• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2009

Heat shock proteins are a class of molecular chaperones that can be found in nearly all organisms from Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya domains. Heat shock proteins experience increased transcription during periods of heat induced osmotic stress and are involved in protein disaggregation and refolding as part of a cell's danger signaling cascade. Heat shock protein, Hsp20 is a small molecular chaperone that is approximately 20kDa in weight and is hypothesized to prevent aggregation and denaturation. Hsp20 can be found in several strains of Proteobacteria, which comprises the largest phyla of the Bacteria domain and also contains several medically significant bacterial strains. Genomic analyses were performed to determine a common evolutionary pattern among Hsp20 sequences in Proteobacteria. It was found that Hsp20 shared a common ancestor within and among the five subclasses of Proteobacteria. This is readily apparent from the amount of sequence similarities within and between Hsp20 protein sequences as well as phylogenetic analysis of sequences from proteobacterial and non-proteobacterial species.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.231-245
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• 2008

Various methods for detecting changes in response behaviors of indicator specimens are presented for monitoring effects of toxic treatments. The movement patterns of individuals are quantitatively characterized by statistical (i.e., ANOVA, multivariate analysis) and computational (i.e., fractal dimension, Fourier transform) methods. Extraction of information in complex behavioral data is further illustrated by techniques in ecological informatics. Multi-Layer Perceptron and Self-Organizing Map are applied for detection and patterning of response behaviors of indicator specimens. The recent techniques of Wavelet analysis and line detection by Recurrent Self-Organizing Map are additionally discussed as an efficient tool for checking time-series movement data. Behavioral monitoring could be established as new methodology in integrative ecological assessment, tilling the gap between large-scale (e.g., community structure) and small-scale (e.g., molecular response) measurements.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 1998

Feeding habits of Pseudoblennius cottoides collected from the eelgrass bed in Kwangyang Bay from January 1994 to December 1994 were studied. Pseudoblennius cottoides was a carnivore which mainly consumed fishes, caridean shrimps, and amphipods. Its diets included small Quantities of tanaids, copepods, isopods, mysids, and polychaetes. It showed ontogenetic changes in feeding habits. Fishes were heavily selected as the body size of P. cottoides increases. Fishes and caridean shrimps were major prey organisms for all seasons.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.67
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• pp.293-300
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• 2018

Lipocalins are diverse group of small extracellular proteins found in various organisms. In this study, members of 10 non-homologous lipocalin-ligand crystal complex structures were remodeled using rigid and flexible ligand modes to validate the prediction efficiency of molecular docking simulation. The modeled ligand conformations indicated a high prediction accuracy in rigid ligand mode using cluster based analysis for most cases whereas the flexible ligand mode required further considerations such as ligand binding energy and RMSD for some cases. This in silico study is expected to serve as a platform in the screening of novel ligands against lipocalin family of proteins.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.273-284
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• 2023

Combating the worldwide environmental threat of plastic waste pollution has become a priority. Plastic pollution has the potential to impact land, rivers, and seas, since many marine and terrestrial organisms have perished as a result of plastic's non-biodegradability and soil dangers. For this consumption, it seems required to manufacture and use new renewable resources. Renewable materials for diverse applications have been created utilizing nanotechnology, which may replace conventional materials for children's activities and sports equipment. This study investigates and suggests that nanotechnology-based materials be replaced with conventional materials to save the environment in manufacturing equipment for children's physical activities. On the basis of the mechanical sciences, a stability study of the bending behavior of small-scale structures will be performed for the various recommended materials.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2014

Purpose: The present study was aimed to compare the results of disinfection efficacy tested by membrane filtration method with dilution-neutralization method to develop the standard methods for evaluating disinfection efficacy of contact lens care products and to provide the result of disinfection efficacy of commercially available contact lens care products in domestic market. Methods: The results of disinfection efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Candida albicans evaluated by membrane filtration method as a FDA standard and dilution-neutralization method as newly being a KFDA standard were compared and the disinfection efficacy of 16 multi-purpose solutions was further evaluated. Results: The disinfectants and contact lens care products having strong disinfection efficacy showed same results in both membrane filtration method and dilution-neutralization method. In case of contact lens care products having weak disinfection efficacy, the number of micro-organisms was not able to count since the colony was aggregated when evaluated by membrane filtration method. However, the number of micro-organisms was able to exactly count when evaluated by dilution-neutralization method. In addition, some commercially available contact lens care products did not meet disinfection standard and especially, their disinfection effect was often weak against Serratia marcescen and Candida albicans. Conclusions: It is concluded that dilution-neutralization method will be useful to evaluate disinfection efficacy since it is possible to count micro-organisms more precisely even with small amount of sample and check the results faster compared with membrane filtration method.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.274-284
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to describe the spectrometric analysis of gaseous cloud formation over reactor mixed uranium-and-plutonium (UP) fuel $(U_{0.8}Pu_{0.2})O_2$ samples heated to a temperature $>2,000^{\circ}C$, and thus forecast and evaluate radiation hazards threatening humans who cope with the consequences of any accident at a fission reactor loaded by UP mixed oxide $(U_{0.8}Pu_{0.2})O_2$, such as a mixture of 80% U and 20% Pu in weight. Materials and methods: The UP nuclear fuel samples were heated up to a temperature of over $2,000^{\circ}C$ in a suitable assembly (apparatus) at out-of-pile experiments' implementation, the experimental in-depth study of metabolism of active materials in living organisms by means of artificial irradiation of pigs by plutonium. Spectrometric measurements were carried out on the different exposed organs and tissues of pigs for the further estimation of human internal exposure by nuclear materials released from the core of a fission reactor fueled with UP mixed oxide. Results: The main results of the research described are the following: (1) following the research on the influence of mixed fuel fission products (radioactive isotopes being formed during reactor operation as a result of nuclear decay of elements included into the fuel composition) on living organisms, the authors determined the quantities of plutonium dioxide ($PuO_2$) that penetrated into blood and lay in the pulmonary region, liver, skeleton and other tissues; and (2) experiments confirmed that the output speed of plutonium out of the basic precipitation locations is very small. On the strength of the experimental evidence, the authors suggest that the biological output of plutonium can be disregarded in the process of evaluation of the internal irradiation doses.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.463-470
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• 2020

