• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.99-106
• /
• 2014

Objectives Previous studies suggest that the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene could be an important candidate gene for schizophrenia. According to linkage studies, this gene is located on chromosome 6q14-q15, which is known to harbor the schizophrenia susceptibility locus (locus 5, SCZ5, OMIM 803175). The pharmacological agent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (${\Delta}$-9-THC) seems to elicit the symptoms of schizophrenia. The association between CNR1 polymorphisms and schizophrenia is actively being investigated, and some studies have linked the AAT-trinucleotide repeats in CNR1 to the onset of schizophrenia. In this study, we have investigated the association between the AAT-trinucleotide repeats in CNR1 and schizophrenia by studying schizophrenia patients and healthy individuals from Korea. Methods DNA was extracted from the blood samples of 394 control subjects and 337 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria). After polymerase chain reaction amplification, a logistic regression analysis, with age and gender as the covariates, was performed to study the variations in the AAT-repeat polymorphisms between the two groups. Results In total, 8 types of trinucleotide repeats were identified, each containing 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 repeats, respectively. $(AAT)_{13}$ allele was most frequently observed, with a frequency of 33.6% and 31.6% in the patient and control groups, respectively. The frequency of the other repeat alleles in the patient group (in the decreasing order) was as follows : $(AAT)_{13}$ 33.6%, $(AAT)_{14}$ 21.6%, $(AAT)_{12}$ 18.5%, and $(AAT)_{7}$ 11.1%. The frequency of the repeat alleles in the control group (in the decreasing order) was as follows : $(AAT)_{13}$ 31.6%, $(AAT)_{14}$ 24.5%, $(AAT)_{12}$ 17.2%, and $(AAT)_{7}$ 11.6%. However, there were no significant differences in the AAT-repeat polymorphisms of the CNR1 gene between the patient group and the control group. Conclusions Although our study revealed no significant association of the AAT-repeat polymorphism of the CNR1 gene with schizophrenia, it will serve as a good reference for future studies designed to examine the cannabinoid hypothesis of schizophrenia.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 2011

Evaluation of the removal efficiencies of Fe(II) by reactive sand media coated with manganese (MCS), iron (ICS) and both of iron and manganese (IMCS) was investigated as functions of solution pH ranging from 2 to 9, reaction time and concentration of Fe(II) in a batch reactor using each reactive medium and additional oxidants such as $KMnO_4$ and NaOCl. When only Fe(II) was present in solution without any reactive medium, removal of Fe(II) was quite low below pH 5 due to a slow oxidation of Fe(II) and/or negligible precipitation but greatly increased above pH 5 due to a rapid oxidation of Fe(II) and subsequent precipitation of oxidized Fe species. ICS showed negligible efficiency on the removal of Fe(II) through adsorption. However, an efficient removal of Fe(II) was observed at low solution pH in the presence of IMCS or MCS through rapid oxidation and subsequent precipitation. Removal efficiency of Fe(II) by IMCS in the presence or absence of NaOCl was quite similar. Removal rate of Fe(II) by IMCS and additional oxidants gradually increased as the solution pH increased. From the kinetic experiments, removal pattern of Fe(II) was better described by pseudo-second-order equation than pseudo-first-order equation. A rapid removal of Fe(II) using IMCS in the presence of $KMnO_4$ was observed in the first 10 min. The initial removal rate of Fe(II) using $KMnO_4$ was 14,286 mg/kg hr. In case of using NaOCl, the removal of Fe(II) occurred rapidly in the first 6 hrs and then reached the near-equilibrium state. Removal of Fe(II) on IMCS was well expressed by Langmuir isotherm and the maximum removal capacity of Fe(II) was calculated as 1,088 mg/kg.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.36-44
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate thermal stability, reactivity, and bonding strength of existing epoxy resin mixed with the epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) in order to use soybean oil economically. In the dry shear test, the marked strengths showed $30.5kgf/cm^2$ at the ratio of ESBO to epoxy resin 9 : 1 and $6.2kgf/cm^2$ at the ratio 8 : 2. The bonding strengths of the others, except mixing ratios 2 : 8 and 1 : 9, exceeded the requirement of Korean plywood standard of $7.0kgf/cm^2$. In the wet shear test, the result was $5.8kgf/cm^2$ at the ratio 9 : 1. There were no thickness swelling and moisture absorption in the water resistance of the film. The value of activation energy, Tg (${\Delta}E$), by DSC analysis showed between $110^{\circ}C$ and $120^{\circ}C$ through all ratios. Epoxy in the epoxy resin fully reacted with the hardener (TETA), but it is difficult to decide that epoxys in the ESBO were reacted directly with the hardener from FT-IR analysis. As the mixing ratio of ESBO increased, the thermal stabilities dropped from TGA analysis. From the comprehensive view on the results of above experiments, it could be confirmed through experiments that the ESBO in the mixed adhesive of epoxy resin/ESBO played a role as an extending agent level of epoxy adhesive, and we were able to know that in order to utilize ESBO as an adhesive, a study should be performed on the condition of hardening, inducible of the hardening reaction.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.198-205
• /
• 2018

