• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.711-717
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• 2008

To speed up the conversion of rice straw into feeds in a low-temperature region, a start culture used for ensiling rice straw at low temperature was selected by continuous enrichment cultivation. During the selection, the microbial source for enrichment was rice straw and soil from two places in Northeast China. Lab-scale rice straw fermentation at $10^{\circ}C$ verified, compared with the commercial inoculant, that the selected start culture lowered the pH of the fermented rice straw more rapidly and produced more lactic acid. The results from denatured gradient gel eletrophoresis showed that the selected start culture could colonize into the rice straw fermentation system. To analyze the composition of the culture, a 16S rRNA gene clone library was constructed. Sequencing results showed that the culture mainly consisted of two bacterial species. One (A) belonged to Lactobacillus and another (B) belonged to Leuconostoc. To make clear the roles of composition microbes in the fermented system, quantitative PCR was used. For species A, the DNA mass increased continuously until sixteen days of the fermentation, which occupied 65%. For species B, the DNA mass amounted to 5.5% at six days of the fermentation, which was the maximum relative value during the fermentation. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first report on ensiling rice straw with a selected starter at low temperature and investigation of the fermented characteristics.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.101-120
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• 2012

We investigated the ecological characteristics of Jilmoe-neup conservation area which is one of wetlands designated as a Ramsar convention site in Mt. Odae from 2007 to 2011. Average out-flow of water was 0.80 $m^3/min$ during observation period. Average pH of water was 6.1, electric conductivity was 19 ${\mu}S/cm$ and contents of potassium, calcium and ammonium, nitrate and available phosphorus in water were recorded below average 2.0 mg/L. Peat layer was less developed than in other montane wetlands such as Yong-neup and Wangdeungjae-neup. Plants were recorded as 49 family, 118 genus, 163 species, 3 subspecies, 29 variety and 6 forma, total 163 taxa. Trientalis europaea L., which was designated in endangered level 2 by Ministry of Environment, inhabited at Sphagnum dominated area and Carex tussocks. Vegetation analysis showed that dominance value was changed as species distribution area were increased or decreased periodically. Although Jilmoe-neup deserved conservation value for Sphagnum fen which has diverse flora, it was affected from various factors such as ranch in the vicinity. Therefore, it must be monitored and managed continuously.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5375-5379
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• 2012

Introduction: Published studies on the association between Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1(NBS1) gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk have been inconclusive, and a meta-analysis was therefore performed for clarification. Methods: Eligible articles were identified by a search of MEDLINE and EMBASE bibliographic databases for the period up to March 2012. The presence of between-study heterogeneity was investigated using the chi-square-based Cochran's Q statistic test. When there was statistical heterogeneity, the random effects model was chosen; otherwise, fixed effects estimates were reported as an alternative approach. Results: A total of 11 eligible articles (14 case-control studies) were identified, nine case-control studies were for the 657del5 mutation (7,534 breast cancer cases, 14,034 controls) and five case-control studies were for the I171V mutation (3,273 breast cancer cases, 4,004 controls). Our analysis results indicated that the 657del5 mutation was associated with breast cancer risk (carriers vs. non-carriers: pooled OR =2.63, 95% CI: 1.76-3.93), whereas the I171V mutation was not (carriers vs. non-carriers: pooled OR =1.52, 95% CI: 0.70-3.28). Conclusion: The present meta-analysis suggests that the 657del5 gene mutation in the NBS1 gene plays a role in breast cancer risk, while the I171V mutation does not exert a significant influence.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2020

Medium- and long-chain triglyceride (MCT/LCT) propofol is widely used as an intravenous anesthetic, especially in the intensive care unit. The present study aimed to assess whether MCT/LCT propofol is safe in the hyperlipidemic population for long-term use. Free fatty acids (FFAs) were used to establish high-fat stimulation of HepG2 and Huh7 cells. Subsequently, these cells were treated with propofol at the concentration of 0, 4, or 8 ㎍/ml for 24 and 48 h. The results indicated that the cell viability was notably decreased when the cells were stimulated with 2 mmol/L FFAs and treated with 12 ㎍/ml MCT/LCT propofol. Accordingly, we chose 2 mmol/L FFAs along with 4 and 8 ㎍/ml MCT/LCT propofol for the subsequent experiments. Four and 8 ㎍/ml MCT/LCT propofol inhibited FFA-induced lipid accumulation in the cells and significantly reversed acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC) activity. In addition, MCT/LCT propofol not only significantly promoted the phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC, but also reversed the FFA-induced decreased phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC. In conclusion, MCT/LCT propofol reverses the negative effects caused by FFAs in HepG2 and Huh7 cells, indicating that MCT/LCT propofol might positively regulate lipid metabolism.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1730-1747
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• 2018

Multi-view video plus depth (MVD) is a mainstream format of 3D scene representation in free viewpoint video systems. The advanced 3D extension of the high efficiency video coding (3D-HEVC) standard introduces new prediction tools to improve the coding performance of depth video. However, the depth video in 3D-HEVC is time consuming. To reduce the complexity of the depth video inter coding, we propose a fast coding unit (CU) size and mode decision algorithm. First, an off-line trained Bayesian model is built which the feature vector contains the depth levels of the corresponding spatial, temporal, and inter-component (texture-depth) neighboring largest CUs (LCUs). Then, the model is used to predict the depth level of the current LCU, and terminate the CU recursive splitting process. Finally, the CU mode search process is early terminated by making use of the mode correlation of spatial, inter-component (texture-depth), and inter-view neighboring CUs. Compared to the 3D-HEVC reference software HTM-10.0, the proposed algorithm reduces the encoding time of depth video and the total encoding time by 65.03% and 41.04% on average, respectively, with negligible quality degradation of the synthesized virtual view.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2705-2710
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• 2016

