• Development and Reproduction
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.349-357
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• 2011

Since nesfatin-1/NUCB2 involved in the control of appetite and energy metabolism was discovered for the first time in hypothalamus, many reports have shown its expression in various tissues. We also recently demonstrated that nesfatin-1/NUCB2 was expressed in the reproductive organs of mouse. However, no data exist on nesfatin-1/NUCB2 expression, regulation, and secretion in the uterus. Therefore, we examined the expression of nesfatin-1/NUCB2 in mouse uterus and the effects of PMSG and estrogen on its expression. NUCB2 mRNA expression in the uterus was determined by conventional and real-time PCR and nesfatin-1 protein expression was detected by western blotting. In immunohistochemistry staining, nesfatin-1 protein was localized at the epithelial cells of the uterine glands and endometrium. Nesfatin-1 protein binding sites were displayed at the epithelial cells of uterine glands and specific granulocytes including neutrophils. Additionally, to examine if the nesfatin-1/NUCB2 expression in the uterus is regulated by gonadotropin or estrogen, ovariectomized mice were treated with PMSG or $17{\beta}$-estradiol. The expression levels of NUCB2 mRNA in the uterus was significantly increased in the control mice after PMSG treatment, but not in the ovariectomized mice. In contrast, NUCB2 mRNA expression was dramatically increased in the ovariectomized mice after treatment with $17{\beta}$-estradiol. We report here for the first time that nesfatin-1/NUCB2 mRNA and protein express in the mouse uterus and its expression is regulated by estrogen secreted from the ovary, but not gonadotropin from the pituitary.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.194-194
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• 2017

Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) is a potential bio-energy crop that has short life cycle about 90 days and contains high amount of unsaturated fatty acid which is adequate to bio-diesel production. Enhancing environmental stress tolerance is a main issue to increase not only crop productivity but also big mass production. CsRCI2s (Rare Cold Inducible 2) are cold and salt stress related protein that localized at plasma membrane (PM) and assume to be membrane potential regulation factor. These proteins can be divide into C-terminal tail (CsRCI2D/E/F/G) or no-tail group (CsRCI2A/B/C/H). However, function of CsRCI2s are less understood. In this study, physiological responses and functional characterization of CsRCI2s of Camelina under salt stress were analyzed. Full-length CsRCI2s (A/B/E/F) and CsPIP2;1 sequences were confirmed from Camelina genome browser. Physiological investigations were carried out using one- or four-week-old Camelina under NaCl stress with dose and time dependent manner. Transcriptional changes of CsRCI2A/B/E/F and CsPIP2;1 were determined using qRT-PCR in one-week-old Camelina seedlings treated with NaCl. Translational changes of CsRCI2E and CsPIP2;1 were confirmed with western-blot using the antibodies. Water transport activity and membrane potential measurement were observed by cRNA injected Xenopus laevis oocyte. As results, root growth rate and physiological parameters such as stomatal conductance, chlorophyll fluorescence, and electrolyte leakage showed significant inhibition in 100 and 150 mM NaCl. Transcriptional level of CsPIP2;1 did not changed but CsRCI2s were significantly increased by NaCl concentration, however, no-tail type CsRCI2A and CsRCI2B increased earlier than tail type CsRCI2E and CsRCI2F. Translational changes of CsPIP2;1 was constitutively maintained under NaCl stress. But, accumulation of CsRCI2E significantly increased by NaCl stress. CsPIP2;1 and CsRCI2A/B/E/F co-expressed Xenopus laevis oocyte showed decreased water transport activity as 61.84, 60.30, 62.91 and 76.51 % at CsRCI2A, CsRCI2B, CsRCI2E and CsRCI2F co-expression when compare with single expression of CsPIP2;1, respectively. Moreover, oocyte membrane potential was significantly hyperpolarized by co-expression of CsRCI2s. However, higher hyperpolarized level was observed in tail-type CsRCI2E and CsRCI2F than others, especially, CsRCI2E showed highest level. It means transport of $Na^+$ ion into cell is negatively regulated by expression of CsRCI2s, and, function of C-terminal tail is might be related with $Na^+$ ion influx. In conclusion, accumulation of NaCl-induced CsRCI2 proteins are related with $Na^+$ ion exclusion and prevent water loss by CsPIP2;1 under NaCl stress.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.679-688
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• 2003

