• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 2008

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), also designated matrixins, hydrolyze components of the extracellular matrix. These proteinases playa central role in many biological processes, such as embryogenesis, normal tissue remodeling, wound healing, and angiogenesis, and in diseases such as atheroma, arthritis, cancer, and tissue ulceration. In previous data, disruption of the actin cytoskeleton by cytochalasin D (CD) inhibited NO-induced apoptosis, dedifferentiation, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression, and prostaglandin $E_2$ production in chondrocytes cultured on plastic or during cartilage explants culture. In this study, we investigated the effects of the actin cytoskeleton architecture on MMP-2 expression and dedifferentiation by CD in rabbit articular chondrocytes. Rabbit articular chondrocytes were prepared from cartilage slices of 2-weeks-old New Zealand white rabbits by enzymatic digestion. CD was used as a disruptor of actin cytoskeleton. In this experiments measuring CD dose response, primary chondrocytes were treated with various concentrations of CD for 24h. The actin disruption was determined by immunostaining. MMP-2 expression levels were determined by immunoblot analysis and Reverse transcriptase-Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and MMP-2 activity was determined by gelatin zymography. We found that cell morphological change and up-regulation of MMP-2 expression by CD as determined via immunostaining, gelatin zymography and immunoblotting. Moreover, CD induced MMP-2 transcription was detected by RT-PCR. Also, CD-induced type II collagen expression was inhibited by MMP-2 inhibitor I treatment. Our results indicate that CD up-regulated MMP-2 activation causes dedifferentiation of articular chondrocyte.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1508-1513
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• 2006

Myostatin (MSTN) and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are a known inhibitor and stimulators of proliferation and differentiation of muscle cells, respectively. The present study was performed to investigate the relationship of MSTN-induced growth inhibition to expression of the IGF system components and myogenin, a muscle cell-specific transcription factor, in rat L6 myoblasts. The L6 cells transfected with a green fluorescent protein-MSTN plasmid expression construct had a 47% less cell number than mock-transfected cells after 3-d serum-free culture, accompanied by delayed differentiation which was suggested by inhibited aggregation of cells. Moreover, cells transfected with the expression construct had decreased expression of IGF-II and myogenin genes, but not IGF-I or its receptor genes, as examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The reduced mitosis of the L6 cells transfected with the MSTN-expression construct increased following an addition of either IGF-I or IGF-II to the culture medium, but not to the level of mock-transfected cells. By contrast, myogenin gene expression in these cells increased after the addition of either IGF to the level of mock-transfected cells. Collectively, these results suggest that the inhibitory effect of MSTN on L6 cell proliferation and differentiation is likely to be partly mediated by serially suppressed expression of IGF-II and myogenin genes, not IGF-I gene.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1516-1524
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• 2018

Objective: Defensins are a large family of antimicrobial peptides and components of the innate immune system that invoke an immediate immune response against harmful pathogens. Defensins are classified into alpha-, beta-, and theta-defensins. Avian species only possess beta-defensins (AvBDs), and approximately 14 AvBDs (AvBD1-AvBD14) have been identified in chickens to date. Although substantial information is available on the conservation and phylogenetics, limited information is available on the expression and regulation of AvBD8 in chicken immune tissues and cells. Methods: We examined AvBD8 protein expression in immune tissues of White Leghorn chickens (WL) by immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). In addition, we examined AvBD8 expression in chicken T-, B-, macrophage-, and fibroblast-cell lines and its regulation in these cells after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment by immunocytochemistry and RT-qPCR. Results: Our results showed that chicken AvBD8 protein was strongly expressed in the WL intestine and in macrophages. AvBD8 gene expression was highly upregulated in macrophages treated with different LPS concentrations compared with that in T- and B-cell lines in a time-independent manner. Moreover, chicken AvBD8 strongly interacted with other AvBDs and with other antimicrobial peptides as determined by bioinformatics. Conclusion: Our study provides the expression and regulation of chicken AvBD8 protein in immune tissues and cells, which play crucial role in the innate immunity.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2 s.70
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• pp.54-65
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• 2007