This study investigated the influence of catalyst preparation on the activity of $Co-CeO_2$ catalyst for $N_2O$ decomposition. $Co-CeO_2$ catalysts were synthesized by co-precipitation and incipient wetness impregnation. In order to estimate the performance of the as prepared catalysts, direct catalytic $N_2O$ decomposition test was carried out under $250{\sim}375^{\circ}C$. As a result, the catalyst prepared by co-precipitation (CoCe-CP) showed an enhanced performance on $N_2O$ decomposition reaction even in the presence of $O_2$ and/or $H_2O$, whereas the impregnation catalyst (CoCe-IM) did not. In order to investigate the difference in catalytic activity, characterization such as XRD, BET, TEM, $H_2-TPR$, $O_2-TPD$, and XPS was conducted. It is confirmed that the particle size and specific surface area were changed depending on the catalyst preparation method and the synthesis process influenced the physical properties of the catalysts. In addition, the improvement in the activity of the catalyst prepared by co-precipitation is due to the enhanced reduction from $Co^{3+}$ to $Co^{2+}$ and the improved oxygen desorption rate. However, it has been confirmed that the surface electron state and binding energy, which are related to $N_2O$ decomposition, do not change depending on the preparation method.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.24-37
• /
• 2005

This study was conducted to analyze the molecular epidemiological properties and to select the most efficient and reliable PCR method on 116 of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) isolates from Korean cattle, black goat, pig, dog, chicken, mouse and also human clinical cases from hospital. The distribution patterns of SSG [species specific genes; coagulase (coa), protein A (spa), nuclease (nuc) and aroA (RsaI) gene] were analyzed by PCR method. Among the SSGs, the nuc-gene was found in all strains $(100\%)$ tested and followed by coa-gene $(87.9\%)$, spa-gene $(91.4\%)$ and aroA-gene $(26.7\%)$, in order. The genetic subtyping by RFLP method was performed on the coa [AluI] and aroA-gene [RsaI] PCR products. The mecA-gene PCR and PCR-RFLP techniques were chosen to detect and verify of MRSA strains. Only the human strains $(12.1\%)$ were detected the positive mecA-gene products (533 bp), which were divided into two specific bands [201 & 332 bp] by HhaI enzyme digestion. On coa-gene and spa-gene typing, coa-gene was typed with ten kinds of genotype and coa-3 type were determined as the most predominant genotype, while spa-gene was divided into eleven kinds of genotype and also spa-7 type were selected the most prevalent genotype based on their genetic variations. On the aroA and coa-gene subtyping by PCR-RFLP, aroA-gene products were discriminated with only seven types of genotype, while coa-gene products were further divided into an eleven genotype, respectively. In comparison of SID values of five PCR based typing methods, the coa-PCR-RFLP (SID0.894) was evaluated the most efficient and reliable tools and followed by coa-PCR (SID0.883) and aroA-PCR-RFLP (SID0.462), in order. In conclusion, we could determined that the coa-PCR-RFLP method was the most suitable genetic analysis tool for S. aureus and MRSA strains from domestic animals and humans.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2008.06a
• /
• pp.239-240
• /
• 2008

