• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.33 no.11
• /
• pp.3676-3680
• /
• 2012

An Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-based plasmid contains the EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) gene and EBV replication origin (oriP) sequence. Since EBNA1 (the only EBV-encoded protein) is combined with oriP, it is replicated simultaneously with chromosomal DNA in human, primate, and canine cells and is faithfully segregated at a stable copy number upon cell division. Consequently, it can be used to stably express gene inserts over a prolonged time in target cells. We have previously shown that the polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer can be surface-modified with L-arginine. Arginine is present at a high frequency in the transactivator of transcription (Tat) sequences of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It presents high membrane permeability and permits effective transfer of DNA inside the cells. In this study, we constructed two kinds of recombinant DNA by inserting the luciferase gene and enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) gene as reporter genes into the pCEP4 plasmid vector. We measured dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential after preparing PAMAM-based cationic polymer/EBV-based plasmid complexes. We performed transfection of HEK 293 cell lines with the polyplexes, and monitored luciferase activity and green fluorescence protein (GFP) expression. Our results show that PAMAM-based cationic polymer/EBV plasmid complexes provide enhanced and sustained gene expression.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.41 no.11
• /
• pp.765-770
• /
• 2008

Undesirable hyperpigmentation that can arise from increased melanocyte activity may be alleviated by targeting active melanocytes for apoptosis. The role of Stathmin 1 as an important regulator of microtubule dynamics is well documented. The current study examined the potential of Stathmin 1-targeting strategies in eliminating active melanocytes. A vector to overexpress Stathmin 1 and vectors to express three distinct small hairpin RNAs to knockdown Stathmin 1 expression in normal melanocytes were produced and in cell cultures acted accordingly. Both overexpression and knockdown of Stathmin 1 led to a marked increase in melanocyte apoptosis, as indicated by the accumulation of apoptotic cells and increased levels of cleaved caspase-3. Both up- and down-regulation of Stathmin 1 expression inhibited the activity of differentiated melanocytes, as indicated by decreases in both melanin production and tyrosinase activity. Taken together, these results indicate that hyperactive melanocytes can be inhibited by altering Stathmin 1 expression.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.633-644
• /
• 2020

Rice paper is an element of Vietnamese cuisine that can be used to wrap vegetables and meat. Rice and starch are the main ingredients of rice paper and their mixing ratio is important for quality control. In a commercial factory, assessment of food safety and quantitative supply is a challenging issue. A rapid and non-destructive monitoring system is therefore necessary in commercial production systems to ensure the food safety of rice and starch flour for the rice paper wrap. In this study, fluorescence hyperspectral imaging technology was applied to classify grain flours. Using the 3D hyper cube of fluorescence hyperspectral imaging (fHSI, 420 - 730 nm), spectral and spatial data and chemometric methods were applied to detect and classify flours. Eight flours (rice: 4, starch: 4) were prepared and hyperspectral images were acquired in a 5 (L) × 5 (W) × 1.5 (H) cm container. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), partial least square discriminant analysis (PLSDA), support vector machine (SVM), classification and regression tree (CART), and random forest (RF) with a few preprocessing methods (multivariate scatter correction [MSC], 1^st and 2^nd derivative and moving average) were applied to classify grain flours and the accuracy was compared using a confusion matrix (accuracy and kappa coefficient). LDA with moving average showed the highest accuracy at A = 0.9362 (K = 0.9270). 1D convolutional neural network (CNN) demonstrated a classification result of A = 0.94 and showed improved classification results between mimyeon flour (MF)1 and MF2 of 0.72 and 0.87, respectively. In this study, the potential of non-destructive detection and classification of grain flours using fHSI technology and machine learning methods was demonstrated.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.35-42
• /
• 2000

3D texture mapping generates highly natural visual effects in which objects appear carved from lumps of materials rather than laminated with thin sheets as in 2D texture mapping. Storing 3D texture images in a table for fast mapping computations, instead of evaluating procedures on the fly, however, has been considered impractical due to the extremely high memory requirement. Recently, a practical real-time 3D texture mapping technique was proposed in [11], where they attempt to resolve the potential texture memory problem by compressing 3D textures using a wavelet-based encoding method. In this paper, we consider two other encoding schemes that could also be applied to the compression-based 3D texture mapping. In particular, we extend the vector quantization and FXT1 for 3D texture compression, and compare their performance with the wavelet-based encoding scheme.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.19-22
• /
• 2003

In order to determine the degree of anthropogenic disturbance potentiality (ADP) of the area a rapid ecoassessment technique was developed on the basis of actual vegetation map. ADP degree of relevant unit cell was computed by using four criteria of land use patterns such as forested area, open water and stream, agricultural area, and urbanized area. Ultimate ADP degree of each cell was obtained by means of direct and indirect computation process. Finally the map of ADP was drawn and analyzed. Vulnerable cell and disturbance nuclei were determined according to disturbance vector which is a kind of potential disturbance pressure of relevant cell influenced by surrounding cell. A case study was accomplished in the Gijang area of Pusan metropolitan city. 973 meshes (500m×500m) were analyzed and a total of 79 meshes were currently threatened. Present technique of rapid ecoassessment was practically useful for diagnosing and planning land use.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.63 no.10
• /
• pp.1377-1383
• /
• 2014

This paper deals with eddy current loss of magnetic coupling with radial permanent magnet (PM) using analytical method such as a space harmonic method. Superposition of two kinds analysis model is used to analyze eddy current loss induced in inner PM and outer PM of magnetic coupling. When the eddy current is induced, the environmental temperature increases, and the permanent magnet(PM) characteristics are degraded because the performance of PM is greatly influenced by temperature rise. Hence, the calculation of eddy current loss becomes an important factor in the magnetic coupling. In order to analyze eddy current loss, first, on the basis of the magnetic vector potential and two-dimensional(2-D) polar-coordinate system, the magnetic field solutions of the radial magnetized PM are obtained. And we obtain the analytical solutions for the eddy current density produced by permanent magnet. Lastly, analytical solutions for eddy current loss are derived by using equivalent, electrical resistance calculated from magnet volume and analytical solution for eddy current density. This analytical results are validated by comparing with the 2-D finite element analysis (FEA).