The leptin receptor gene(LEPR) produces a high affinity receptor that mediates the regulation of the leptin gene. Leptin secreted from adipose tissue plays an important role in regulating feed intake and energy balance. In this study, a microsatellite marker within LEPR was selected and genotyped for the F2 population composed of 354 individuals from an intercross between Korean Native boars and Landrace sows. Totally, six alleles (255, 259, 261, 263, 265 and 267bp) and nineteen genotypes were detected in the population, of which the CE (261/265), CC (261/261) and EE (265/265) types were observed by 20.0%, 10.1% and 9.6%, respectively. Relationships between their genotypes and economic traits were analyzed. We found specific genotypes associated with economic traits such as body weight at 12 weeks of age/body fat including abdominal and trimmed fat/shear force (P〈0.001), body weight of 30 weeks of age (P〈0.01) and body weight of 3 weeks of age/back fat thickness (P〈0.05). The DD (263/263) and DF (263/267) types were associated with body weight at 3, 5, 12 and 30 weeks of age. The DF (263/267) type showed a highly significant effect on back fat thickness and body fat including abdominal and trimmed fat. The DF (263/267) type showed positive effect on shear force, whereas the BB (259/259) and DD (263/263) types negatively affected on tenderness.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.89-99
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• 2010

Fibroblasts are the most common cells in connective tissue and are responsible for the synthesis of extracellular matrix components. The fibrosis associated with chronic inflammation and injury may contribute to cholangiocarcinoma pathogenesis, particularly through an increase in extracellular matrix components, which participate in the regulation of bile duct differentiation during development. Mitochondria produce ATP through oxidative metabolism to provide energy to the cell under physiological conditions. Also, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have been implicated in cellular senescence and aging. Alternations in mitochondrial structure and function are early events of programmed cell death or apoptosis and mitochondria appear to be a central regulator of apoptosis in most somatic cell. Clonorchis sinensis, one of the most important parasite of the human bile duct in East Asia, arouses epithelial hyperplasia and ductal fibrosis. Isolated fibroblast from the bile ducts of rats infected by C. sinensis showed increase of cytoplasmic process. In addition, decrease of cellular proliferation was observed in fibroblasts which was isolated from normal rat bile duct and then cultured in media containing C. sinensis excretory-secretory product. However, the effects of C. sinensis infection on the mitochondrial enzyme distribution is not clearly reported yet. Therefore, we investigated the structural change of C. sinensis infected bile duct and mitochondrial enzyme distribution of the cultured fibroblast isolated from the C. sinensis infected rat bile duct. As a result, C. sinensis infected SD rat bile ducts showed the features of chronic clonorchiasis, such as ductal connective and epithelial tissue dilatation, or ductal fibrosis. In addition, fibroblast in ductal connective tissue was damaged by physical effect of fibrotic tissue and chemical stimulation. Immunohistochemically detected mitochondrial electron transferase (ATPase, COXII, Porin) was decreased in C. sinensis infected rat bile duct and cultured fibroblast from infected rat bile duct. It can be hypothesized that the reason why number of electron transferase decrease in fibroblast isolated from the rat bile duct infected with C. sinensis is because dysfunction of electron transport system is occurred mitochondrial dysfunction, increase of ROS (reactive oxygen species) and apoptosis after chemical damage on the cell caused by C. sinensis infection. Overall, C. sinensis infection induces fibrotic change of ductal connective tissue, mutation of cellular metabolism in fibroblast and mitochondrial dysfunction. Consequently, ductal fibrosis inhibits fibroblast proliferation and decreases mitochondrial electron transferase on fibroblast cytoplasm. It was assumed that the structure of bile duct could not normalized and ductal fibrosis was maintained for a long period of time according to fibroblast metamorphosis and death induced by mitochondrial dysfunction.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.4291-4297
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• 2015

