• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.14-25
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• 2018

Melatonin, an indolic tryptophan-derived compound, is secreted rhythmically from the pineal gland, mainly under the regulation of the circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Melatonin is widely present in nature, with biological activities in unicellular organisms, plants, and animals. A major function of melatonin is to transmit information to organisms about certain physiological functions in response to daily and seasonal variations in their environment. In this paper, we review a variety of melatonin's functional properties, its occurrence in plants, and its synthesis by yeasts. Fermented milk supplemented with melatonin-rich plants and yeasts can be used for the effective treatment of sleep disorders.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2017

Neuromedin U receptor 1 is a GPCR protein which binds with the neuropeptide, neuromedin. It is involved in the regulation of feeding and energy homeostasis and related with immune mediated inflammatory diseases like asthma. It plays an important role in maintaining the biological clock and in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction in the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract. Analysing the structural features of the receptor is crucial in studying the pathophysiology of the diseases related to the receptor important. As the three dimensional structure of the protein is not available, in this study, we have performed the homology modelling of the receptor using 5 different templates. The models were subjected to model validation and two models were selected as optimal. These models could be helpful in analysing the structural features of neuromedin U receptor 1 and their role in disorders related to them.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.237-247
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• 2009

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is the major neurohormone secreted during the night by the vertebrate pineal gland. The circadian pattern of pineal melatonin secretion is related to the biological clock within the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus in mammals. The SCN coordinates the body's rhythms to the environmental light-dark cycle in response to light perceived by the retina, which acts mainly on retinal ganglion cells that contain the photopigment melanopsin. Calbindin-D9k (CaBP-9k) is a member of the S100 family of intracellular calcium- binding proteins, and in this review, we discuss the involvement of melatonin and CaBP-9k with respect to calcium homeostasis and apoptotic cell death. In future studies, we hope to provide important information on the roles played by CaBP-9k in cell signal transduction, cell proliferation, and $Ca^{2+}$ homeostasis in vivo and in vitro.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.10
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• pp.577-588
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• 2019

DNA methylation at CpG sites is an essential epigenetic mark that regulates gene expression during mammalian development and diseases. Methylome refers to the entire set of methylation modifications present in the whole genome. Over the last several years, an increasing number of reports on brain DNA methylome reported the association between aberrant methylation and the abnormalities in the expression of critical genes known to have critical roles during aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Consequently, the role of methylation in understanding neurodegenerative diseases has been under focus. This review outlines the current knowledge of the human brain DNA methylomes during aging and neurodegenerative diseases. We describe the differentially methylated genes from fetal stage to old age and their biological functions. Additionally, we summarize the key aspects and methylated genes identified from brain methylome studies on neurodegenerative diseases. The brain methylome studies could provide a basis for studying the functional aspects of neurodegenerative diseases.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2002

Plasma melatonin, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and body temperature were measured simultaneously and continuously before and after the sleep-wake cycle was shifted in 4 healthy males and changes in the circadian rhythm itself and in the phase relationship among these circadian rhythms were determined. Normal sleep-wake cycle (sleep hours: 2300-0700) was delayed by 10 h (sleep hours: 0900-1700) during the experiment. Even after this shift the typical melatonin rhythm was maintained: low during daytime and high during night. The melatonin rhythm was gradually delayed day by day. The TSH rhythm was also maintained fundamentally during 3 consecutive days of altered sleep-wake cycle. The phase was also delayed gradually but remarkably. The daily rhythm of body temperature was changed by the alteration of sleep-wake cycle. The body temperature began to decrease at the similar clock time as in the control but the decline during night awake period was less steep and the lowered body temperature persisted during sleep. The hormonal profiles during the days of shifted sleep/wake cycle suggest that plasma melatonin and TSH rhythms are basically regulated by an endogenous biological clock. The parallel phase shift of melatonin and TSH upon the change in sleep-wake cycle suggests that a common unitary pacemaker probably regulates these two rhythms. The reversal phase relationship between body temperature and melatonin suggests that melatonin may have a hypothermic effect on body temperature. The altered body temperature rhythm suggests that the awake status during night may inhibit the circadian decrease in body temperature and that sleep sustains the lowered body temperature. It is probable but uncertain that there ave causal relationships among sleep, melatonin, TSH, and body temperature.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2024