As semiconductor devices are scaled down for better performance and more functionality, the Cu-based interconnects suffer from the increase of the resistivity of the Cu wires. The resistivity increase, which is attributed to the electron scattering from grain boundaries and interfaces, needs to be addressed in order to further scale down semiconductor devices [1]. The increase in the resistivity of the interconnect can be alleviated by increasing the grain size of electroplating (EP)-Cu or by modifying the Cu surface [1]. Another possible solution is to maximize the portion of the EP-Cu volume in the vias or damascene structures with the conformal diffusion barrier and seed layer by optimizing their deposition processes during Cu interconnect fabrication, which are currently ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD)-based Ta/TaN bilayer and IPVD-Cu, respectively. The use of in-situ etching, during IPVD of the barrier or the seed layer, has been effective in enlarging the trench volume where the Cu is filled, resulting in improved reliability and performance of the Cu-based interconnect. However, the application of IPVD technology is expected to be limited eventually because of poor sidewall step coverage and the narrow top part of the damascene structures. Recently, Ru has been suggested as a diffusion barrier that is compatible with the direct plating of Cu [2-3]. A single-layer diffusion barrier for the direct plating of Cu is desirable to optimize the resistance of the Cu interconnects because it eliminates the Cu-seed layer. However, previous studies have shown that the Ru by itself is not a suitable diffusion barrier for Cu metallization [4-6]. Thus, the diffusion barrier performance of the Ru film should be improved in order for it to be successfully incorporated as a seed layer/barrier layer for the direct plating of Cu. The improvement of its barrier performance, by modifying the Ru microstructure from columnar to amorphous (by incorporating the N into Ru during PVD), has been previously reported [7]. Another approach for improving the barrier performance of the Ru film is to use Ru as a just seed layer and combine it with superior materials to function as a diffusion barrier against the Cu. A RulTaN bilayer prepared by PVD has recently been suggested as a seed layer/diffusion barrier for Cu. This bilayer was stable between the Cu and Si after annealing at $700^{\circ}C$ for I min [8]. Although these reports dealt with the possible applications of Ru for Cu metallization, cases where the Ru film was prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have not been identified. These are important because of ALD's excellent conformality. In this study, a bilayer diffusion barrier of Ru/TaCN prepared by ALD was investigated. As the addition of the third element into the transition metal nitride disrupts the crystal lattice and leads to the formation of a stable ternary amorphous material, as indicated by Nicolet [9], ALD-TaCN is expected to improve the diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-Ru against Cu. Ru was deposited by a sequential supply of bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru$(EtCp)_2$] and $NH_3$plasma and TaCN by a sequential supply of $(NEt_2)_3Ta=Nbu^t$ (tert-butylimido-trisdiethylamido-tantalum, TBTDET) and $H_2$ plasma. Sheet resistance measurements, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed that the bilayer diffusion barriers of ALD-Ru (12 nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) and ALD-Ru (4nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) prevented the Cu diffusion up to annealing temperatures of 600 and $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, respectively. This is found to be due to the excellent diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-TaCN film against the Cu, due to it having an amorphous structure. A 5-nm-thick ALD-TaCN film was even stable up to annealing at $650^{\circ}C$ between Cu and Si. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that the ALD-Ru/ALD-TaCN diffusion barrier failed by the Cu diffusion through the bilayer into the Si substrate. This is due to the ALD-TaCN interlayer preventing the interfacial reaction between the Ru and Si.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.25-35
• /
• 2008