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.123-129
• /
• 2006

High-resolution aerial color image offers great possibilities for geometric and semantic information for spatial data generation. However, shadow casts by buildings and trees in high-density urban areas obscure much of the information in the image giving rise to potentially inaccurate classification and inexact feature extraction. Though many researches have been implemented for solving shadow casts, few studies have been carried out about the extraction of features hindered by shadows from aerial color images in urban areas. This paper presents a asphalt road boundary extraction technique that combines information from aerial color image and LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) data. The following steps have been performed to remove shadow effects and to extract road boundary from the image. First, the shadow regions of the aerial color image are precisely located using LEAR DSM (Digital Surface Model) and solar positions. Second, shadow regions assumed as road are corrected by shadow path reconstruction algorithms. After that, asphalt road boundary extraction is implemented by segmentation and edge detection. Finally, asphalt road boundary lines are extracted as vector data by vectorization technique. The experimental results showed that this approach was effective and great potential advantages.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.59 no.5
• /
• pp.447-455
• /
• 2021

Vivax malaria incidence in Korea is now decreased and showing a low plateau. Nowadays, vivax malaria in Korea is expected to be successfully eliminated with anti-malaria chemotherapy, primaquine, and vector control. The glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is associated with potential hemolytic anemia after primaquine administration. This inborn disorder has a pivotal polymorphism with genetic variants and is the most prevalent X-chromosome-linked disorder. The prevalence of G6PD deficiency was previously reported negligible in Korea. As the population of multicultural families pertaining marriage immigrants and their adolescents increases, it is necessary to check G6PD deficiency for them prior to primaquine treatment for vivax malaria. The prevalence of G6PD variants and G6PD deficiency in multicultural families was performed in 7 counties and 2 cities of Jeollanam-do (Province), Gyeonggi-do, and Gangwon-do. A total of 733 blood samples of multicultural family participants were subjected to test the phenotypic and genetic G6PD deficiency status using G6PD enzyme activity quantitation kit and PCR-based G6PD genotyping kit. The G6PD phenotypic deficiency was observed in 7.8% of male adolescent participants and 3.2% of materfamilias population. Based on the PCR-based genotyping, we observed total 35 participants carrying the mutated alleles. It is proposed that primaquine prescription should seriously be considered prior to malaria treatment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.570-583
• /
• 2021

Pyrococcus furiosus α-amylase can hydrolyze α-1,4 linkages in starch and related carbohydrates under hyperthermophilic condition (~ 100℃), showing great potential in a wide range of industrial applications, while its relatively low productivity from heterologous hosts has limited the industrial applications. Bacillus subtilis, a gram-positive bacterium, has been widely used in industrial production for its non-pathogenic and powerful secretory characteristics. This study was conducted to increase production of P. furiosus α-amylase in B. subtilis through three strategies. Initial experiments showed that co-expression of P. furiosus molecular chaperone peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase through genomic integration mode, using a CRISPR/Cas9 system, increased soluble amylase production. Therefore, considering that native P. furiosus α-amylase is produced within a hyperthermophilic environment and is highly thermostable, heat treatment of intact culture at 90℃ for 15 min was performed, thereby greatly increasing soluble amylase production. After optimization of the culture conditions (nitrogen source, carbon source, metal ion, temperature and pH), experiments in a 3-L fermenter yielded a soluble activity of 3,806.7 U/ml, which was 3.3- and 28.2-fold those of a control without heat treatment (1,155.1 U/ml) and an empty expression vector control (135.1 U/ml), respectively. This represents the highest P. furiosus α-amylase production reported to date and should promote innovation in the starch liquefaction process and related industrial productions. Meanwhile, heat treatment, which may promote folding of aggregated P. furiosus α-amylase into a soluble, active form through the transfer of kinetic energy, may be of general benefit when producing proteins from thermophilic archaea.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.17 no.9
• /
• pp.71-78
• /
• 2019

This study aims to identify good borrowers within the context of P2P lending. P2P lending is a growing platform that allows individuals to lend and borrow money from each other. Inherent in any loans is credit risk of borrowers and needs to be considered before any lending. Specifically in the context of P2P lending, traditional models fall short and thus this study aimed to rectify this as well as explore the problem of class imbalances seen within credit risk data sets. This study implemented an over-sampling technique known as Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE). To test our approach, we implemented five benchmarking classifiers such as support vector machines, logistic regression, k-nearest neighbor, random forest, and deep neural network. The data sample used was retrieved from the publicly available LendingClub dataset. The proposed SMOTE revealed significantly improved results in comparison with the benchmarking classifiers. These results should help actors engaged within P2P lending to make better informed decisions when selecting potential borrowers eliminating the higher risks present in P2P lending.