• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2004

This paper proposes a representation for the embodiment design of mechanical structures and a genetic algorithm suited for the representation. In order to represent early stages and latter stages of the embodiment design, the designs are modeled as simultaneous multi-objective optimization problems of parametric designs for parts and of layout generation for structures. The study, thus, involves genotypes that are adequate to represent phenotypes of the models for the genetic algorithm to solve the given problems. We demonstrate the implementation of the genetic algorithm with the result applied to the gear equipment design.

• Mycobiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.215-218
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• 2010

Azoles are currently the most widely used class of antifungal drugs clinically, and are effective for treating fungal infections. Target site of azoles is ergosterol biosynthesis in fungal cell membrane, which is absent in the mammalian host. However, the development of resistance to azole treatments in the fungal pathogen has become a significant challenge. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a UPC2 homolog in the human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. UPC2 plays roles in ergosterol biosynthesis, which is also affected by the availability of iron in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans. C. neoformans mutants lacking UPC2 were constructed, and a number of phenotypic characteristics, including antifungal susceptibility and iron utilization, were analyzed. No differences were found between the mutant phenotypes and wild type, suggesting that the role of C. neoformans UPC2 homolog may be different from those in S. cerevisiae and C. albicans, and that the gene may have a yet unknown function.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.96-101
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• 2011

Calcineurin is a serine/threonine protein phosphatase controlled by $Ca^{2+}$ and calmodulin that has been implicated in various signaling pathways. Previously, we reported that calcineurin regulates coelomocyte endocytosis in Caenorhabditis elegans. So far, simple and powerful in vivo approaches have been developed to study various endocytic processes in C. elegans. Using these in vivo assays, we further analyzed the endocytic phenotypes of calcineurin mutants. We observed that the calcineurin mutants were defective in apical endocytosis in the intestine as well as synaptic vesicle recycling in the nerve cord. However, we found that calcineurin mutants displayed normal receptor-mediated endocytosis in oocytes. Therefore, our results suggest that calcineurin may regulate specific sets of endocytic processes in nematode.

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.248-253
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• 2008

Stresses and nutritional starvation are two main external signals for the induction of sex pheromones in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In an attempt to identify the components involved in transduction of starvation signals, we screened 135 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants and isolated 6 mutants that induced the pheromone even in the presence of a nitrogen source. These mutants exhibited two distict induction phenotypes: pheromone induction at restrictive but not at permissive temperatures; and pheromone induction at both permissive and restrictive temperatures. The times required for the maximum pheromone induction at the restrictive temperature differed slightly in each mutant. In addition to the pheromone induction phenotype, the ts243 and ts304 mutants exhibited cell-division-cycle defects. The ts304 mutant cells showed an abnormal cytoplasmic DAPI staining pattern. The nucleolus of this mutant seemed to be fragmented, a phenomenon which is typically observed in aged yeast cells. The result of our genetic analysis indicated that the pheromone induction mutants belonged to 6 separate complementation groups. We designated these mutants pws1 to pws6.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.168-173
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• 2007

In previous nuclear genomic association studies, Random Forests (RF), one of several up-to-date machine learning methods, has been used successfully to generate evidence of association of genetic polymorphisms with diseases or other phenotypes. Compared with traditional statistical analytic methods, such as chi-square tests or logistic regression models, the RF method has advantages in handling large numbers of predictor variables and examining gene-gene interactions without a specific model. Here, we applied the RF method to find the association between mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) and diabetes risk. The results from a chi-square test validated the usage of RF for association studies using mtDNA. Indexes of important variables such as the Gini index and mean decrease in accuracy index performed well compared with chi-square tests in favor of finding mtSNPs associated with a real disease example, type 2 diabetes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1982

From Aspergillus nidulans, six suppressor mutants, MSI-MS6, were isolated, and their characteristics were analysed. These were the suppressor mutants for acriflavin resistant and nicotinamide auxotrophic mutant phenotypes. MS1, MS2, MS5 and MS6, were linked to the chromosome IV, I, II respectively, and MS2 was linked to one of the rest chromosomes, MS3 and MS6 mutants had both suppressors for acriflavin resistant marker and for nicotinamide auxotrophic marker. In order to know the stability and efficiency of the suppressors, their reversion frequencies, that is, frequencies of losing the suppressibility, were analysed. Only MS3 and MS5 were reversed with high frequency. The four mutants didn't lose their suppressibilities, and this meant that the suppressors of these four were very stable and highly effcient. The suppressor specificities of these mutants were tested for other mutant's phenotype marker. One of the six suppressors, MS1, had the suppressor specificity for acriflavin resistant marker of 163 strain.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.113-131
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• 2006

Sphingolipids have emerged as molecules whose metabolism is regulated leading to generation of bioactive products including ceramide, sphingosine, and sphingosine-1-phosphate. The balance between cellular levels of these bioactive products is increasingly recognized to be critical to cell regulation; whereby, ceramide and sphingosine cause apoptosis and growth arrest phenotypes, and sphingosine-1-phosphate mediates proliferative and angiogenic responses. Sphingosine kinase is a key enzyme in modulating the levels of these lipids and is emerging as an important and regulated enzyme. This review is geared at mechanisms of regulation of sphingosine kinase and the coming to light of its role in disease.

• BMB Reports
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.18-20
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• 1997

Lycopersicon peruvianum shows a gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI). GSI is controlled by a single locus (S locus) with multiple alleles. S ribonucleases encoded in S alleles cosegregate with their phenotypes of GSI in genetic cross. To understand the genetic role of S allele in L peruvianum, two large genomic fragments isolated previously were analyzed with total genomic DNAs from several tomato lines generated by cross-pollination. Southern blot analysis with the S allele fragments as probes revealed that the flanking region of S allele contained the highly homologous regions. It is speculated that they may play an important role to prevent genetic cross by self-pollination.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.475-479
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• 2006

Gentisyl alcohol isolated from Penicillium sp. has an antioxidative activity, protecting cells from oxidative stresses. From our in vitro angiogenesis assays with bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs), gentisyl alcohol was newly identified as a pro-angiogenic small molecule that induces new blood vessel formation of the cells. Gentisyl alcohol stimulated the proliferation of BAECs in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, it induced in vitro angiogenesis of BAECs such as invasiveness, migration, and tube formation of the endothelial cells. Effects of gentisyl alcohol on invasion and tube formation were also dose-dependent. These results demonstrate that gentisyl alcohol could affect the angiogenic phenotypes of endothelial cells and be developed as a new small molecule with pro-angiogenic activity.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 1995

In conclusion, tremendous potential exists for the application of animal biotechnology to the beef industry, especially with the utilization of embryo cloning to produce genetically identical animals and genetic engineering to modify animal genomes to improve and /or create new phenotypes for many economically important traits. Research involving embryo cloning and genetic engineering of animals has been continuous now for over a decade, however inefficiencies in techniques have prevented large scale application. large numbers of identical cattle will some day be produced and producers will be utilizing transgenic cattle in their beef production programs.