In this study, the antioxidative effects and inhibitory effects on elastase and tyrosinase of Geranium nepalense extracts were investigated. The free radical(1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH) scavenging activities ($FSC_{50}$) of extract/fractions of Geranium nepalense were in the order: 50% ethanol extract(15.0 ${\mu}g/mL$)${\mu}g/mL$). ${\mu}g/mL$). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities($OSC_{50}$) of some Geranium nepalense extracts on ROS generated in $Fe^{3+}-EDTA/H_2O_2$ system were investigated using the luminol-dependent chemiluminescense assay. The order of ROS scavenging activities were 50% ethanol extract($OSC_{50},\;0.23{\mu}g/mL$)${\mu}g/mL$)${\mu}g/mL$). Deglycosylated flavonoid fraction showed the most prominent scavenging activity. The protective effects of extract/fractions of Geranium nepalense on the rose-bengal sensitized photohemolysis of human erythrocytes were investigated. The Geranium nepalense extracts suppressed photohemolysis in a concentration dependent manner, particularly deglycosylated flavonoid fraction exhibited the most prominent celluar protective effect (${\tau}_{50}$, 676.7 min at 50 ${\mu}g/mL$). The inhibitory effect of aglycone fraction on tyrosinase($IC_{50}$, 70.0 ${\mu}g/mL$) and elastase ($IC_{50}$, 19.9 ${\mu}g/mL$) was very high. Aglycone fractions obtained from the deglycosylation reaction of ethyl-acetate fraction among the Geranium nepalense extracts, showed 2 bands in TLC and 2 peaks in HPLC experiments (370 nm). Two components were identified as quercetin(composition ratio, 15.3%), kaempferol(82.8%). These results indicate that extract/fractions of Geranium nepalense can function as antioxidants in biological systems, particularly skin exposed to UV radiation by scavenging $^1O_2$ and other ROS, and protect cellular membranes against ROS. And component analysis of Geranium nepalense extract and inhibitory activity on elastase of the aglycone fraction could be applicable to new functional cosmetics for smoothing wrinkles.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.19-28
• /
• 2012

After the internet era, we are moving to the ubiquitous society. Nowadays the people are interested in the multimodal interaction technology, which enables audience to naturally interact with the computing environment at the exhibitions such as gallery, museum, and park. Also, there are other attempts to provide additional service based on the location information of the audience, or to improve and deploy interaction between subjects and audience by analyzing the using pattern of the people. In order to provide multimodal interaction service to the audience at the exhibition, it is important to distinguish the individuals and trace their location and route. For the location tracking on the outside, GPS is widely used nowadays. GPS is able to get the real time location of the subjects moving fast, so this is one of the important technologies in the field requiring location tracking service. However, as GPS uses the location tracking method using satellites, the service cannot be used on the inside, because it cannot catch the satellite signal. For this reason, the studies about inside location tracking are going on using very short range communication service such as ZigBee, UWB, RFID, as well as using mobile communication network and wireless lan service. However these technologies have shortcomings in that the audience needs to use additional sensor device and it becomes difficult and expensive as the density of the target area gets higher. In addition, the usual exhibition environment has many obstacles for the network, which makes the performance of the system to fall. Above all these things, the biggest problem is that the interaction method using the devices based on the old technologies cannot provide natural service to the users. Plus the system uses sensor recognition method, so multiple users should equip the devices. Therefore, there is the limitation in the number of the users that can use the system simultaneously. In order to make up for these shortcomings, in this study we suggest a technology that gets the exact location information of the users through the location mapping technology using Wi-Fi and 3d camera of the smartphones. We applied the signal amplitude of access point using wireless lan, to develop inside location tracking system with lower price. AP is cheaper than other devices used in other tracking techniques, and by installing the software to the user's mobile device it can be directly used as the tracking system device. We used the Microsoft Kinect sensor for the 3D Camera. Kinect is equippedwith the function discriminating the depth and human information inside the shooting area. Therefore it is appropriate to extract user's body, vector, and acceleration information with low price. We confirm the location of the audience using the cell ID obtained from the Wi-Fi signal. By using smartphones as the basic device for the location service, we solve the problems of additional tagging device and provide environment that multiple users can get the interaction service simultaneously. 3d cameras located at each cell areas get the exact location and status information of the users. The 3d cameras are connected to the Camera Client, calculate the mapping information aligned to each cells, get the exact information of the users, and get the status and pattern information of the audience. The location mapping technique of Camera Client decreases the error rate that occurs on the inside location service, increases accuracy of individual discrimination in the area through the individual discrimination based on body information, and establishes the foundation of the multimodal interaction technology at the exhibition. Calculated data and information enables the users to get the appropriate interaction service through the main server.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2013

