• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2007

We fabricated thermally-evaporated 10 -Ni/(poly)Si and 10 -Ni/1 -Ir/(poly)Si structures to investigate the microstructure of nickel monosilicide at the elevated temperatures required for annealing. Silicides underwent rapid at the temperatures of 300-1200 for 40 seconds. Silicides suitable for the salicide process formed on top of both the single crystal silicon actives and the polycrystalline silicon gates. A four-point tester was used to investigate the sheet resistances. A transmission electron microscope(TEM) and an Auger depth profile scope were employed for the determination of vertical section structure and thickness. Nickel silicides with iridium on single crystal silicon actives and polycrystalline silicon gates shoed low resistance up to 1000 and 800, respectively, while the conventional nickle monosilicide showed low resistance below 700. Through TEM analysis, we confirmed that a uniform, 20 -thick silicide layer formed on the single-crystal silicon substrate for the Ir-inserted case while a non-uniform, agglomerated layer was observed for the conventional nickel silicide. On the polycrystalline silicon substrate, we confirmed that the conventional nickel silicide showed a unique silicon-silicide mixing at the high silicidation temperature of 1000. Auger depth profile analysis also supports the presence of thismixed microstructure. Our result implies that our newly proposed iridium-added NiSi process may widen the thermal process window for the salicide process and be suitable for nano-thick silicides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1247-1259
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• 2018

Raspberries are polyphenol-rich fruits with the potential to reduce the severity of the clinical signs associated with obesity, a phenomenon that may be related to changes in the gut microbiota. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of raspberry supplementation on the fecal microbiota using an in vivo model of obesity. Obese diabetic db/db mice were used in this study and assigned to two experimental groups (with and without raspberry supplementation). Fecal samples were collected at the end of the supplementation period (8 weeks) and used for bacterial 16S rRNA gene profiling using a MiSeq instrument (Illumina). QIIME 1.8 was used to analyze the 16S data. Raspberry supplementation was associated with an increased abundance of Lachnospiraceae (p = 0.009), a very important group for gut health, and decreased abundances of Lactobacillus, Odoribacter, and the fiber degrader S24-7 family as well as unknown groups of Bacteroidales and Enterobacteriaceae (p < 0.05). These changes were enough to clearly differentiate bacterial communities accordingly to treatment, based on the analysis of UniFrac distance metrics. However, a predictive approach of functional profiles showed no difference between the treatment groups. Fecal metabolomic analysis provided critical information regarding the raspberry-supplemented group, whose relatively higher phytosterol concentrations may be relevant for the host health, considering the proven health benefits of these phytochemicals. Further studies are needed to investigate whether the observed differences in microbial communities (e.g., Lachnospiraceae) or metabolites relate to clinically significant differences that can prompt the use of raspberry extracts to help patients with obesity.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2003

Microarray technology allows the simultaneous analysis of gene expression patterns of thousands of genes, in a systematic fashion, under a similar set of experimental conditions, thus making the data highly comparable. In some cases arrays are used simply as a primary screen loading to downstream molecular characterization of individual gene candidates. In other cases, the goal of expression profiling is to begin to identify complex regulatory networks underlying developmental processes and disease states. Microarrays were originally used with ceil lines or other simple model systems. More recently, microarrays have been used in the analysis of more complex biological tissues including neural systems and the brain. The application of cDNA arrays in neuropsychiatry has lagged behind other fields for a number of reasons. These include a requirement for a large amount of input probe RNA In fluorescent-glass based array systems and the cellular complexity introduced by multicellular brain and neural tissues. An additional factor that impacts the general use of microarrays in neuropsychiatry is the lack of availability of sequenced clone sets from model systems. While human cDNA clones have been widely available, high qualify rat, mouse, and drosophilae, among others are just becoming widely available. A final factor in the application of cDNA microarrays in neuropsychiatry is cost of commercial arrays. As academic microarray facilitates become more commonplace custom made arrays will become more widely available at a lower cost allowing more widespread applications. in summary, microarray technology is rapidly having an impact on many areas of biomedical research. Radioisotope-nylon based microarrays offer alternatives that may in some cases be more sensitive, flexible, inexpensive, and universal as compared to other array formats, such as fluorescent-glass arrays. In some situations of limited RNA or exotic species, radioactive membrane microarrays may be the most practical experimental approach in studying psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, and other complex questions in the brain.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1483-1490
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• 2019