EEG has been used to measure the emotion of amenity and discomfort in the interior space. EEG is limited to the experiment, because it is a equipment of contact type. However, Vibraimage can measure the emotion with a web camera. Because Vibraimage is a equipment of non-contact type, it is more suitable for the interior space than EEG. Therefor, it tries to find a correlation variable between EEG and Vibraimage to measure the human emotions. In this study, it were analyzed correlation of EEG and vibraimage due to variation of loudness 60[dB], 90[dB] and rosemary, jasmine scents. Check the health status of subjects who were selected 3 male students, and the period of this experiment was about months. The condition of the environmental test room was in temperature 25[$^{\circ}C$], relative humidity 50[RH%], air current speed 0.02[m/s] and illuminance 1000[lux]. It were analyzed correlation of twenty-three index of EEG(absolute ${\theta}$, relative ${\theta}$, absolute $S{\alpha}$, relative $S{\alpha}$, absolute ${\alpha}$, relative ${\alpha}$, absolute ${\beta}$, relative ${\beta}$, absolute $\gamma$, relative $\gamma$, absolute $F{\alpha}$, relative $F{\alpha}$, absolute SMR, relative SMR, $SMR/{\theta}$, $SMR+M{\beta}/{\theta}$, absolute $H{\beta}$, relative $H{\beta}$, $H{\beta}/{\alpha}$, absolute $M{\beta}$, relative $M{\beta}$, SEF50, ASEF50) and ten index of Vibraimage(Aggression, Stress, Tension/Anxiety, Suspect, Balance, Charm, Energy, Self regulation, Inhibition, Neuroticism). As a result, I was found that relative ${\gamma}$ index of EEG and neuroticism index of Vibraimage have a high correlation as (${\pm}$).414 and (${\pm}$).424.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1108-1119
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• 2018

As the interest on the air pollution is gradually rising at home and abroad, automotive and fuel researchers have been studied on the exhaust and greenhouse gas emission reduction from vehicles through a lot of approaches, which consist of new engine design, innovative after-treatment systems, using clean (eco-friendly alternative) fuels and fuel quality improvement. This research has brought forward two main issues : exhaust emissions (regulated and non-regulated emissions, PM particle matter) and greenhouse gases of vehicle. Exhaust emissions and greenhouse gases of automotive had many problem such as the cause of ambient pollution, health effects. In order to reduce these emissions, many countries are regulating new exhaust gas test modes. Worldwide harmonized light-duty vehicle test procedure (WLTP) for emission certification has been developed in WP.29 forum in UNECE since 2007. This test procedure was applied to domestic light duty diesel vehicles at the same time as Europe. The air pollutant emissions from light-duty vehicles are regulated by the weight per distance, which the driving cycles can affect the results. Exhaust emissions of vehicle varies substantially based on climate conditions, and driving habits. Extreme outside temperatures tend to increasing the emissions, because more fuel must be used to heat or cool the cabin. Also, high driving speeds increases the emissions because of the energy required to overcome increased drag. Compared with gradual vehicle acceleration, rapid vehicle acceleration increases the emissions. Additional devices (air-conditioner and heater) and road inclines also increases the emissions. In this study, three light-duty vehicles were tested with WLTP, NEDC, and FTP-75, which are used to regulate the emissions of light-duty vehicles, and how much emissions can be affected by different driving cycles. The emissions gas have not shown statistically meaningful difference. The maximum emission gas have been found in low speed phase of WLTP which is mainly caused by cooled engine conditions. The amount of emission gas in cooled engine condition is much different as test vehicles. It means different technical solution requires in this aspect to cope with WLTP driving cycle.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.257-265
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• 2021