Objectives : In the present study, the author investigated whether Naenghyo-hwan(NHH) significantly affect mucin secretion from airway epithelial cells. Methods : Confluent hamster tracheal surface epithelial (HTSE) cells were metabolically radiolabeled with 3H-glucosamine for 24 hrs and chased for 30 min in the presence of NHH to assess the effect of the agent on 3H-mucin secretion. Total elutionprofiles of control spent media and treatment sample through Sepharose CL-4B column were analysed. Effect of NHH on contractility of isolated tracheal smooth muscle was investigated. Also, effect of the agent on MUC5AC gene expression in cultured NCI-H292cells was investigated. Possible cytotoxicities of the agent were assessed by measuring both lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release from HTSE cells and examining the rate of survival and proliferation of NCI-H292 cells. Results : NHH significantly increased mucin secretion from cultured HTSE cells, with significant cytotoxicity. NHH chiefly affected the 'mucin' secretion. NHH inhibited ACh-induced contraction of isolated tracheal smooth muscle. NHH disturbed both the extraction of total RNA from NCI-H292 cells and polymerase chain reaction, nonspecifically. Therefore, in this experiment, theeffect of NHH on the expression levels of MUC 5AC gene in cultured NCI-H292 cells could not be elucidated. Conclusions : The author suggests that the effect of NHH with their components should be further investigated and it is valuable to find, from oriental medical prescriptions, novel agents which might regulate mucin secretion from airway epithelial cells.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

The current economic crisis is making new demands on manufacturing industry, in particular, in terms of the flexibility and efficiency of production processes. This requires production and administrative processes to be meshed with each other by means of IT systems to optimise the use and capacity utilisation of machines and lines but also to be able to respond rapidly to wrong developments in production and thus to minimise adverse impacts on the business. The future scenario of the "smart factory" represents the zenith of this development. The factory can be modified and expanded at will, combines all components from different manufacturers and enables them to take on context-related tasks autonomously. Integrated user interfaces will still be required at most for basic functionalities. The complex control operations will run wirelessly and ad hoc via mobile terminals such as PDAs or smartphones. The comnination of IoT, and Big Data optimisation is bringing about huge opportunities. these processes are not just limited to manufacturing, anywhere a supply chain environment exists can benefit from information provided by linked devices and access to big data to inform their decision support. Building a smart factory with smart assets at its core means reaching those desired new levels of productivity and efficiency. It means smart products that leverage advanced traceability, connectivity and intelligence. For businesses, it means being able to address the talent crunch through more autonomous. In a Smart Factory, machinery and equipment will have the ability to improve processes through self-optimization and autonomous decision-making.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.86-93
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• 2000

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), a chronic enteritis produced by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, affects a large proportion of ruminants in all continents and causes important economic losses. The identification of well-characterized and species-specific components of M paratuberculosis would provide the means to improve the specificity and sensitivity of immunodiagnostic assays for Johne's disease. The aims of this study were to express the recombinant C-terminal of 34kDa protein (rC34P) of M paratuberculosis in E coli and to investigate the effectiveness of this protein in detecting antibodies to the native protein in sera from paratuberculosis infected cattle. The C-terminal of the gene encoding the 34kDa protein was amplified by polymerase chain reaction from the chromosomal DNA of M paratuberculosis (ATCC 19698) and cloned into vector pGEX-4T-2. Then, cloned plasmid was transformed into E coli DH5${\alpha}$ and the rC34P was overexpressed. The rC34P was purified by affinity chromatography and gel filtration. The rC34P was examined antigenicity by Western blot. The rC34P was reactive with culture positive bovine serum and hyperimmune rabbit anti-M paratuberculosis serum but was not reactive with culture negative bovine serum and tuberculin positive bovine serum in Western blot. In conclusion, the rC34P produced in this study is expected as a useful candidate for antigen in serological diagnosis of Johne's disease.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.29-39
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• 2012