Recent evidence haas indicated that meningioma-associate protein (MAC30) exhibits different expression patterns in various tumors. However, little is known about the value of MAC30 in human squamous cell carcinoma of lung (SQCLC). The purpose of our study was to investigate the expression of MAC30 and to explore its clinical significance in SQCLC patients. A total of 156 Chinese patients diagnosed with SQCLC were selected for this study. The expression of MAC30 in all tissues was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to analyze MAC30 mRNA expression in 32 cases of SQCLC patients with corresponding non-tumor lung tissues. We observed enhanced mRNA expression of MAC30 in SQCLC as compared to control samples. Further, elevated MAC30 protein expression was strongly associated with poor tumor differentiation, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis. In addition, we observed that patients with increased MAC30 expression demonstrated poor overall survival. Multivariate analysis explicated that increased MAC30 expression was a valuable independent predictable factor for poor tumor differentiation and short survival in SQCLC patients. Our present study suggests that MAC30 may serve as a biomarker for poor tumor differentiation and outcomes of patients with SQCLC.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.8
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• pp.567-572
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• 2010

In this study, we cloned the ERF-B3 subfamily transcription factor gene BnaERF-B3-hy15 from Brassica napus L. Huyou15. This 600 bp gene encodes a 199 amino acid classic ethylene responsive factor (ERF), which shown no binding or very weak binding GCC box-binding activity by the yeast one-hybrid assay. We used gene shuffling and the yeast one-hybrid system to obtain three mutated sequences that can bind to the GCC box. Sequence analysis indicated that two residues, Gly156 in the AP2 domain and Phe62 at the N-terminal domain were mutated to arginine and serine, respectively. Changes of Gly156 to arginine and Phe62 to serine increased the GCC-binding activity of BnaERF-B3-hy15 and the alter of Gly156 to arginine changed the AP2-domain structure of BnaERF-B3-hy15.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.752-757
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• 2009

Copper is essential but toxic in excess for aerobic organisms. Yeast transcription factor ACE1 functions as a sensor for copper and an inducer for the transcription of CUP1. In addition, ACE1 can activate the transcription of superoxide dismutase gene (sod1) in response to copper. In this study, we introduced the yeast ACE1 into Arabidopsis and analyzed its function in plant. Under high copper stress, the transgenic plants over-expressing ACE1 showed higher survival rate than the wild-type. We also found that over-expression of ACE1 in Arabidopsis increased the activities of SOD and POD, which were beneficial to the cell in copper buffering. Excess copper would suppress the expression of chlorophyll biosynthetic genes in Arabidopsis, RT-PCR analysis revealed that over-expression of ACE1 decrease the suppression. Together, our results indicate that ACE1 may play an important role in response to copper stress in Arabidopsis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.123-130
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• 2020

These experiments were to investigate the variations of rye on forage quality, productivity and β-carotene concentration affected by maturity in Pyeongchang region. Limited information are available about how forage quality and β-carotene content are affected by various factors. Samples were collected from rye harvested every 5 days, from April 25 to May 31 (April 25, April 30, May 4, May 9, May 15, May 21, May 25 and May 31). Dry matter (DM) content, plant height, DM yield and total digestible nutrient (TDN) yield increased continuously with the progressed maturity. However, crude protein (CP) content, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and relative feed value (RFV) decreased markedly with the delay of harvesting, while TDN content decreased from April 25 till May 15, then followed by a stable fluctuation. Conversely, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) value increased and then fluctuated slightly after blooming stage. For quality of plant parts, stem contained the lowest CP content and RFV value, and the highest ADF and NDF contents compared with other parts, while the grain showed the higher CP, IVDMD, RFV and lower fiber contents than others. With the plant matured, leaf proportion decreased while stem and grain proportion increased, and feed value of all the three parts decreased till blooming stage and followed by a stable phase. β-carotene concentration showed its highest on jointing stage, and then fell down sharply on the sequential stages. In conclusion, harvest around May 15 (blooming) is proper for forage rye if directly consumed by livestock as green chop in Pyeongchang under the consideration of both nutritive yield and forage quality.

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.210-216
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• 2008

CSE1L/CAS, a microtubule-associated, cellular apoptosis susceptibility protein, is highly expressed in various cancers. Microtubules are the target of paclitaxel-induced apoptosis. We studied the effects of increased or reduced CAS expression on cancer cell apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs including paclitaxel. Our results showed that CAS overexpression enhanced apoptosis induced by doxorubicin, 5-fluorour-acil, cisplatin, and tamoxifen, but inhibited paclitaxel-induced apoptosis of cancer cells. Reductions in CAS produced opposite results. CAS overexpression enhanced p53 accumulation induced by doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, tamoxifen, and etoposide. CAS was associated with $\alpha$-tubulin and $\beta$-tubulin and enhanced the association between $\alpha$-tubulin and $\beta$-tubulin. Paclitaxel can induce G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and microtubule aster formation during apoptosis induction, but CAS overexpression reduced paclitaxel-induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and microtubule aster formation. Our results indicate that CAS may play an important role in regulating the cytotoxicities of chemotherapeutic drugs used in cancer chemotherapy against cancer cells.