• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.115-122
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• 2021

Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are responsible for regulating biofilm formation, persister cell formation, pmtR expression, host cell lysis, and anti-bacterial effects. To determine the effect of psm deletion on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, we investigated psm deletion mutants including Δpsmα, Δpsmβ, and Δpsmαβ. These mutants exhibited increased β-lactam antibiotic resistance to ampicillin and oxacillin that was shown to be caused by increased N-acetylmannosamine kinase (nanK) mRNA expression, which regulates persister cell formation, leading to changes in the pattern of phospholipid fatty acids resulting in increased anteiso-C15:0, and increased membrane hydrophobicity with the deletion of PSMs. When synthetic PSMs were applied to Δpsmα and Δpsmβ mutants, treatment of Δpsmα with PSMα1-4 and Δpsmβ with PSMβ1-2 restored the sensitivity to oxacillin and slightly reduced the biofilm formation. Addition of a single fragment showed that α1, α2, α3, and β2 had an inhibiting effect on biofilms in Δpsmα; however, β1 showed an enhancing effect on biofilms in Δpsmβ. This study demonstrates a possible reason for the increased antibiotic resistance in psm mutants and the effect of PSMs on biofilm formation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.13-22
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• 2021

As the measures for solving problems of modern city and farming & fishing villages through mutual cooperation and complementation, this study aims to present an integrated rural area development model by changing the farming & fishing villages from a food production-focused space to a service space for the whole nation including urban residents, into the direction of creating new vitality and jobs in farming & fishing villages. In order to establish a service space that could increase the life quality and happiness of the people, this study presented the K-FARM framework types that would integrate and arrange total four themes such as rental farm, experience farm, stay farm, and management farm. In case when this K-FARM framework is applied to rural areas adjacent to cities, especially farming & fishing villages around innovative cities, there would be great effects such as expansion of exchanges between public institutions and local residents of innovative cities. Especially, the theme model classified into four types could be applied suitable for the characteristics of farming & fishing village development project district that is currently operated. Meanwhile, to realize the construction of K-FARM framework, on top of demand analysis of rental farm, it would be also necessary to additionally analyze the urban residents' demand for experience farm and management farm.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.69-96
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• 2013

This paper is to critically review the economic reasoning of non-sustainability of welfare state due to its intrinsic incentive problems and to see how the nordic welfare state responds to them. The welfare state as a political design of state to pursue equality has social insurance as its main economic function. It survives market failure of private insurance to contribute to human capital investment and industrial restructuring. The universal tax-financed welfare state, however, has the problem of tragedy of commons such as reduced work incentive and work ethics. But, the existing nordic welfare state overcomes it through employment-focused policy arrangements, maintenance of work ethics and benefits moral, incentive mechanism of wage-compression, public educational investment and its complementation with social security. The Nordic model shows that problems of incentive and moral are not about those of theory and reasoning, but about their reality which policies and institutions could respond to.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.182-193
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• 2021

The transcription factor SHE1 was identified as an interacting partner with the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) 1a protein in the yeast two-hybrid system, by a pull-down assay, and via bimolecular fluorescent complementation. Using fluorescent-tagged proteins and confocal microscopy, the CMV 1a protein itself was found distributed predominantly between the nucleus and the tonoplast membrane, although it was also found in speckles in the cytoplasm. The SHE1 protein was localized in the nucleus, but in the presence of the CMV 1a protein was partitioned between the nucleus and the tonoplast membrane. SHE1 expression was induced by infection of tobacco with four tested viruses: CMV, tobacco mosaic virus, potato virus X and potato virus Y. Transgenic tobacco expressing the CMV 1a protein showed constitutive expression of SHE1, indicating that the CMV 1a protein may be responsible for its induction. However, previously, such plants also were shown to have less resistance to local and systemic movement of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) expressing the green fluorescent protein, suggesting that the CMV 1a protein may act to prevent the function of the SHE1 protein. SHE1 is a member of the AP2/ERF class of transcription factors and is conserved in sequence in several Nicotiana species, although two clades of SHE1 could be discerned, including both different Nicotiana species and cultivars of tobacco, varying by the presence of particular insertions or deletions.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.555-565
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• 2021

Bacteriophages infecting Acidovorax citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch, have been proven to be effective for the prevention and control of this disease. However, the occurrence of bacteriophage-resistant bacteria is one of hurdles in phage biocontrol and the understanding of phage resistance in this bacterium is an essential step. In this study, we aim to investigate possible phage resistance of A. citrulli and relationship between phage resistance and pathogenicity, and to isolate and characterize the genes involved in these phenomena. A phage-resistant and less-virulent mutant named as AC-17-G1 was isolated among 3,264 A. citrulli Tn5 mutants through serial spot assays and plaque assays followed by pathogenicity test using seed coating method. The mutant has the integrated Tn5 in the middle of a cupin protein gene. This mutant recovered its pathogenicity and phage sensitivity by complementation with corresponding wild-type gene. Site-directed mutation of this gene from wild-type by CRISPR/Cas9 system resulted in the loss of pathogenicity and acquisition of phage resistance. The growth of AC-17-G1 in King's B medium was much less than the wild-type, but the growth turned into normal in the medium supplemented with D-mannose 6-phosphate or D-fructose 6-phosphate indicating the cupin protein functions as a phosphomannos isomerase. Sodium dodecyl sulfa analysis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extracted from the mutant was smaller than that from wild-type. All these data suggest that the cupin protein is a phosphomannos isomerase involved in LPS synthesis, and LPS is an important determinant of pathogenicity and phage susceptibility of A. citrulli.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.413-424
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• 2022