The main objective is to predict the future degradation and maintenance budget for a suspension bridge system. Bayesian inference is applied to find the posterior probability density function of the source parameters (damage indices and serviceability), given ten years of maintenance data. The posterior distribution of the parameters is sampled using a Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The simulated risk prediction for decreased serviceability conditions are posterior distributions based on prior distribution and likelihood of data updated from annual maintenance tasks. Compared with conventional linear prediction model, the proposed quadratic model provides highly improved convergence and closeness to measured data in terms of serviceability, risky factors, and maintenance budget for bridge components, which allows forecasting a future performance and financial management of complex infrastructures based on the proposed quadratic stochastic regression model.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.150-156
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• 2000

Oligotrophic bacteria isolated from forest soil showed a specific community consisting of various taxonomic groups compared with those in other soil or aquatic habitats. Based on the cell shape, the isolates were divided into four groups: regular rod, curved/spiral rod, irregular rod, and prosthecate bacteria. The cellular fatty acids 60 oligotrophic isolates were analyzed. The 30 fatty acids which were identified or characterized are classified. At the dendrogram based on cellular fatty acid composition, four clusters(I-IV) were separated at a euclidian distance of about 50. Cluster 3 and 4-a strains were containing Q-8, these strains are accommodated in the Proteobacteria gamma and beta subdivision. The chemotaxonomic profiles of the cluster 4-a strains showed good agreement with those of the genus Burkholderia. Cluster 3 was characterized by the presence of branched-chain fatty acids, iso-C15:0, iso-C17:1, and iso-C17:0 as the major components. These chemotaxonomy suggested the close relationship of the isolates with Xathomonas/Sterotrophomonas group. Based on the 16S rDNA sequence analysis, the two representative strains(MH256 and MA828) of cluster 3 showed the close relation to genera, Xathomonas/Sterotrophomonas, but were not included in these genera. These strains were even further away from core Xanthomonas, and clearly were seen to branch outside the cluster formed by the Sterotrophomonas maltophilia. MH256 and MA828 16S rDNA sequence was different enough to put new genus on a separate branch. The isolates with Q-10 were also studied. They are corresponded to the two large groups in Proteobacteria alpha subdivision. One was incorporated in the genus Bradyrhizobium cluster, which also includes Agromonas, a genus for oligotrophic bacteria. The strains of the other group showed high similarity to the genus Agrobacterium.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.12-22
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• 2012

Today we are witnessing an increasingly widespread use of cameras in our lives for video surveillance, robot vision, and mobile phones. This has led to a renewed interest in computer vision in general and an on-going boom in human activity recognition in particular. Although not particularly fancy per se, human gait is inarguably the most common and frequent action. Early on this decade there has been a passing interest in human gait recognition, but it soon declined before we came up with a systematic analysis and understanding of walking motion. This paper presents a set of DBN-based models for the analysis of human gait in sequence of increasing complexity and modeling power. The discussion centers around HMM-based statistical methods capable of modeling the variability and incompleteness of input video signals. Finally a novel idea of extending the discrete state Markov chain with a continuous density function is proposed in order to better characterize the gait direction. The proposed modeling framework allows us to recognize pedestrian up to 91.67% and to elegantly decode out two independent gait components of direction and posture through a sequence of experiments.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.127-154
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• 2008

For the large scale retailers such as chain discount stores and specialty stores, having measurement tool to maintain service quality can be very crucial to sustain high and same level of service qualities around multiple stores. This study aims to develop service quality scales of large-scale stores using Korean discount store cases. We have studied the previous service quality measures including RSQS(Retail Service Quality Scale) and have modified and developed our own scale model called KD-SQS(Korea Discount Service Quality Scale). The following six components have been revealed as the basic dimensions of service quality of Korean discount stores: basic benefits, promotion, personal interactions, physical aspects, policy and additional convenience. Our scales have been verified through various validity and reliability tests.