Heterotrimeric kinesin-2 is a molecular motor protein of the kinesin superfamily (KIF) that moves along a microtubule plus-end directed motor protein. It consists of three different motor subunits (KIF3A, KIF3B, and KIF3C) and a kinesin-associated protein 3 (KAP3) that form a heterotrimeric complex. Heterotrimeric kinesin-2 interacts with many different binding proteins through the cargo-binding domain of the KIF3s. The activity of heterotrimeric kinesin-2 is regulated to ensure that the cargo is directed to the right place at the right time. How this regulation occurs, however, remains in question. To identify the regulatory proteins for heterotrimeric kinesin-2, we performed yeast two-hybrid screening and found a specific interaction with creatine kinase B (CKB), which is the brain isoform of cytosolic creatine kinase enzyme. CKB bound to the cargo-binding domain of KIF3A but did not interact with the KIF3B, KIF5B, or KAP3 in the yeast two-hybrid assay. The carboxyl (C)-terminal region of CKB is essential for the interaction with KIF3A. Another protein kinase, CaMKIIa, interacted with KIF3A, but GSK3a did not interact with KIF3A in the yeast two-hybrid assay. KIF3A interacted with GST-CKB-C but not with GSK-CKB-N or GST alone. When co-expressed in HEK-293T cells, CKB co-localized with KIF3A and co-immunoprecipitated with KIF3A and KIF3B but not KIF5B. These results suggest that the CKB-KIF3A interaction may regulate the cargo transport of heterotrimeric kinesin-2 under energy-compromised conditions in cells.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.52-58
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• 2023

With the increasing awareness of the importance of carbon neutrality in response to global climate change, the utilization of hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel source is also growing. Hydrogen is commonly used in fuel cells (FC), but it can also be utilized in internal combustion engines (ICE) that are based on combustion. Particularly, ICEs that already have established infrastructure for production and supply can greatly contribute to the expansion of hydrogen energy utilization when it becomes difficult to rely solely on fuel cells or expand their infrastructure. However, a disadvantage of utilizing hydrogen through combustion is the potential generation of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are harmful emissions formed when nitrogen in the air reacts with oxygen at high temperatures. In particular, for the EURO-7 exhaust regulation, which includes cold start operation, efforts to reduce exhaust emissions during the warm-up process are required. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of nitrogen oxides and fuel consumption were investigated during the warm-up process of cooling water from room temperature to 88℃ using a 2-liter direct injection spark ignition (SI) engine fueled with hydrogen. One advantage of hydrogen, compared to conventional fuels like gasoline, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is its wide flammable range, which allows for sparser control of the excessive air ratio. In this study, the excessive air ratio was varied as 1.6/1.8/2.0 during the warm-up process, and the results were analyzed. The experimental results show that as the excessive air ratio becomes sparser during warm-up, the emission of nitrogen oxides per unit time decreases, and the thermal efficiency relatively increases. However, as the time required to reach the final temperature becomes longer, the cumulative emissions and fuel consumption may worsen.

• Korean small business review
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.77-93
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• 2011

