive astrocytes in obesity and raises new potential therapeutic targets against obesity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.2219-2222
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• 2010

A density functional theory (DFT) study of $CO_2$ adsorption on barium oxide (BaO) adsorbents is conducted to understand the chemical activity of the oxygen site on the BaO (100) surface. This study evaluated the adsorption energies and geometries of a single $CO_2$ molecule and a pair of $CO_2$ molecules on the BaO (100) surface. A quantum calculation was performed to obtain information on the molecular structures and molecular reaction mechanisms; the results of the calculation indicated that $CO_2$ was adsorbed on BaO to form a stable surface carbonate with strong chemisorption. To study the interactive $CO_2$ adsorption on the BaO (100) surface, a pair of $CO_2$ molecules was bound to neighboring and distant oxygen sites. The interactive $CO_2$ adsorption on the BaO surface was found to slightly weaken the adsorption energy, owing to the interaction between $CO_2$ molecules.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.213-216
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• 2002

Skin pigmentation, also known as complexion coloration, results from the biosynthesis of melanin within the melanocytes of the Stratum basalum and the subsequent transfer, translocation, and degradation of this pigment to, in, and by the neighboring keratinocytes respectively, Melanins are produced and retained in melanosomes synthesized in the cell body that are translocated along the dendrites using microtubules via motor proteins. Melanosomes are eventually captured and retained at the tips of dendrites by attachment to the peripherally localized actin. Melanosomes reaching the dendritic tips are transferred to keratinocytes, primarily via phagocytosis of released melanosomes by keratinocytes. Molecules responsible for cell/cell recognition and interaction that regulate transfer are being identified. Some of these putative mediators appear to be affected by ultraviolet radiation. After the keratinocytes receive melanosomes, the granules are distributed individually or as clusters in dark versus light skin respectively. These melanosomes are then aggregated over the nucleus for photoprotection ofkeratinocyte DNA and eventually degraded.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2003

Gap junctions are membrane channels that directly connect the cytoplasm of neighboring cells, allowing the exchange of ions and small molecules. Two analogous families of proteins, the connexins and innexins are the channel-forming molecular vertebrates and invertebrates, respectively. Here, we present the molecular cloning and sequences analysis of novel innexiins, Binx2, expressed during Bombyx mori embryonic development. (omitted)

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.257-263
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• 2018

Vertebrate organ development is accompanied by demarcation of tissue compartments, which grow coordinately with their neighbors. Hence, perturbing the coordinative growth of neighboring tissue compartments frequently results in organ malformation. The growth of tissue compartments is regulated by multiple intercellular and intracellular signaling pathways, including the Hippo signaling pathway that limits the growth of various organs. In the optic neuroepithelial continuum, which is partitioned into the retina, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and ciliary margin (CM) during eye development, the Hippo signaling activity operates differentially, as it does in many tissues. In this review, we summarize recent studies that have explored the relationship between the Hippo signaling pathway and growth of optic neuroepithelial compartments. We will focus particularly on the roles of a tumor suppressor, neurofibromin 2 (NF2), whose expression is not only dependent on compartment-specific transcription factors, but is also subject to regulation by a Hippo-Yap feedback signaling circuit.