This study was conducted to aid in the development of an infection control educational program for nurses, by assessing the knowledge and educational demand of nurses for MDRO infection control. Totally, 115 nurses participated in the study. Data were collected from November 15-30, 2019, using structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA were applied for analyzing the data. Experience of caring for MDRO patients was reported by 86.1% nurses, whereas 67.8% nurses had received training on MDROs. The average score for knowledge on MDROs was 25.51 out of 27 points, with minimal correct answers given for the query on level of disinfection for medical equipment used by patients, criteria for the preemptive precaution, patient management in the cohort, and timing for removing personal protective equipment. The educational demand was highest for assignment to the precaution, criteria for screening examination, and management of outbreak. Also, educational needs differed with respect to the general educational characteristics and position of the individual. We propose the need to differentiate the educational status according to the career when developing the MDROs program, and the necessity to execute education of MDROs for new nurses and career nurses.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.123-135
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• 2016

Interest is one of the important factors in science education. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the follow-up interest of elementary school students on topics of 'Small Organisms' World'. The follow-up interests of the students on the topic were grouped into three categories; the developed-expanded-deepened (EDD), the simply expanded and maintained (SEM), and the stoped or decreased (SD) types. Each types had specific distinguishing features. Through the examination of students' responses and the in-depth interviews, the factors affecting on the follow-up interests of the students were analyzed. The factors were classified into two types of the external factor and the internal one. While the external factors were mainly related to the instructional materials used in science class and teaching methods, the internal factors were related to the desire for knowing, prior knowledge, students' experience and attitude toward the topics of science. In relation to the types of the follow-up interests, these factors were affected by different causes. The EDD type was most affected by internal factors, such as desire for knowing and prior knowledge. The SEM type was shown to be most affected by external factors, such as instructional materials. The SD type was mainly influenced by external factors, such as teaching methods. From the analysis of internal factors, it was revealed that the attitude and the prior knowledge about the topic are related with the follow-up interests. There was a positive relationship between the levels of science attitude and science knowledge. The students who had EDD type had a higher level of attitude and knowledge. However, there were some students who had higher level of scientific knowledge with SD type. The results of in-depth interviews showed that they were influenced by negative perceptions about science and stress on their grades. In conclusion, each follow-up interest type were caused by the external factors contained in the processes of the science class and the internal ones associated with the individual features and were influenced by the science class. So, the teacher should help the students be able to have the EDD type of follow-up interest which is persisted even after the completion of the science curriculum. For this, when the teachers design science curriculum and plan lesson, they should consider both internal and external factors significantly influencing the students' follow-up interests.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.205-216
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• 2019

Since the RNA interference (RNAi) had been discovered in many organisms, small non-coding RNA-mediated gene silencing technology, including RNAi have been widely applied to analysis of gene function, as well as crop improvement. Despite the usefulness of RNAi technology, RNAi transgenic crops have various potential environmental risks, including off-target and non-target effects. In this study, we developed methods that can be effectively applied to environmental risk assessment of RNAi transgenic crops and verified these methods in 35S::dsRNAi_eGFP rice transgenic plant we generated. Off-target genes, which can be non-specifically suppressed by the expression of dsRNAi_eGFP, were predicted by using the published web tool, pssRNAit, and verified by comparing their expressions between wild-type (WT) and 35S::dsRNAi_eGFP transgenic rice. Also, we verified the non-target effects of the 35S:: dsRNAi_eGFP plant by evaluating horizontal and vertical transfer of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) produced in the 35S::dsRNAi_eGFP plant into neighboring WT rice and rhizosphere microorganisms, respectively. Our results suggested that the methods we developed, could be widely applied to various RNAi transgenic crops for their environmental risk assessment.