Light is a major external environmental factor that influences the circadian rhythm of photosynthetic organisms and various physiological phenomena, such as growth, maturation, and behavior. The number of light-reaching organisms changes depending on the season and atmospheric conditions, and the intensity and wavelength of light differ depending on the organisms inhabiting the environment. Altered light changes the circadian rhythm of fish, which is controlled by clock genes, such as period 2 (Per2), cryptochrome 1 (Cry1), and melatonin. In this study, we set the zeitgeber time (ZT; 14 light-10 dark, LD) based on the actual sunrise and sunset times and examined Per2 and Cry1 activities, levels of aralkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT), and melatonin in Pholis nebulosa, a drifting seaweed species exposed to irregular light. Per2 and Cry1 levels increased during the daytime and decreased after sunset. The AANAT levels decreased during the daytime and increased during the night. Melatonin concentration was highest around midnight (ZT21, 23:30), but exhibited similar concentrations during the daytime. While the activity of Per2, Cry1, and AANAT levels exhibited a typical circadian rhythm observed in most vertebrates, melatonin concentrations did not show a significant difference between the daytime and nighttime. These findings provide insights into the circadian rhythm patterns of organisms exposed to irregular light environments, such as P. nebulosa, which differ from those of typical fish species.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.184-193
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• 2007

Objectives:There is increasing evidence that the cerebellum plays an important role in cognition and psychiatric symptoms as well as motor coordination. The concept of cognitive dysmetria has been making cerebellar function in schizophrenia the focus of current studies. In other words, disruption in the corticocerebellum-thalamic -cortical circuit could lead to disordered cognition and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. The purposes of this study were to determine cerebellar dysfunction in male schizophrenic patients semiquantitatively with ICARS and to investigate the clinical and cognitive correlates of ICARS in patients. Methods:We compared the scores of cerebellar neurologic sign using ICARS in 47 male patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizophrenia with 30 gender and age-matched healthy control subjects. The semiquantitative 100-point ICARS consists of 19 items divided into 4 unequally weighted subscores:posture and gait disturbances, kinetic functions, speech disorders and oculomotor disorders. All subjects were also assessed with cognitive function test. Cognitive functions were evaluated by Korean-Mini Mental Status Examination (K-MMSE), Verbal fluency test, and Clock drawing test. The patients were administered Korea version of Positive and Negative Symptom Scale(K-PANSS) to assess the symptom severity. Results:Schizophrenic patients had significantly higher scores on the ICARS than control subjects with posture and gait disturbances, kinetic functions, and oculomotor disorders. They also showed more significant impairments in cognitive function tests than control subjects. There was a significant correlation between ICARS and negative symptoms of patients. In cognitive function test, Clock drawing test was significantly associated with negative symptoms. In addition, Clock drawing test was negatively correlated with the total score of ICARS. Conclusion:In this study, we confirmed that schizophrenic patients have significant impairments in cognitive and cerebellar function, and that those were related with negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients. These results support a role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia. It is meaningful that we used a structured, and reliable procedure for rating neurological soft signs, ICARS. We hope that future prospective studies using a similar design help that rate of neurological sign should have been visible with the progression of illness.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.258-265
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• 2001