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanisms of fat metabolism and deposition in pigs, an experiment was conducted to identify hepatic mRNAs and miRNAs expression and determine the potential interaction of them in two phenotypically extreme pig breeds. Methods: mRNA and miRNA profiling of liver from 70-day Jinhua (JH) and Landrace (LD) pigs were performed using RNA sequencing. Blood samples were taken to detect results of serum biochemistry. Bioinformatics analysis were applied to construct differentially expressed miRNA-mRNA network. Results: Serum total triiodothyronine and total thyroxine were significantly lower in Jinhua pigs, but the content of serum total cholesterol (TCH) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were strikingly higher. A total of 467 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 35 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) were identified between JH and LD groups. Gene ontology analysis suggested that DEGs were involved in oxidation-reduction, lipid biosynthetic and lipid metabolism process. Interaction network of DEGs and DE miRNAs were constructed, according to target prediction results. Conclusion: We generated transcriptome and miRNAome profiles of liver from JH and LD pig breeds which represent distinguishing phenotypes of growth and metabolism. The potential miRNA-mRNA interaction networks may provide a comprehensive understanding in the mechanism of lipid metabolism. These results serve as a basis for further investigation on biological functions of miRNAs in the porcine liver.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 2008

Thermally-evaporated 10 nm-Ni/1 nm-Ru/(30 nm or 70 nm-poly)Si structures were fabricated in order to investigate the thermal stability of Ru-inserted nickel monosilicide. The silicide samples underwent rapid thermal anne aling at $300{\sim}1,100^{\circ}C$ for 40 seconds. Silicides suitable for the salicide process were formed on the top of the single crystal and polycrystalline silicon substrates mimicking actives and gates. The sheet resistance was measured using a four-point probe. High resolution X-ray diffraction and Auger depth profiling were used for phase and chemical composition analysis, respectively. Transmission electron microscope and scanning probe microscope(SPM) were used to determine the cross-sectional structure and surface roughness. The silicide, which formed on single crystal silicon and 30 nm polysilicon substrate, could defer the transformation of $Ni_2Si $i and $NiSi_2 $, and was stable at temperatures up to $1,100^{\circ}C$ and $1,100^{\circ}C$, respectively. Regarding microstructure, the nano-size NiSi preferred phase was observed on single crystalline Si substrate, and agglomerate phase was shown on 30 nm-thick polycrystalline Si substrate, respectively. The silicide, formed on 70 nm polysilicon substrate, showed high resistance at temperatures >$700^{\circ}C$ caused by mixed microstructure. Through SPM analysis, we confirmed that the surface roughness increased abruptly on single crystal Si substrate while not changed on polycrystalline substrate. The Ru-inserted nickel monosilicide could maintain a low resistance in wide temperature range and is considered suitable for the nano-thick silicide process.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2011

The 30 nm-thick Ni layers was deposited on a flexible polyimide substrate with an e-beam evaporation. Subsequently, we deposited a Si layer using a catalytic CVD (Cat-CVD) in a hydride amorphous silicon (${\alpha}$-Si:H) process of $T_{s}=180^{\circ}C$ with varying thicknesses of 55, 75, 145, and 220 nm. The sheet resistance, phase, degree of the crystallization, microstructure, composition, and surface roughness were measured by a four-point probe, HRXRD, micro-Raman spectroscopy, FE-SEM, TEM, AES, and SPM. We confirmed that our newly proposed Cat-CVD process simultaneously formed both NiSi and crystallized Si without additional annealing. The NiSi showed low sheet resistance of < $13{\Omega}$□, while carbon (C) diffused from the substrate led the resistance fluctuation with silicon deposition thickness. HRXRD and micro-Raman analysis also supported the existence of NiSi and crystallized (>66%) Si layers. TEM analysis showed uniform NiSi and silicon layers, and the thickness of the NiSi increased as Si deposition time increased. Based on the AES depth profiling, we confirmed that the carbon from the polyimide substrate diffused into the NiSi and Si layers during the Cat-CVD, which caused a pile-up of C at the interface. This carbon diffusion might lessen NiSi formation and increase the resistance of the NiSi.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2022