Suppressor of mothers against decapentaplegic homolog (SMAD) 4 is a pluripotent signaling mediator that regulates myriad cellular functions, including cell growth, cell division, angiogenesis, apoptosis, cell invasion, and metastasis, through transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)-dependent and -independent pathways. SMAD4 is a critical modulator in signal transduction and functions primarily as a transcription factor or cofactor. Apart from being a DNA-binding factor, the additional SMAD4 mechanisms in tumor suppression remain elusive. We previously identified methyl malonyl aciduria cobalamin deficiency B type (MMAB) as a critical SMAD4 binding protein using a proto array analysis. This study confirmed the interaction between SMAD4 and MMAB using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay, proximity ligation assay (PLA), and conventional immunoprecipitation. We found that transient SMAD4 overexpression down-regulates MMAB expression via a proteasome-dependent pathway. SMAD4-MMAB interaction was independent of TGF-β signaling. Finally, we determined the effect of MMAB downregulation on cancer cells. siRNA-mediated knockdown of MMAB affected cancer cell metabolism in HeLa cells by decreasing ATP production and glucose consumption as well as inducing apoptosis. These findings suggest that SMAD4 controls cancer cell metabolism by regulating MMAB.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2023

Skin and joint diseases are relatively common in dogs. Nutritional complementation is one of the various management strategies for these disorders. This study evaluated the safety and clinical efficacy of Kyungokgo-gamibang in dogs with skin and joint diseases. Thirty dogs with diseases were included and divided into three groups: control group (n = 15), skin group (n = 10), and joint group (n = 5). The skin and joint groups were fed skin and joint gums composed of Kyungokgo-gamibang extract with standard treatment for four weeks. The control group included dogs with skin diseases who were administered standard skin infection treatment for 4 weeks. The physical and laboratory results showed no remarkable adverse effects of Kyungokgo-gamibang extract after its administration in dogs. Clinical efficacy was evaluated using quality of life scale, and levels of cytokines, including interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and tumor necrosis factor-α, for 4 weeks in all groups. Dermatologic clinical scales were performed for 4 weeks in the control and skin groups. Both the control and skin groups had significantly decreased dermatologic clinical scales, including pruritus and erythema scales (p < 0.05). Among the cytokine levels, only IL-2 concentration was significantly decreased in the skin group after 4 weeks of administration of the Kyungokgo-gamibang extract (p = 0.032). There was no significant difference between the levels of cytokines on days 0 and 28 in the joint group. The quality of life scale was significantly increased after week 4 compared to week 0 in the skin (p = 0.008) and joint groups (p = 0.041). This study suggests that Kyungokgo-gamibang extract can be applied in managing dogs affected by skin and joint diseases without adverse effects.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.148-160
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• 2009

Purpose: We intended to observe the correlations between Primary dysmenorrhea severity and Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern. Methods: After initial approval by Kyung-Hee University Oriental Medical Hospital Institutional Review Board of Clinical Trials, volunteers for the clinical trial were recruited. We selected the 52 primary dysmenorrhea patients by the screening tests (clinical examination and inquiry). The severity of dysmenorrhea was evaluated by VAS (Visual Analog Scale), VRS (Verbal Rating Scale) & MVRS (Multidimensional Verbal Rating Scale). The severity of Blood Stasis was evaluated by Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern. For statistics, we used Spearman's rho correlations, SPSS 13.0 for windows. Results: In case of VAS, though two items (眼瞼下靑紫, 便黑) of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were correlated, total score & discriminant function score of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were not correlated. In case of VRS, though two items (小腹痛, 夜間痛) of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were correlated, total score & discriminant function score of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were not correlated. In case of MVRS, though one items (久痺症) of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were correlated, total score & discriminant function score of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were not correlated. Conclusion: Though the results showed partial correlation of Primary dysmenorrhea severity and Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern, we need further study after improvement and complementation of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.51-61
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• 2021

Following the previous study, we report a complementary dating data on the silty layers deposited in paleo-tidal conditions of the study area, Dangjeong-ri, Seocheon-gun and suggest coastal terrain development processes over the past 200,000 years. Based on the dating results, the silty layers distributed up to 25 m above mean sea level were deposited between 171 and 183 ka, and the gravel layer deposited in a fluvial environment of a paleo-Dangjeong stream was found to have formed between 78 and 83 ka. Considering relative altitudes of distribution, an uplift rate of the study area in the western coast is judged to be relatively 0.5~0.7 low to that of Pohang area in the eastern coast. Compared to Busan and Sacheon areas in the southern coast, it is assumed that an uplift rate of the study area shows a similar level with those during the late Quaternary.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.456-463
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• 2022

The SAM(Surface-to-Air Missile) systems will be operated until disposing of it after production, the necessary test and evaluation should be performed during the development stage to ensure the operational performance after deployment. As development of technologies related to the electromagnetic wave field of missile system is required, so the verification of the electromagnetic environment has become more important. Therefore it is necessary to carefully review whether there are any weaknesses through the analysis of the SAM system when establishing the test and evaluation procedure. This paper describes the general electromagnetic test procedure for SAM system and discusses the matters that need to be supplemented. Also, methods for supplementation and review results were written.