Since 2000, the employment rate of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has dwindled while the creation of new jobs and the emergence of healthy SMEs have been stagnant. The fundamental reason for these symptoms is that the economic structure is disadvantageous to SMEs. In particular, the greater gap between SMEs and large enterprises has resulted in polarization, and the resulting imbalance has become the largest obstacle to improving SMEs' competitiveness. For example, the total productivity has continued to drop, and the average productivity of SMEs is now merely 30% of that of large enterprises, and the average wage of SMEs' employees is only 53% of that of large enterprises. Along with polarization, rapid industrialization has also caused anti-enterprise consensus, the collapse of the middle class, hostility towards establishments, and other aftereffects. The general consensus is that unless these problems are solved, South Korea will not become an advanced country. Especially, South Korea is now facing issues that need urgent measures, such as the decline of its economic growth, the worsening distribution of profits, and the increased external volatility. Recognizing such negative trends, the MB administration proposed a win-win growth policy and recently introduced a new national value called "ecosystemic development." As the terms in such policy agenda are similar, however, the conceptual differences among such terms must first be fully understood. Therefore, in this study, the concepts of win-win growth policy and ecosystemic development, and the need for them, were surveyed, and their differences from and similarities with other policy concepts like win-win cooperation and symbiotic development were examined. Based on the results of the survey and examination, the study introduced a South Korean model of win-win growth, targeting the promotion of a sound balance between large enterprises and SMEs and an innovative ecosystem, and finally, proposing future policy tasks. Win-win growth is not an academic term but a policy term. Thus, it is less advisable to give a theoretical definition of it than to understand its concept based on its objective and method as a policy. The core of the MB administration's win-win growth policy is the creation of a partnership between key economic subjects such as large enterprises and SMEs based on each subject's differentiated capacity, and such economic subjects' joint promotion of growth opportunities. Its objective is to contribute to the establishment of an advanced capitalistic system by securing the sustainability of the South Korean economy. Such win-win growth policy includes three core concepts. The first concept, ecosystem, is that win-win growth should be understood from the viewpoint of an industrial ecosystem and should be pursued by overcoming the issues of specific enterprises. An enterprise is not an independent entity but a social entity, meaning it exists in relationship with the society (Drucker, 2011). The second concept, balance, points to the fact that an effort should be made to establish a systemic and social infrastructure for a healthy balance in the industry. The social system and infrastructure should be established in such a way as to create a balance between short- term needs and long-term sustainability, between freedom and responsibility, and between profitability and social obligations. Finally, the third concept is the behavioral change of economic entities. The win-win growth policy is not merely about simple transactional relationships or determining reasonable prices but more about the need for a behavior change on the part of economic entities, without which the objectives of the policy cannot be achieved. Various advanced countries have developed different win-win growth models based on their respective cultures and economic-development stages. Japan, whose culture is characterized by a relatively high level of group-centered trust, has developed a productivity improvement model based on such culture, whereas the U.S., which has a highly developed system of market capitalism, has developed a system that instigates or promotes market-oriented technological innovation. Unlike Japan or the U.S., Europe, a late starter, has not fully developed a trust-based culture or market capitalism and thus often uses a policy-led model based on which the government leads the improvement of productivity and promotes technological innovation. By modeling successful cases from these advanced countries, South Korea can establish its unique win-win growth system. For this, it needs to determine the method and tasks that suit its circumstances by examining the prerequisites for its success as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each advanced country. This paper proposes a South Korean model of win-win growth, whose objective is to upgrade the country's low-trust-level-based industrial structure, in which large enterprises and SMEs depend only on independent survival strategies, to a high-trust-level-based social ecosystem, in which large enterprises and SMEs develop a cooperative relationship as partners. Based on this objective, the model proposes the establishment of a sound balance of systems and infrastructure between large enterprises and SMEs, and to form a crenovative social ecosystem. The South Korean model of win-win growth consists of three axes: utilization of the South Koreans' potential, which creates community-oriented energy; fusion-style improvement of various control and self-regulated systems for establishing a high-trust-level-oriented social infrastructure; and behavioral change on the part of enterprises in terms of putting an end to their unfair business activities and promoting future-oriented cooperative relationships. This system will establish a dynamic industrial ecosystem that will generate creative energy and will thus contribute to the realization of a sustainable economy in the 21st century. The South Korean model of win-win growth should pursue community-based self-regulation, which promotes the power of efficiency and competition that is fundamentally being pursued by capitalism while at the same time seeking the value of society and community. Already existing in Korea's traditional roots, such objectives have become the bases of the Shinbaram culture, characterized by the South Koreans' spontaneity, creativity, and optimism. In the process of a community's gradual improvement of its rules and procedures, the trust among the community members increases, and the "social capital" that guarantees the successful control of shared resources can be established (Ostrom, 2010). This basic ideal can help reduce the gap between large enterprises and SMEs, alleviating the South Koreans' victim mentality in the face of competition and the open-door policy, and creating crenovative corporate competitiveness. The win-win growth policy emerged for the purpose of addressing the polarization and imbalance structure resulting from the evolution of 21st-century capitalism. It simultaneously pursues efficiency and fairness on one hand and economic and community values on the other, and aims to foster efficient interaction between the market and the government. This policy, however, is also evolving. The win-win growth policy can be considered an extension of the win-win cooperation that the past 'Participatory Government' promoted at the enterprise management level to the level of systems and culture. Also, the ecosystemic development agendum that has recently emerged is a further extension that has been presented as a national ideal of "a new development model that promotes the co-advancement of environmental conservation, growth, economic development, social integration, and national and individual development."