Niphon spinosus, Epinephelus bruneus, and Epinephelus septemfasciatus are involved in the Perciformes Order and Serranidae Family. When E. bruneus and E. septemfasciatus are fully grown, the striped pattern on the body gradually disappears. Therefore, morphological classification of adult fishes is quite difficult to identify the differences to N. spinosus. In this study, we investigate the method to differentiate those using PCR. To design the primers, 16S rRNA region of N. spinosus, E. bruneus, and E. septemfasciatus registered in the GeneBank (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) have been used and for the analysis, Bio Edit ver. 7.0.9.0 was used. As a result, it was design NS-003-F/NS-005-R (136 bp), EB-001-F/EB-002-R (181 bp), and ES-001-F/ES-001-R (123 bp) primers for the differentiation of each 3 different fishes. Therefore, the species-specific primer sets would be a useful tool for scientific and speedy differentiation against the illegal distribution for consumer protection.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.189-200
• /
• 2008

In this study, the antioxidative effects, inhibitory effects on elastase, and components of Quercus glauca extracts were investigated. The free radical (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH) scavenging activity $(FSC_{50})$ of extract I fractions of Quercus glauca leaf was in the order: 50% ethanol extract $(12.45{\mu}g/mL)$ < ethyl acetate fraction $(10.47{\mu}g/mL)$ < deglycosylated flavonoid aglycone fraction $(8.57{\mu}g/mL)$. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities $(OSC_{50})$ of some Quercus glauca leaf extracts on ROS generated in $Fe^{3+}-EDTA/H_2O_2$ system were investigated using the luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay. The order of ROS scavenging activity was 50% ethanol extract $(OSC_{50},\;4.2{\mu}g/mL)$ < deglycosylated flavonoid aglycone fraction $(1.58{\mu}ug/mL)$ < ethyl acetate fraction $(0.66{\mu}g/mL)$. Ethyl acetate fraction showed the most prominent scavenging activity. The protective effects of extract / fractions of Quercus glauca leaf on the rose-bengal sensitized photohemolysis of human erythrocytes were investigated. The Quercus glauca leaf extracts suppressed photohemolysis in a dose dependent manner, particularly deglycosylated flavonoid aglycone fraction exhibited the most prominent celluar protective effect $({\tau}_{50}$, 398.67 min at $50{\mu}g/mL$). Aglycone fractions obtained from the deglycosylation reaction of ethyl acetate fraction among the Quercus glauca leaf extracts, showed 2 bands in TLC and 2 peaks in HPLC experiments (360 nm) as well. Two components were identified as quercetin (55.77%), and kaempferol (44.23 %). TLC chromatogram of ethyl acetate fraction of Quercus glauca leaf extracts revealed 6 bands $(QG1{\sim}QG6)$, Among them, isoquercitrin (QG3), hyperin (QG4), and rutin (QG6) were identified. The inhibitory effect of aglycone fraction on tyrosinase $(IC_{50},\;73.5{\mu}g/mL)$ and elastase $(IC_{50},\;16.2{\mu}g/mL)$ was high. These results indicate that extract / fractions of Quercus glauca can function as antioxidants in biological systems, particularly skin exposed to UV radiation by scavenging $^1O_2$ and other ROS, and protect cellular membranes against ROS. And component analysis of Quercus glauca leaf extract and inhibitory activity on tyeisinase and elastase of the aglycone fraction could be applicable to new functional cosmetics.