Chestnut honey is a sweet dark-colored honey with a distinct bitter aftertaste. It contains numerous phenolic compounds and alkaloids and is noted for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, it has been established that there are differences in the composition and activity of chestnut honey constituents depending on the region of origin, the sources of which warrant further research. In this study, we analyzed the kynurenic acid (KA) contents in chestnut honey produced in nine different regions in Korea, using high-performance liquid chromatography in conjunction with ultraviolet detection, and validated the analytical method developed. Use of a reverse-phase column and detection at a wavelength of 240 nm were found to be optimal for the detection of KA. Similar evaluation of an optimal method for extracting KA from chestnut honey revealed that extraction using 10% EtOH at 20 times the sample volume over a 6 h period was the most suitable for obtaining a high content of KA. Among the nine regional chestnut honeys assessed, KA content was found to be highest in the "Gongju" sample (1.14 mg/g), followed by that in the "Cheongdo" and "Damyang" samples. Validation of the KA analytical method revealed a good analyte linearity, with a correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.9995, an accuracy of between 92.37% and 107.35%, and good precision (RSD ≤ 1.05%). Our findings in this study, based on a validated quantitative analytical method for KA, could make an important contribution to establishing a data profiling procedure for characterizing chestnut honeys produced in different regions, and may also provide basic data for the identification of functional honey.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.401-411
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• 2023

Many studies have been conducted to improve technology for semen cryopreservation in pigs. However, computer-assisted analysis of sperm motility and morphology is insufficient to predict the molecular function of frozen-thawed semen. More accurate expression patterns of boar sperm proteins may be derived using the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technique. In this study, the iTRAQ-labeling system was coupled with liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis to identify differentially expressed CM10-fractionated proteins between fresh and frozen-thawed boar semen. A total of 76 protein types were identified to be differentially expressed, among which 9 and 67 proteins showed higher and lower expression in frozen-thawed than in fresh sperm samples, respectively. The classified functions of these proteins included oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial inner membrane and matrix, and pyruvate metabolic processes, which are involved in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis; and sperm flagellum and motile cilium, which are involved in sperm tail structure. These results suggest a possible network of biomarkers associated with survival after the cryopreservation of Duroc boar semen.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.73-85
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• 2023

Purpose: This study focused on identifying the interaction effects of genetic and lifestyle-environmental factors on the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Methods: Study subjects were selected from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) from 2001 to 2014. Data on genetic variations, anthropometric measurements, biochemical data, and seven lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity, alcohol drinking, smoking, sleep, depression, and stress) were obtained from 4,836 Koreans aged between 40 and 59 years, including those with T2D at baseline (n = 1,209), newly developed T2D (n= 1,298) and verified controls (n = 3,538). The genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated by using 11 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to T2D development and the second quartile was used as the reference category. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the associations of GRS and lifestyle factors with T2D risk, controlling for covariates. Results: Multivariate regression analysis revealed that GRS was the strongest risk factor for T2D, and body mass index (BMI), smoking, drinking, and spicy food preference also increased the risk. Lifestyle/environmental factors that showed significant interactions with GRS were BMI, current smoking, current drinking, fatty food preference, and spicy food preference. Conclusions: Interactions between genetic factors and lifestyle/environmental factors were associated with an increased risk of T2D. The results will be useful to provide a new perspective on genetic profiling for the earlier detection of T2D risk and clues for personalized interventions, which might be more effective prevention strategies or therapies in individuals with a genetic predisposition to T2D.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.587-602
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• 2024

This research was conducted to study the effects of organic selenium (Se) supplements at different levels on pork loin quality during storage. Fifteen pork loins were procured randomly from three groups, Con (fed basal diet), Se15 (fed 0.15 ppm organic Se along with 0.10 ppm inorganic Se), and Se45 (fed 0.45 ppm organic Se along with 0.10 ppm inorganic Se). Each sample was analyzed for Se contents, antioxidant properties (glutathione peroxidase [GPx] activity, 2,2'-azinobis-[3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid] [ABTS] and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] radical scavenging activities, 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), physicochemical properties (water holding capacity, pH, color), and metabolomic analysis during 14-day storage period. Se45-supplemented group showed significantly higher Se contents and GPx activity than the other groups throughout the storage period. However, other antioxidant properties were not significantly affected by Se supplementation. Selenium supplementation did not have an adverse impact on physicochemical properties. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-based metabolomic analysis indicated that the selenium supply conditions were insufficient to induce metabolic change. These results suggest that organic Se (0.15 and 0.45 ppm) can accumulate high Se content in pork loins without compromising quality.