Objectives : Chronic alcohol consumption has been known to result in various neurocognitive deficits. Many neuropsychological studies revealed that the major disturbances occurred in the executive function, learning and short-term memory, visuospatial performance function, perceptuo-motor skills, and abstraction and problem solving abilities. This study was done to identify which cognitive areas might be mainly affected. Methods : The cognitive disturbance was evaluated using the Korean Version of the Mini Mental State Examination(MMSEK) and the 7 Minute Screen(7MS) in male inpatients with alcohol dependence(N=3 : as well as in age and education level matched healthy male controls(N=30). Four individual tests of the 7MS were consisted of the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, the Enhanced Cued Recall, the Clock Drawing and the Category Fluency. Results : 1) The average scores of four individual test of the 7MS for the alcoholics were $2.77{\pm}4.38$ for the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, $13.90{\pm}2.02$ for the Memory Test(the Cued Recall $6.77{\pm}1.94$, the Uncued Recall $7.10{\pm}2.45$), $5.84{\pm}1.86$ for the Clock Drawing, and $12.58{\pm}3.29$ for the Category Fluency. Except the Benton Temporal Orientation Test, there were statistically significant differences between test scores of alcoholics and those of controls(p<0.01). 2) The alcoholics who had MMSE-K score <24 were 9.68%. The average(${\pm}S.D.$) score of the MMSE-K for the patient group($27.23{\pm}2.62$) was significantly(p<0.001) lower than that of the healthy controls($29.20{\pm}1.24$). There were no statistically significant differences between four individual test scores of the 7MS of alcoholics with the MMSE-K score <24(N=3) and those of alcoholics with the MMSE-K score ${\geq}24$(N=28). 3) Four individual test scores of the 7MS seemed to have statistically significant association with such variables as MMSE-K, duration of alcohol drinking, blood magnesium concentration, liver function and thyroid function. Conclusion : Mild deficits of cognitive areas such as orientation, memory, visuospatial abilities and verbal fluency could be found in alcohol dependence.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.501-539
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• 2016

The human mind is a self-evolving system that develops along a multidimensional hierarchical pathway in response to traumatic stimulus. In absence of trauma, a mind integrated in conflict-free state is called monistic. When the monistic mind responses to a traumatic stimulus, a response polarity forms toward stimulus polarity within the mind, turning it into a bipartite structure. Dialectical interaction between the two opposites, originating from their incompatibility, creates a new third polarity in the upper dimension. Thereby, the mind turns into a trinity structure. When the interaction among the three polarities becomes optimized, the plasticity of the mind gets maximized into the "far-from-equilibrium state," and the function of three polarities is synchronized. Through this recalibration, the mind returns back to its monistic structure. If the mind with the recurred monistic structure responds to another traumatic stimulus, this cycle of hierarchical transformation repeats itself in this cyclical and fractal growth process through synchronization of basic trinity system. Applying this concept to the process of post-traumatic growth (PTG), this paper explores how the mind transforms traumatic experiences into PTG and proposes a 'PTG Clock' that shows a fundamental sequence in the development of the human mind. The PTG Clock consists of seven hierarchical phases, and each of the first six phases has two opposite sub-phases: shocked/numbed, feared/intrusive, paranoid/avoidant, obsessional/explosive, dependent/depressive, and meaningless/searching for meaning. The seventh, the synchronization phase, completes one cycle of the mind's transformation, realizing a grand trinity system, where the mind synchronizes its biological, social, and existential dimensions. At that point, the mind becomes more susceptible to not only the stimulus of its own traumatic experience but also the pain of others. Thereby, the PTG Clock sets out on a journey to another cycle of transformation in higher dimensions. The validity of this transformational process for the PTG Clock will be examined by comparing it to Horowitz's theory of stress response syndrome.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.77-89
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• 2018

The chromosomes of all the world are the same in all 24 pairs, but the key, skin color and appearance are different. Also, it is the resistance of adult disease, diabetes, cancer. In 1953, Watson, Crick of Cambridge University experimentally discovered a DNA double helix structure, and in 1962, They laureates the Nobel Prize. In 1964, Temin, University of Wisconsin, USA, experimentally identified the ability to copy gene information from RNA to DNA and received the Nobel Prize in 1975. In this paper, we analyzed 24 pairs of DNA chromosomes using mathematical matrices based on the combination order sequence of four groups, and designed the Taegeuk pattern genetic code for the first time in the world. In the case of normal persons, the middle Yin-Yang taegeuk is designed as a block circulant Jacket matrix in DNA, and the left-right and upper-lower pairs of east-west and north-south rulings are designed as pair complementary matrices. If (C U: A G) chromosomes are unbalanced, that is, people with disease or inheritance become squashed squirming patterns. In 2017, Professor Michel Young was awarded a Nobel by presenting a biological clock and experimentally explained the bio-imbalance through a yellow fruit fly experiment.This study proved mathematical matrices for balanced and unbalanced RNA.